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Page A38
JANUARY 2015
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
MARY BARBER COX
of
Bainbridge, GA died No-
vember 24, 2014 at the age
of 84. She worked alongside
her late husband,
Walter,
in
the family business,
Cox Fu-
neral Home.
She held a li-
cense as an apprentice funer-
al director.
ALFRED RALPH DAVIS
of Pamplico, SC died Novem-
ber 28, 2014 at the age of 66. He was a licensed fu-
neral director and manager at
Moses Funeral Home
for over 40 years. He was a member of the
South Car-
olina Morticians Association, Inc,
Sixth District Con-
gressional Morticians Association
and the
National Fu-
neral Directors and Morticians Association.
BOBBY ERWIN
of Pulaski, TN
died November 7, 2014 at the
age of 75. He was the former
owner and active funeral direc-
tor of
Carr & Erwin Funeral
Home.
VIRGINIA DIANE FIDLER
of Belle, WV died Novem-
ber 28, 2014 at the age of 71. She was a retired sec-
retary at
Fidler and Frame Funeral Home.
She was
a member of the
West Virginia Funeral Directors As-
sociation.
J. ALLAN GAHAGAN
of Dav-
enport, IA died November
23, 2104 at the age of 91. He
worked as a licensed funer-
al director for over 40 years
at
Hodgson, Esterdahl
and
Wheelan Funeral Homes.
He
retired in 1986.
HAROLD EUGENE “HANK” GIBSON
of Ripley, WV
died November 28, 2014 at the age of 59. He was pre-
viously employed at
Bartlett-Burdette Funeral Home
in Charleston before moving to Ripley, where he
served his funeral service apprenticeship with
Parsons
Funeral Home.
He ended his career as a funeral atten-
dant with
Waybright Funeral Home.
He was a mem-
ber of the
West Virginia Funeral Directors Association.
AMOS LEWIS
of Titusville,
FL died November 11, 2014
at the age of 86. He was the
founder of the former
Sun-
set Funeral Home,
current-
ly the
Lewis-Ray Mortuary,
Inc
owned by his daughter
,
Deloris Ray-Ferguson.
He
served the community for
over 40 years.
OLIVER CROMWELL “O.C”
PENNINGTON JR.
of Raleigh,
NC died November 9, 2014 at
the age of 85. He was a third
generation funeral director for
nearly 50 years, working along-
side his father at the
Penning-
ton Smith Funeral Home.
In
1972, they merged with
Brown-
Wynne Funeral Home,
where
he served as vice president until
his retirement in 2004.
LOHMAN HARTCOURT RAHMING
of Deerfield Beach,
FL died November 26, 2014 at the age of 67. He was
the owner, operator and licensed funeral director at
Rahming-Poitier Funeral Home
, where he special-
ized in the art of embalming and restorative art.
FRANCIS “F. W.” STANLEY JR.
of Shelby, NC died
September 5, 2014 at the age of 84. He was a fifth
generation funeral director, owner and operator of
Stanley Funeral Home
in Goldsboro. He closed the
family business in 1963. He graduated from the
Cin-
cinnati College of Mortuary Science
in 1953, and is the
only person to date to score “100” on the North Car-
olina State Board of Funeral Service Science Exam.
MERLIN D. BRUBAKER
of
Bettendorf, IA died Novem-
ber 25, 2014 at the age of 93.
He was a funeral director at
several Iowa funeral homes
including:
Bickford Funeral
Home,
Greenfield;
Vieth Fu-
neral Home,
Oakland;
Van
Dyke Funeral Home,
Pella;
Dunns Funeral Home,
Des
Moines;
McGinnis Funer-
al Home,
Bettendorf;
Run-
ge Mortuary,
where he retired from active service
in 1986 after 14½ years; and recently had worked at
Orr’s Mortuary
from 1986 until present.
L. C. MAY
of Anderson, IN
died September 25, 2014 at
the age of 82. He was a licensed
funeral director and embalmer
for 50 years at the
L. C. May
Funeral Home,
which he es-
tablished in 1960. He served
his apprenticeship under the
leadership of
Leonard Under-
wood
at
Underwood Funer-
al Home.
