Ector Co. TX - Obits from the Odessa American Online Submitted by Charlene Beatty Beauchamp cbodessa@classicnet.net Thanks to the Odessa American Online http://www.oaoa.com/ ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** OA Online Obituaries. Permian Basin Obituaries Copyright © 1999-2002 Odessa American. All rights reserved ============================================================================================ Sunday February 10, 2002 Joseph Patrick McClease ODESSA - Joseph Patrick McClease, 75, of Odessa peacefully passed away Feb. 7, 2002 at the Hospice House. Joe was born in Memphis, Tenn., May 24, 1926, son of James Rex McClease and Kate Alice hustler McClease. While a young child, the family moved to Courtland, Miss., where Joe grew up and graduated high school. He served briefly in the Army during World War II and was honorably discharged. In 1957, Joe joined his older brother, Rex, and made his home in Odessa. Joe was a respected painter and worked most of his career with Chalmers Signs. He was an avid aviation enthusiast. He built and flew gliders, R.C. planes and ultralights. Joe was a talented artist, and worked in a multitude of mediums. Other hobbies included birdwatching, gardening, exploring nature and reading. He was preceded in death by his parents and only brother, Rex. He is survived by three loving nieces, Michal Turner and husband, Del, of Alexandria, Va.; Alice Calder and husband, James of Omaha, Texas; Rexana Jo McClease and Rex Milner of Waxahachie, Texas; many great and great-great nieces and nephews and more friends than we can count. The family requests memorials be sent to Hospice House. He has "Slipped the surly bonds of earth …and touched the face of God." A memorial service will be held Monday, Feb. 11, 2002, at 3 p.m. at Hubbard-Kelly Funeral Home Chapel. Services entrusted to Hubbard-Kelly Funeral Home. Benito Ramos Salcido PECOS - Benito Ramos Salcido, 61, passed from the arms of Hospice House in Odessa to the wonderful light of heaven on Feb. 8, 2002 at 1:20 p.m. Benito Salcido was born April 22, 1940, in Balmorhea, Texas. He is preceded in death by his parents, Canuto and Josephina Salcido and sister Maria Salcido and two brothers, Canuto Jr. and Guadalupe Salcido. Survivors include his three sons, Ruben Salcido and his wife, Lisa D. Salcido of Pecos, Randy Salcido of Pecos, and Rodney Salcido of Odessa; six grandchildren, Jason Salcido of San Antonio, Philip and Eric Salcido of Pecos, Rossalynn Marie Zackery and Roderick Salcido of Odessa. Mr. Salcido comes from a family of 10, survived by three brothers, Manuel R. Salcido, Juan Salcido, of Pecos and Juanito Ornelas of Odessa; three sisters, Licha S. Dutchover of Balmorhea, Margarita S. Rodriguez and Connie (Chelo) Orona of Odessa. He is also survived with several nephews and nieces. Mass will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, 2002, at Santa Rosa Catholic Church. Rosary will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, 2002 at Peaceful Garden Funeral Home Chapel in Pecos. Funeral service will be conducted by Peaceful Garden Funeral Home of Pecos. Melanie Rumbaugh Walker ODESSA - Melanie Rumbaugh Walker, age 61, of Odessa, died Friday, Feb. 8, 2002, at Medical Center Hospital. She was born Nov. 21, 1940, to Addison C. and Maggie Rumbaugh in Shreveport, La. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 11, 2002 in the chapel of Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors, with the Rev. Craig Martindale of St. Andrews Cumberland Presbyterian Church officiating. She married Guy Walker on March 8, 1980. They owned and operated B.G.'s Catfish Plus for several years. After retirement, they enjoyed traveling and lived for a short time in Mexico and Peru. She was a kind and loving wife, mother and friend. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her. She is survived by her husband, Guy Walker of the home; son, Carey Childers of Austin; daughters, Diane Knight of Ira, Texas and Laura Childers of Dallas; Stepsons, Johnny Walker of Carlsbad, N.M., Jeff Walker and Jim Walker, both of Odessa; sisters, Margaret Holley of Midland, and Betty Rumbaugh of Cody, Wyo.; 12 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Services have been entrusted to Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors. Phillip Ray Bentley ODESSA - Phillip Ray Bentley, 57, passed away Saturday, Feb. 9, 2002, at Medical Center Hospital. He was born Dec. 7, 1944, to Julian and Marie Bentley in Sapulpa, Okla. Phillip was a lifetime resident of Odessa. He married Dorothy Shelton on Dec. 30, 1967, in Odessa. He ran pipeline off the North Shore of Holland, and also drilled in South America while employed for Baker Productions for ten years. He was Southern Baptist. Memorial services are scheduled for 2 p.m., Monday, Feb. 11, 2002, at Sunset Memorial Chapel. His father, Julian Bentley, and cousin, David Beaver, both precede him in death. Survivors include his wife, Dorothy Bentley; sons, Wayne Bentley & wife, Sherry; and Richie Bentley; brothers, Larry Bentley & wife, Linda, all of Odessa; and Michael Bentley of Tulsa, Okla.; sister, Rita Bentley, also of Tulsa; five grandchildren, Sara, Cody, Ryan, Jayson, and Ricky Bentley. Memorials may be made to the Hospice of your choice. Services are under the direction of Sunset