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Page A50
OCTOBER 2014
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
CHARLES EDWIN HESS
of Danville, WV former-
ly of Williamson, WV
died August 22, 2014 at
the age of 90. He was a li-
censed funeral director for
67 years and employed at
Handley Funeral Home
for 37 years.
B.F. “BUDDY” LORIMER, III
of Chattanooga, TN died
August 30, 2014 at the age
of 72. He was a licensed
Tennessee funeral director
and embalmer at
Chatta-
nooga Funeral Home.
He
worked at
Booth Funeral
Home
in Rockwood, TN
during high school. He
graduated from the
John A.
Gupton College of Mortuary
Science
in 1963.
CAROL B. NEILL
of Mooresville, NC died August 31,
2014 at the age of 77. In 1980, he founded
Neill Fu-
neral Home,
operating it for 34 years as a funeral di-
rector before selling it to,
Clint Ingram,
his mentee
in late March. He graduated from the
Cincinnati Col-
lege of Mortuary Science
in 1958.
MAYME THOMASENOR WALKER
“TOMMIE” PEARSON
of Dub-
lin, GA died June 12, 2014 at
the age of 80. She was the own-
er of
Dublin Funeral Home.
WALTER L. SOJKA FUNERAL HOME
of West Town,
IL died August 17, 2014 at the age of 84. He estab-
lished the
Walter L. Sojka Funeral Home
in 1954
and managed it for over 60 years.
STEPHEN G. THIAULT
of Milo, ME died August 15,
2014 at the age of 74. He was employed at Eastern
Maine Medical Center as a phlebotomist and lab
technician. He later moved to Rumford in 1970,
where he purchased and operated the
S. G. Thibault
Funeral Home
until retiring in 2006. He graduated
from the
American Academy McAllister Institute Fu-
neral Service
in 1963.
PASTOR BERNARD “DOC”
WILLIAMS
of Birming-
ham, AL died August 22,
2014 at the age of 62. He
was the president and own-
er of the
Westside Funeral
Home,
which has locations
in Fairfield and Calera. He
was active in several na-
tional associations.
Crematories
and was a
licensed funeral director
since 1944. He served
as past president of the
Cremation Association of
North America, Central
Ohio Funeral Directors
Association, Ohio Funeral
Directors Association,
and
the
National Funeral Di-
rectors Association,
where
he also served as past
governor.
WILLIAM P. “BILL” RUTHERFORD
of Columbus, OH
died August 24, 2014 at the age of 91. He was presi-
dent and CEO of
Rutherford Funeral Homes and
the founder and organiz-
er for the funeral home’s
Tree of Memory Service.
She was past president of
both the
Arkansas Funer-
al Directors Association
and the
Northeast Arkan-
sas Funeral Directors Club.
She also served on several
National Funeral Directors
Association
committees.
She graduated from the
John A. Gupton College of
Mortuary Science.
MELANIE HEATH BRYANT POSEY
of Paragould, AR
died August 30, 2014 at the age of 43. She was a third
generation funeral director, embalmer and assistant
manager of the family business,
Heath Funeral Home,
which was founded by her grandparents, the late
Verlyn
L.
and
Helen Heath
in 1945. In addition, she served as
aged the former
Hunter
& Hunter Funeral Home
in Madison, WV from
1967 until 1970 and was
also a former employee of
Ronald Meadows Funer-
al Home
in Hinton. He
was an associate director
at
Pivont Funeral Home
for the last 12 years. He
graduated from the
Cin-
cinnati College of Mortuary
Science
in 1966.
TERRY LEE PAYNE
of Hinton, WV died August 11,
2014 at the age of 72. He began his career in funeral
service at
E. M. Meadows Funeral Home.
He man-
abama Board of Funeral
Service,
life member and
past District 5 Governor
of the
National Funeral
Directors and Morticians
Association
and member
of the
Alabama Funeral
Directors and Morticians
Association.
He graduat-
ed from the
Jefferson State
Community College of Fu-
neral Service
and was in-
strumental in developing
Leeds Unity Funeral Ser-
vice
in Leeds, AL.
HOWARD JOHNSON, SR
of Bessemer, AL died August
12, 2014 at the age of 87. He began working in the
funeral industry in 1944 under his mentor,
Dr. Ar-
thur George Gaston
at his
Smith and Gaston Fu-
neral Home.
In 1967, he purchased the firm from
Gaston, renaming it
Johnson Memorial Funeral Di-
rectors,
which continues to be operated by his son,
Howard Johnson, Jr.
He was past treasurer of the
Al-
Coviello Carlucci
and
brother,
Leonard
at the
Carlucci Funeral Home
for over 65 years as a li-
censed Pennsylvania fu-
neral director. A graduate
of the
American Acade-
my McAllister Institute of
Funeral Service
in New
York, he was a member of
the
Lackawanna County
Funeral Directors Associa-
tion
and the
Pennsylvania
Funeral Directors Associa-
tion.
MICHAEL JOHN CARLUCCI
of Dunmore, PA died
September 7, 2014 at the age of 94. He worked
alongside his late parents,
John “Jack”
and
Mary
ritory. Following the sud-
den death of his father,
Albert R. Kates
in 1967,
he became vice president
and co-publisher of the
company in addition to
his duties as advertising
manager. In 1975, he be-
came president of Kates-
Boylston Publications. In
2002, he sold the firm to
the
United Communi-
cations Group.
He con-
tinued on at the compa-
ny as publisher emeritus
ADRIAN F. BOYLSTON
of Hilton Head Island, SC
died August 29, 2014 at the age of 87. He served as
publisher of the
American Funeral Director
and
Ameri-
can Cemetery
magazines, and the
Blue Book of Funer-
al Directors
for more than four decades. In 1959, he
joined his father’s company,
Kates-Boylston Publi-
cations
as advertising manager for the Midwest ter-
until 2004. He was inducted into the
National Muse-
um of Funeral History
in 2003; the
International Cem-
etery and Funeral Association Suppliers Hall of Fame
in
1997; and was the recipient of resolutions of recogni-
tion by the
National Funeral Directors Association
in
2002; the
South Carolina Funeral Directors Association
in 2002; and the
Casket & Funeral Supply Association
in 2003. He attended
City College of New York.