He graduated from
the
Indiana College of Mortuary Science
in 1958, was a
member of the
Indiana Funeral Directors Association.
VIRGIL L. HOWARD
of Ole-
an, NY, formerly of Shingle-
house, PA died November
16, 2014 at the age of 92.
He along with his wife
Bet-
te,
owned and operated the
Virgil L. Howard Funeral
Home
in Shinglehouse, PA,
having taken over from his
father-in-law,
Howard Mor-
ton,
who had owned and op-
erated the former
Morton Funeral Home
in Shin-
glehouse. They retired on June 1, 1984, when
Kevin
and
Patricia Dusenbury
purchased the funeral home
which continues to operate in Shinglehouse. A 1948
graduate of
Cleveland College of Mortuary Science,
he
was a member of the
National Funeral Directors Asso-
ciation, Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association
and
the former
Tioga-Potter Funeral Directors Association.
Daniel-Richmond Funer-
al Home.
In 1983, a second
location was added in Gulf-
port and
Richmond Funer-
al Home
was established. A
1961 graduate of
Common-
wealth College of Funeral Ser-
vice
, he was a member of
the
National Funeral Direc-
tors and Morticians Associa-
tion
and
Mississippi’s Southern
District Association of Funeral
Directors.
JESSE BENJAMIN RICHMOND JR
of Gulfport, MS
died August 2, 2014 at the age of 73. He was licensed
in the state of Louisiana and Mississippi as a funeral
director and embalmer. He served his apprenticeship
at
Cook-Richmond Funeral Home
in Bogalusa, un-
der the direction of his uncle,
Moses L. Richmond.
His uncle,
Silas Richmond
referred him to the late
W. B. McDaniel,
former owner of the
W. B. Mc-
Daniel & Son Funeral Home
in Biloxi. In 1980, he
purchased the firm from McDaniel, renaming it
Mc-
the property and retired. She
worked at Buszka for a short
period of time after the sale
and later became an affiliate
of
Pietszak Funeral Home.
She received honorary mem-
bership from the
Erie-Niag-
ara Funeral Directors Associa-
tion
in 2013, was a member
of both the
New York State Fu-
neral Directors Association
and
National Funeral Directors As-
sociation.
MARY A. SEMSKI
of Buffalo, NY died November 11,
2014 at the age of 92. She studied undertaking under
her parents
, John J.
and
Sophia Buszka,
founders of
the
John J. Buszka Funeral Home.
After apprenticing
under her father, she received a New York State under-
taking license, which allowed her to own and operate
a funeral home. She took over operations of the family
business after her father passed away in 1948. In 1964,
she and her husband,
Leonard J. Semski
established
Buszka Funeral Home
at Clinton and South Ogden
Streets. In 1985, her husband died and she continued
to manage the business alone until 2005 when she sold
minority-owned crematori-
um in Columbia. A graduate
of the
Atlanta College of Mor-
tuary Science,
he was a mem-
ber of the
Epsilon Nu Delta
Mortuary Fraternity,
served
as District 2 Governor and
state convention coordinator
for the
South Carolina Mor-
ticians Association;
and was
the South Carolina Board of
Funeral Service president in
1969.
EZEKIEL HILLIARD TREZEVANT JR
of Columbia, SC
died November 28, 2014 at the age of 83. He found-
ed the
Trezevant Funeral Home,
which was the first
DONALD L. WINANS
of Cor-
tland, OH died November
14, 2014 at the age of 71. He
was a licensed funeral director
and co-owner of the
Shafer-
Williams Funeral Home
for
26 years. He was a past presi-
dent of the
Trumbull, Mahon-
ing
and
Columbiana County
Funeral Directors Association,
and member of the
Ohio Fu-
neral Directors Association,
where he served on the board of directors; and the
Na-
tional Funeral Directors Association.
He graduated from
the
Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science
in 1968.
Death Notices
Send obituary information to Funeral Home & Cemetery News, PO Box 5159, Youngstown, OH 44514 • Fax (800) 321-9040 • E-mail info@nomispublications.com