September 2020

Page A38 SEPTEMBER 2020 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A JOHN ANDREW COWAN of Van Wert, OH died August 8, 2020 at the age of 47. A graduate of the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, he was a funeral director with Cowan & Son Funeral Home for twenty-two years. STEVEN MITCHELL DOBBS of Sils- bee, TX died July 23, 2020 at the age of 59. He was a funeral director and embalmer in Texas for twelve years, having served Farmer Funeral Home. He graduated from the Com- monwealth Institute of Funeral Service. ANITA A. FLOWERS of Dublin, OH died July 18, 2020 at the age of 92. She worked alongside her husband, Frank, in owning and operating the Flowers Funer- al Home in Mount Vernon, OH from 1959 to 1981. PATRICK HANCOCK of Batesville, AR died July 25, 2020 at the age of 80. He was a licensed funeral di- rector for almost thirty years. CYNTHIA MESSINA of Coral Springs, FL died August 1, 2020 at the age of 58. Originally from Cleve- land, OH, Cindy moved to Florida for a career with SCI. A funeral direc- tor for 35 years, she was the manag- er at Kraeer Funeral Home in Coral Springs. She was a graduate of Cin- cinnati College of Mortuary Science. JAMES W. PIRKLE of Washington, IN died July 29, 2020 at the age of 85. In 1957 he joined the Gill Brothers as funeral director/mor- tician and upon their retirement in 1974, Pirkle assumed ownership of the firm. He owned and operated it alongside his wife, Margaret for over fifty years. He graduated from the Indiana College of Mortuary Science. H. E. SHELTON of Marietta, GA died July 18, 2020 at the age of 85. He attended mortuary school in Atlanta before purchasing the Hanley Com- pany Funeral Home. He contin- ued to own and operate the Hanley- Shelton Funeral Home for 51 years. WILLIAM LYVONE “LOWBOY” THORNTON of Bono, AR died July 18, 2020 at the age of 75. A licensed funeral director and minister, he worked at Roller-Farmers Union Funeral Home for twelve years. MARY MARGARET ROEDER TRISKA of El Campo, TX died July 18, 2020 at the age of 95. A retired funeral di- rector, she was the former owner of Triska Funeral Home. LOIS P. VILLASEÑOR of Austin, TX died July 28, 2020 at the age of 87. A funeral director for over 40 years, she was the founder and owner of Mis- sion Funeral Home. A 1961 gradu- ate of the Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service , she was the first His- panic woman to serve on the Tex- as Funeral Service commission as a 1989 appointee. Villaseñor served six years before being asked to serve as the commission’s interim director. JOHN “BUBBA” BENTON WOOD- FIN of Murfreesboro, TN died July 4, 2020 at the age of 85. He was a fourth generation funeral director at Woodfin Funeral Chapel, which was established by his great-grand- father in 1893. A 1957 graduate of the John A. Gupton College of Mor- tuary Science, he served as president of the Tennessee Funeral Directors Association in 1974-1975 and was a former officer with National Selected Morticians, which is now the Selected Independent Funeral Homes. ROBERT JOSEPH MICHAEL O’BRIEN of Aldershot, Ontario died August 6, 2020 at the age of 93. He began working for Holy Sepulchre Cem- etery in 1942 and was named su- perintendent in 1951. O’Brien was appointed executive director of The Catholic Cemeteries of the Dio- cese of Hamilton in 1970, retiring in 2011. He was board secretary, president and a 50-year member of the Ontar- io Catholic Cemetery Conference; a member and two-term president of the Ontario Association of Cemeteries & Funer- al Professionals (OACFP). O’Brien received the Certified Catholic Cemetery Executive (CCCE) designation award. GEORGE ONDRICK of Clarks Sum- mit, PA died July 17, 2020 at the age of 88. He served the funeral profes- sion for more than sixty years as a fu- neral director and as a representative for embalming suppliers. Ondrick formerly owned a funeral home in Clarks Green and later assisted area funeral directors. A graduate of the Simmons Institute of Funeral Service, he was a member of the Lackawanna County Funeral Di- rectors Association, Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association and the National Funeral Directors Association. ROBERT MARTIN NORTON JR of Parker, CO died February 17, 2020 at the age of 67. He and his wife, Mere- dith established the Plainview Funer- al Home, Inc in Plainview, NY and after moving to Colorado, the Parker Funeral Home, Inc was established in 1992 and later the Elizabeth Funeral Home and Crematory was opened. A member of the National Funeral Directors Association and the Cremation Association of North America, Norton graduat- ed from the New England Institute of Mortuary Science and the State University of NewYork (SUNY) at Farmingdale, where he received a degree in mortuary science in 1978. ALBERT A. OPACITY of Lyndhurst, NJ died June 24, 2020 at the age of 69. A licensed New Jersey and New York funeral director, he owned and operated the Opacity Funeral Home in Kenilworth alongside his wife, Ida for the past twenty years. A graduate of the John A. Gupton College of Mor- tuary Science, he was an adjunct pro- fessor of mortuary science at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, NJ for twenty-eight years. Opacity later taught at Eastwick College in Hackensack, NJ. He was a Certified Fu- neral Service Practitioner through the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice and was a member of the British Insti- tute of Embalmers, New Jersey State Funeral Directors Associa- tion, and served as past president of the Essex, Union and West Hudson Funeral Directors Association. JIMMIE DALE “JIM” FOHN of Cass- ville, MO died June 29, 2020 at the age of 71. A 1970 graduate of the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Sci- ence, he worked for Hedges Funer- al Home in Camdenton before pur- chasing the Foster Memorial Home in Kirksville. While in Kirksville he became Adair County Coroner and served until the end of 1989, when he sold that funeral home. In 1990, Jim pur- chased the Axley Funeral Home in Cassville, changing the name to Fohn Funeral Home and ultimately purchased the Williamson Funeral Home in Cassville and Shell Knob and McQueen Funeral Home in Wheaton in 1995, combin- ing the Cassville facilities to the current location in 2005. He served as Barry County coroner from 2008 until his death. KRYAN“KY”MILLER of Hermiston, OR died July 28, 2020 at the age of 74. In 1972 he began working for Wilson Funeral Home in Midland and later served as manager. Miller became the sole shareholder in 1987 and renamed it Wilson Miller Fu- neral Home. He then moved opera- tions from Ashman Street to its cur- rent location on Saginaw Road, which is where he lived with his dogs until he moved to Oregon. He graduated from the Worsham College of Mortuary Science. JOHN L FREUND of Marengo, IL died August 4, 2020 at the age of 70. A funeral director, he apprenticed with George R. Justen & Son Fu- neral Home before working at the Warner & Flagg Funeral Home in Crystal Lake. He owned and oper- ated the Freund Funeral Home in Wonder Lake from 1978-1983. He purchased Cooper Funeral Home in Marengo and then formed Marengo-Union Funeral Home. In 1992 Freund purchased the Querhammer Funeral Home in Crystal Lake, which merged with Warner-Flagg in 1998. He later partnered with Frederick and James A. O’Connor Funeral Homes to continue serving the Marengo-Union community. A 1971 graduate of the Worsham College of Mortuary Science, he was president of the McHenry County Funeral Directors As- sociation, regional director of the Illinois Funeral Directors As- sociation and was the deputy coroner of McHenry County. WILLIAM G. “BILL” BAKER of Ar- lington, TX died July 12, 2020 at the age of 85. He served in the fu- neral business for over 55 years and was the managing director of Ar- lington Funeral Home for many years. A graduate of the John A. Gup- ton College of Mortuary Science, Bill tenured as president of the North Texas Funeral Directors Association as well as the Texas Funeral Directors Board in Austin and was named the 1995-1996 Funeral Director of the Year. DAVID F. “SCOTTIE” ERNST JR of Standford, KY died July 14, 2020 at the age of 61. A 1982 graduate of the Mid-America College of Funeral Ser- vice, he was part owner of Fox Funer- al Home and Barnett & Demrow Funeral Homes in Lincoln County before serving the past 18 years at Kerr Brothers Funeral Home in Lexington as a licensed funeral director. Scottie was deputy coroner for Lincoln County for several years. MARQUIS DELAFAYETTE DOTSON SR of Franklin, TN died March 12, 2020 at the age of 94. He founded Dotson’s Funeral Home in Athens, TN and later expanded into Cleve- land, TN. A 1948 graduate of the Gupton-Jones College of Mortuary Sci- ence, he served as president and chair- man of the Tennessee State Funeral Directors and Morticians Association. Featuring News Funeral Home & Cemetery online If you have an obituary you would like to see listed here, please send information to PO Box 5159, Youngstown, OH 44514 • Fax 1-800-321-9040 • info@nomispublications.com 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 a a H. PAGE MELSON of Harbeson, DE, formerly of Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, DE died May 21, 2020 at the age of 85. A retired funeral director, he owned and operated the Page Melson Funeral Home in Rehoboth Beach for many years. He was a graduate of from the Eckels College of Mortuary Science.