Memorial Funeral Home. Gene Ater TYLER - A memorial service for State District Judge Gene Ater will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 11, at Pollard United Methodist Church in Tyler with the Rev. Rick Hume and the Rev. Richard Luna officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of Lloyd James Funeral Home. Judge Ater died Thursday in ETMC Hospital in Tyler. Judge Ater was born in San Angelo, Texas, on Jan. 20, 1932. He was reared in Pecos, Texas and graduated from Pecos High School in 1949 where he participated in football, basketball and track and was a member of the band. From 1951 to 1954 he served as a corpsman in the U.S. Navy, including 26 months in Korea. On Nov. 24, 1955, he married Caroline Hall in Abilene, Texas. He graduated from McMurry University in Abilene with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1956. Judge Ater received his law degree from Southern Methodist University in 1959, where he was a member of Delta Theta Phi legal fraternity. He was an assistant district attorney in Dallas County for a year and then moved to Odessa in 1961 to enter private practice with the late Harold H. Young. He later was a partner in the Ater & Hirsch law firm. Judge Ater was the first U.S. Commissioner of the Midland-Odessa Division of Federal Court of the –Western District of Texas. In 1979 he was elected Judge of the 70th Judicial District of Texas and served in Odessa until May of 1992, when he retired to become a Senior District Judge. After 31 years in Odessa, Judge Ater and his wife moved to Tyler in May of 1992, making their home on Lake Tyler East. Although he took assignments around the state as a visiting judge, most of his work as a Senior District Judge was done in the courts in Tyler. In Tyler, he was an active member of Pollard United Methodist Church and was a member of the Epworth Sunday School Class and the PrimeTimers. In Odessa he had been an active member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church, serving on various boards and committees and as a Sunday School teacher for both high school students and young adults. He had also been a lay delegate to the New Mexico Annual Conference. Judge Ater was a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Smith County Bar Association, and a former member of the American Trial Lawyers Association and Texas Trial Lawyers Association. He was a member of the Tyler Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow. In Odessa, he had been president of the Greater Odessa Rotary Club. He served on the task force that organized the Pastoral Counseling Center in West Texas. Judge Ater was former vice president of the Odessa Symphony Association and former board member of the Midland-Odessa Symphony & Chorale, Inc. He also had been a member of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce and Ector County Democratic Men's Club. He was an avid hunter and fisherman and had been an officer and board member of the Bassmasters of East Texas fishing club. While living in Odessa he had been an officer of the Permian Bass Club and served as regional director of the Texas Association of Bass Club. As a sports fan in Odessa, he was an ardent supporter of the Permian High School football team and had been on the board of directors of the Permian Football Booster Club. He was a Bridge enthusiast, participating in tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League. Judge Ater is survived by his wife of the home; a daughter and son-in-law, Sandra and Jimmy Patrick, of Denton; two grandchildren, Tyler Petrick and Hunter Petrick of Denton; his mother, Norine Hoover and stepfather, Mitchell Hoover of Pecos; a sister, Peggy Drake and husband, Jimmy, of Hobbs, N.M.; a brother, Jimmy Ater and wife, Carol, of Arlington; and several nieces and nephews. The family will receive friends in the parlor of the Pollard United Methodist Church immediately after the memorial service. Plans for a memorial service in Odessa at St. Luke's United Methodist Church are pending. If desired, memorials may be made to Pollard United Methodist Church, 3030 Copeland Road, Tyler, Texas 75701 or St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 1601 E. 42nd St., Odessa, 79762. Ralph Dean McManigle Sr SPRINGDALE, Ark. - Ralph Dean McManigle Sr., a former Odessa resident and prominent businessman, passed away Saturday, Jan. 19, 2002, in Springdale, Ark. Dean was born Jan. 22, 1942, in Mount Carmel, Ill., son of M.R. "Dick" McManigle Sr. and Elizabeth Suzanne "Betty" McManigle. Dean's father in 1968, and his mother in 1994, preceded him in death. He is survived by his son, R.D. "Ramey" McManigle Jr., his daughter-in-law Melinda and grandchildren, Avalon Margaret and Ethan Augustus; his brother, M.R. "Dick" McManigle Jr. and his wife Zoe Ann; his brother, Drew McManigle and his wife Sharon; and his nephew, M.R. "Rick" McManigle III and his wife Diane and their children Matthew and Katherine. Dean McManigle, widely known by his family and friends as "Dean-O," moved to Odessa with his parents in 1947. Dean attended Odessa High School where he was a swimmer and was voted Most Handsome by his senior class in 1960. Dean's father had worked as a salesman in the petroleum industry in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Oklahoma prior