Potter Co. TX - Obits from Amarillo Online Newspapers 21 May 2001 Copyright, http://www.amarillonet.com/ ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Darren McCathern (quohadi@quackquack.com) Thanks to the Amarillo Newspapers for allowing us to place their online obits in the USGenWeb Archives ==================================================================== Emma Lee Bradford PAMPA - Emma Lee Bradford, 76, died Saturday, May 19, 2001, in Amarillo. Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Todd Dyess, pastor, officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery by Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Directors. Mrs. Bradford married Carl LaDon Bradford on Sept. 25, 1942, at Watonga, Okla. She had lived in Pampa since 1948. Survivors include her husband; a daughter, Beverly Alexander of Pampa; three sons, James Bradford of Mundelein, Ill., Ralph Bradford of San Antonio and Steve Bradford of Frisco; a sister, Betty Keeler of Richardson; a brother, Bennett Cole of Tulsa, Okla.; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. The family suggests memorials be to First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 1981, Pampa, TX 79066-1981. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Anastasia Nicole and Brittney Nichelle Warren BORGER - Anastasia Nicole and Brittney Nichelle Warren, infant twins of Kimberly and James Warren III, died Friday, May 18, 2001, in Amarillo. Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Stinnett Cemetery at Stinnett with the Rev. Terry Corbett, pastor of Christian Fellowship Church, officiating. Arrangements are by Minton / Chatwell Funeral Directors. Survivors include their parents; a brother, James Arthur Warren IV; grandparents, Wade and Linda Pettit, Rocky and Shela Skidmore and James and Sandra Warren, all of Borger; great-grandparents, Ralph and Selma Wagner of Stinnett and Roy and Mary VanLoon, Wanda and Bill Skidmore and Irene Johns, all of Borger; and great-great-grandparents, Evelyn Lea of Borger and Loren Ballenger of Rushville, Ill. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Gordon E. Kirby SPEARMAN - Gordon E. Kirby, 69, died Thursday, May 17, 2001. Memorial services will be at 2 p.m. today in Union Church with the Rev. Bill Sparks officiating. Arrangements are by Boxwell Brothers Funeral Home of Spearman. Mr. Kirby was a member of the Baptist church. He worked for Perryton Equity. Survivors include three daughters, Deborah LaMonica of Krum, Barbra Fight of Spearman and JoLynn McCloud of Bakersfield, Calif.; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. The family suggests memorials be to Hansford Hospice, 707 S. Roland, Spearman, TX 79070. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Amarillo Aspen Nicole Childers Aspen Nicole Childers, infant daughter of Mandy and Darrol Childers II, of Amarillo, died Friday, May 18, 2001. Graveside services will be at 11 a.m. Monday in Llano Cemetery with the Rev. Scott Greer and the Rev. Boyd Hamlin, both of Paramount Terrace Christian Church, officiating. Arrangements are by Schooler Funeral Home, 4100 S. Georgia St. Survivors include her parents; a sister, Baylee Joyce Childers of Amarillo; grandparents, Patricia Childers, Darrol G. Childers Sr., and Dee and Bobby Beckham, all of Amarillo, and Dennis and Jan Dodson of Weatherford; and great-grandparents, Bill and LaVerne Williams of Amarillo, Velma Lindsey of Big Spring and Mackie and Barbara Ross of Weatherford. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Pat Patterson Pat Patterson, 47, of Amarillo, died Friday, May 18, 2001. Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Blackburn-Shaw Funeral Directors, Memorial Chapel, 315 E. Fifth Ave., with the Rev. Rick Rice of Bykota Baptist Church officiating. Burial will be in Llano Cemetery. Mrs. Patterson was born in Springer, N.M. She was a longtime resident of Amarillo. A member of Bykota Baptist Church, she worked for Pantex for the past 22 years. Survivors include her husband, Doug Patterson of Amarillo; two daughters, Jimmi Chris Ross and Holli Patterson, both of Amarillo; her parents, C.C. and Dorothy Mitchell of Amarillo; a brother, Hollis Mitchell of Amarillo; a sister, Sybil Smith of Fremont, Calif.; and five grandchildren, Johnny, Brittany, Shai, Desirae and Joseph, all of Amarillo. Mrs. Patterson will not be available for viewing. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 LaVonna Alene Mitchell LaVonna Alene Mitchell, 67, of Amarillo, died Saturday, May 19, 2001. Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Brentwood Chapel at Schooler Funeral Home, 4100 S. Georgia St., with Neil Ragan officiating and Jacob Urick and Ron Noble assisting. Burial will be in Memory Gardens Cemetery. Mrs. Mitchell was born in Guymon. She married Donald Mitchell in 1957 at Texas County in Oklahoma. She was a member of the Apostolic Faith Church in Amarillo. She was active in church activities, including teaching Sunday school classes. Survivors include her husband; a son, Kevin Mitchell and his wife, Lisa, of Amarillo; two grandsons, Nathan Mitchell and Matthew Mitchell; a sister, Bernita Lookingbill of Elk City, Okla.; and a brother, Melvin Webb of Fairfax, Okla. Visitation will be from 6 to 7 p.m. today at the funeral home. The family suggests memorials be to Apostolic Faith Church, 628 N. Bivins, Amarillo, TX 79107. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Leonard Joseph Beller Mass will be at 3 p.m. Tuesday in St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church with Monsignor Joseph Tash of the church officiating. Burial will be in Llano Cemetery by Schooler Funeral Home, 4100 S. Georgia St. A former resident of Dalhart, Mr. Beller had lived in Amarillo since 1968. He served with the Marines during the Korean War. He was a member of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church. Survivors include two daughters, Teri Gardner of Bryan/College Station, Elizabeth Putman of Sierra Vista, Ariz.; a son, Mike Beller of Amarillo; three sisters, Margaret Skinner and Alice Phillips, both of Kansas City, Kan., and Betty Hollan of St. Paul, Kan.; and a brother, Bob Beller of Dalhart. The family suggests memorials be to Crown of Texas Hospice; or St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Sophia E. Hermesmeyer Sophia E. Hermesmeyer, 92, of Amarillo, died Saturday, May 19, 2001, in Panhandle. Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the chapel at Schooler-Gordon Funeral Directors, 5400 Bell St., with Father Crosier of St. Joseph's Catholic Church officiating. Burial will be in Llano Cemetery. Mrs. Hermesmeyer was born on Jan. 1, 1909, in Electra. Survivors include a son, Lawrence Hermesmeyer Jr. of Amarillo; a sister, Elizabeth Cranmer of Amarillo; three grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. The family suggests memorials be to St. Joseph's Catholic Church School. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Johny Jones Johny Jones, 82, of Amarillo, died Saturday, May 19, 2001. Memorial services will be at a later date. Arrangements are by Schooler Funeral Home, 4100 S. Georgia St. Survivors include three daughters, Mary Fernandez of Berryville, Ark., Janie Hensley of Amarillo and Kathy Blair of Hurst; four sons, Johnny Ray Jones of The Colony, David Jones of Amarillo, Charlie Jones of Denton and Jeff Jones of West Germany; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Heide Morgan Heide Morgan, 61, of Amarillo, died Wednesday, May 16, 2001. Memorial services will be at 10 a.m. today in Chapel of Memories at Memorial Park Funeral Home, 6969 E. Interstate 40. Mrs. Morgan graduated from Texas State Technical Institute. She moved to Amarillo in 1968 from Germany. Survivors include a son, David Morgan of Amarillo; a daughter, Gabriele Greeson of Kill Devil Hills, N.C.; a brother, Echart Podbielski of Germany; two sisters, Ute Frenzel of Germany and Puppi Jones of Shasta Lake, Calif.; and three grandchildren. The family suggests memorials be to BSA Hospice. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 New Mexico Lydia D. Jones CLOVIS, N.M. - Lydia D. Jones, 96, died Saturday, May 19, 2001. Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the chapel at Steed Todd Funeral Home with Pastor Larry Tedrow officiating. Burial will be in Lawn Haven Memorial Gardens. Mrs. Jones worked for the Public Health Department at Curry County Courthouse until her retirement. She married Marvin Robert Jones on May 3, 1925, at Olton, Texas. Survivors include a grandson, Michael Ray Jones of Edgewood; two granddaughters, Kyla Kay Nelson of Abernathy, Texas, and Marilyn Ann Swope of Cedar Creek, Texas; nine great!arandchildren; and a great-great-grandchild. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Arthur Lawrence Martinez SPRINGER, N.M. - Arthur Lawrence Martinez, 62, died Friday, May 18, 2001, at Clovis. Graveside services will be at 1:30 p.m. today in Santa Fe National Cemetery at Santa Fe. Arrangements are by Steed-Todd Funeral Home of Clovis. Mr. Martinez was born on Sept. 28, 1938, at Sweetwater Ranch to Alfred and Antonita Sanchez Martinez. He retired from the Army as a sergeant first class after 21 years of service. Survivors include three sons, Fred Martinez of San Antonio, Texas, Frank Martinez of Santa Fe and Francisco Martinez of New York; two daughters, Frances Sample and Florence McLaughlin, both of Shawnee, Okla.; two brothers, Alfred Martinez of Santa Fe and John Mares of Clovis; a sister, Ester Mares of Clovis; and 10 grandchildren. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Vera Delene Musser CLAYTON, N.M. - Vera Delene Hight Musser, 88, died Friday, May 18, 2001, in Fort Worth, Texas. Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Clayton Memorial Cemetery with the Rev. Tom Smith, son-in-law and retired Methodist minister, officiating. Arrangements are by Hass Funeral Directors. Mrs. Musser was born to David Milford and Bertha Pearl (Van Buskirk) Hight on Aug. 1, 1912, in Vance. She married Hughey E. Musser on May 28, 1931, at Clayton. Survivors include a daughter, Helen Smith of Arlington, Texas; a sister, Sally Parker of San Angelo, Texas; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Oklahoma Olen Sebon Mitchell NORMAN, Okla. - Olen Sebon Mitchell, 89, died Friday, May 18, 2001. Services will be at 11 a.m. today in Tipton Church of Christ at Tipton with Mr. Eddie Stolz officiating and Mr. Kerry Don McDaniel assisting. Burial will be in Tipton Cemetery at Tipton by Havenbrook Funeral Home. Mr. Mitchell married Lucile Kelly on July 31, 1939. He farmed and ranched in the Tipton area for more than 50 years. Survivors include his wife; a son, Dewight Mitchell of Norman; three daughters, Carroll Kilpatrick of Amarillo, Texas, Kara McDaniel of Arlington, Texas, and Cindy Jobin of De Kalb Junction, N.Y.; seven grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 John Dale Blanchard CHICKASHA, Okla. - John Dale Blanchard, 59, of the Alex area, died Saturday, May 19, 2001, in Chickasha. Services will be at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the chapel at Sevier Funeral Home. Burial will be in Fairlawn Cemetery. Mr. Blanchard was raised in Amarillo, Texas. He worked for the Texas State Prison System until his retirement in 1999. Survivors include his wife, Lynda Blanchard of the home; two sons, Ross Blanchard of Canyon, Texas, and Mike Blanchard of Amarillo; two stepsons, Donny O'Rand of Amarillo and Jody O'Rand of Durango, Colo.; his mother, Eullalah Blanchard of Chickasha; a sister, Eloise Snell of Whitesboro, Texas; and six grandchildren. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 William Everett Holland GUYMON, Okla. - William Everett Holland, 88, died Friday, May 18, 2001. Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in First Christian Church with the Rev. Don Chase officiating. Burial will be in Elmhurst Cemetery by Bunch-Roberts Funeral Home. Mr. Everett married Ovie C. Ralstin on July 30, 1938. He was a member of the Guymon Elks Lodge, where he served on the board of directors for eight years and was Exalted Ruler. Survivors include six children, Anna Marie Holland of Houston, William Eugene Holland of Olathe, Kan., Marilyn Gayle Cross of Bethany, Okla., and Randy Lee Holland, Rita Lynn Ellzey and Ross Dean Holland, all of Guymon; 12 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. The family suggests memorials be to the American Diabetes Association; or Guymon First Christian Church. Mail memorials to Bunch-Roberts Funeral Home, P.O. Box 1112, Guymon, OK 73942. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Elsewhere Calvin Davis Jr. LUBBOCK - Calvin Davis Jr., 76, died Friday, May 18, 2001. Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. today in Resthaven Memorial Park. Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. today in Second Baptist Church with Dr. Rev. Charles F. Johnson officiating. Arrangements are by Franklin Bartley Funeral Home. Mr. Davis was born on Sept. 17, 1924, in Ira Dell. He had been a resident of Lubbock since 1974. He served with the Navy in the Pacific and Atlantic during World War II. He graduated from Sam Norwood High School, Wayland Baptist University at Plainview and Southwestern Baptist Seminary School. He also studied sociology at St. Mary's University at San Antonio. From 1955 until his retirement in 1981, Mr. Davis worked for the Department of Human Resource, Child Protective Services. He worked in the cities of Lubbock, Houston, Beaumont and El Paso. He was a member of Second Baptist Church, the Knife and Fork Club of Lubbock and the Kiwanis Club. For the past year, he was a volunteer chaplain at University Medical Center. He was preceded in death by two sisters, Ann Wooten in 1993 and Marion Volentine in 1990. Survivors include two sisters, Glenn Etta Cone of Artesia, N.M., and Ruth Jenkins of Amarillo; and a brother, Horace Davis of Red Oak. The family suggests memorials be to Second Baptist Church, 5300 Elgin Avenue, Lubbock, TX 79413. The family will receive friends after memorial services at Second Baptist Church. Amarillo Globe-News May 21, 2001 Other Deaths Gwen Bagni Dubov LOS ANGELES (AP) - Gwen Bagni Dubov, an award-winning writer of radio, TV and movie scripts who co-wrote the pilot for TV's "Mod Squad," died Monday after a brief illness. She was 88. Born into a vaudeville family, Dubov moved to Hollywood in 1937 to become an actress. She got a job as a secretary at Paramount Pictures and went on to write for radio, including the popular drama "Suspense!" and later for television shows such as "Playhouse 90" and "Four Star Theater." In 1953, she won the best teleplay award from the Writers Guild of America for "The Last Voyage," which she co-wrote with her husband, actor John Bagni. He died in 1954 and nine years later she married screenwriter Paul Dubov. Their courtship inspired 1968's "With Six You Get Eggroll," which was Doris Day's last film. The Dubovs later wrote a novel based on the movie. The Dubovs won a Writers Guild award in 1979 for "Backstairs at the White House," and their novel based on the TV miniseries became a best seller. Monsignor John J. Egan CHICAGO (AP) - Monsignor John J. Egan, one of the first Roman Catholic priests to take part in the nation's civil rights movement, died Saturday. He was 84. The cause of death was complications from cardiovascular disease, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago said. He died at the rectory of Holy Name Cathedral. "He cared about poor people. He was always anxious to battle against injustice and racism," said Bishop Timothy J. Lyne, a longtime friend. "His great strength was bringing people together in various social causes." Egan also worked to give positions of authority to lay people in the church, said his biographer, Margery Frisbie. Egan was one of the first Catholic priests to march in the civil rights campaigns in Alabama in the early 1960s. "He was there early on," Frisbie said. "In effect, that gave permission to Catholic priests, nuns and lay people to go there - to get involved." Born in New York on Oct. 9, 1916, he moved as a child to Chicago and attended DePaul University in Chicago. Susannah McCorkle NEW YORK (AP) - Susannah McCorkle, a jazz and cabaret singer who performed in major clubs and concert halls throughout the country, died Saturday. She was 55. A preliminary investigation indicated that McCorkle jumped to her death from her Manhattan apartment, police said. McCorkle was known for a gimmick-free style that evoked both warmth and humor, and for an ability to convey a wide range of emotions across a repertoire of more than 2,000 songs. She started singing in jazz clubs in Italy and Great Britain, and her first recording was released in 1976. She was also an accomplished writer, with work published in The O. Henry Awards Prize Stories, New York magazine, Newsday, and Cosmopolitan. Her 1986 album "How Do You Keep The Music Playing?" won a Stereo Review Record of the Year Award. Hiram Z. Mendow LA JOLLA, Calif. (AP) - Hiram Z. Mendow, who defended Al Capone and other mobsters during Prohibition and was still practicing law at the age of 100, died May 11 at a retirement home. He was 107. Mendow lived in Minneapolis until he was 100 and earned a national reputation by defending bootleggers and gangsters, including Capone. His best-known case, however, involved an American Indian accused of killing a man during a 1935 riot in Minneapolis. A photograph in Time magazine showed the man wielding a baseball bat above someone lying on the ground. Mendow produced the supposed murder victim, who turned out to be very much alive. He was nicknamed "Judge" after serving as a municipal judge for a year in 1923 but declined reappointment, saying he would rather defend people than jail them. Thomas M. Tierney BALTIMORE (AP) - Thomas M. Tierney, director of the national Medicare program from 1967 until 1978, died Friday in Baltimore. He was 82. Tierney had been president of the Colorado Blue Cross for 10 years when President Johnson asked him to lead Medicare, a year after the program was started. He held that position longer than any of the program's other chiefs, serving under four presidents. He retired from federal service in 1985. During World War II, he served in the 9th Air Force in Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Croix de Guerre and Purple Heart.