to moving his family to McCamey. Later they moved to Odessa where in 1954, Mr. McManigle Sr. entered the oil well servicing industry by forming a company that later became known as Devonian Well Service Inc. In 1962, Dean went to work for his father's company as an office manager, sales representative and field consultant until the time of his father's death. In 1968, Dean was appointed president of the company. While at Devonian, he became a prominent well servicing contractor, Oil Show exhibitor and innovator of well servicing equipment specifically designed for the company by local manufacturers. During the growth years of the late 1960s and 1970s, Devonian provided "Top of the Crown" service to every major oil company and most independents in the Permian Basin and eastern New Mexico. Dean had a long-standing interest in the exploration for oil and natural gas. He took his first step "wildcatting" in 1978 when he founded Cambrian Oil Inc., an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. At Cambrian, one of Dean's first efforts was directing the re-entry of a 1950 Jones and Rogers well in Runnels County. The "Miss Clara" No. 1 was highly successful and is still in production today. Cambrian Oil Inc. drilled and re-entered an estimated total of 30 wells in and around Runnels and Coleman counties in Texas, Okmulgee County, Okla., and Lea County, N.M., from 1978 until 1985. In 1979, he formed Cambrian Well Service Inc. to augment his E&P efforts and in 1980, he resigned from Devonian to pursue his private E&P interests. In 1983, he left the oil well servicing industry after 21 years of dedicated service to the Permian Basin. He remained active as an Independent oil and gas producer and president of Hidalgo Oil and Exploration Corp. until the time of his death. During his career in the energy industry, Dean served on the board of directors of the Permian Basin Oil Show and was active in similar industry venues and organizations, including the Association of Oilwell Servicing Contractors. Dean was an avid and accomplished hunter, fisherman and sportsman. He loved the outdoors and the challenge of hunting and fishing while enjoying his family, his friends, a tall tale, a hearty laugh and good "Texas-style" barbecue. Dean was a friend to many and a generous benefactor to family, friends, employees and acquaintances. Above all, he was a beloved son, father and brother. Dean was a Christian who never lost his faith in God or his mercy. He was known as an ardent competitor, a persuasive businessman, and an individualist right to the end of his life. Simply, Dean-O was one of a kind. His family and friends will miss him. A private family service and celebration of his life will be held at McManigle's Kings River Ranch in northwest Arkansas in the spring. The McManigle family suggests that donations be made to Northwest Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute of Springdale, Ark., (N.A.R.T.I.), the Permian Basin Rehabilitation Center or Hospice. AN OLE IRISH BLESSING May the road rise up to meet you, May the wind be always at your back. May the sun, shine warm upon your face, and the rain, fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again-May God hold you, in the palm of His hand. I love you and miss you Dad, Son Sande Leigh Miller WINGATE - Sande Leigh Miller, 37, of Wingate, died Friday, Feb. 8, 2002 at a local medical center. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Elliott-Hamil Funeral Home Chapel of Faith, 5701 Hwy. 277 South. Burial will follow at Wingate Cemetery, directed by Elliott-Hamil Funeral Homes, 5701 Hwy. 277 South. Sande was born Feb. 24, 1964 in Odessa. She graduated from Odessa High School and attended college in Uvalde on a rodeo scholarship. She received an Associate's Degree from Odessa College. She was a member of several barrel racing associations and won All-Around Cowgirl in 1977 with AJRA and many more awards throughout the years of her rodeo career. Survivors include her parents, Arbie and Betty Miller of Wingate; a grandmother, Lorene Phillips; a special friend, Murmur Tuckness; several aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Association, P.O. Box 41 Abilene, Texas 79604. Dorothy Ann Bates Martin ODESSA - Dorothy Ann Bates Martin passed away in her sleep Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2002, at Medical Center Hospital after a lengthy illness. Dorothy, a longtime resident of Odessa, was born June 1, 1928, in Odessa. She was a local artist and longtime employee of TG&Y and Wal-Mart. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, James A. and Dona Martin of Odessa; her daughter, Sue Clark of Seguin; and her daughter and son-in-law, Cathy and Ronnie Adams of Seguin. She is also survived by her two brothers, Tom Bates and his wife Jennie of Spring and Frank Bates of Odessa. Dorothy was blessed and is survived by three grandsons, James Martin Jr. and his wife Sarah, Michael Charles Adams and his wife Francis and children of Lakeside, Calif., and David Eric Adams of Corpus Christi. Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, Bob and Ruth Bates, and her sister, Betty Ann Clark. She will always be our Nanny Martin. Services are pending, and in lieu of flowers, the family wishes memorials be directed to a local charitable organization.