November 2019

Page A38 NOVEMBER 2019 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A JOHN E. “JAKE” BAALS of Northfield, NJ died Septem- ber 12, 2019 at the age of 59. A licensed funeral director, he worked at the Godfrey Funeral Homes for over 20 years and graduated from the Cincinnati College of Mortu- ary Science in 1984. ELISSA ANN “DR. D” DEBENEDICTIS of Pleasant- ville, NY died September 18, 2019 at the age of 49. She worked at American Acad- emy McAllister Institute for 22 years as a professor, direc- tor of academic support and coordinator of clinical em- balming. KENNETH HAROLD SCHROM of Salem, OH died Octo- ber 6, 2019 at the age of 87. He worked for several funer- al homes in northeast Ohio as a licensed funeral direc- tor and graduated from the Cleveland School of Mortuary Science. PATRICK JASON MAYO of Stevens Point, WI died Sep- tember 24, 2019 at the age of 46. A licensed funeral direc- tor, he served his apprentice- ship at Schmidt and Bartelt Funeral Service in Milwau- kee. During his funeral ser- vice career, he was employed at Bradley Funeral Home in Antigo, Gunderson Funer- al Home in Madison, Peter- son-Kramer Funeral Home in Wausau, and at the time of his passing Helke Funeral Home in Wausau. Mayo graduated from the funeral service program at Milwaukee Area Technical College. JACK W. HOTTINGER of Mar- ion, OH died September 28, 2019 at the age of 81. A li- censed funeral director and embalmer for 53 years, he be- gan working at Croll Funeral Homes as a non-licensed as- sociate in Grand Rapids and Tontogany before becoming manager of Witzler-Shank Funeral Home in Bowling Green. In 1975, Jack moved to Marion to pursue the opportunity to be the succes- sion plan for Harold Denzer Sr. and Jr., to own and operate the Denzer Funeral Home, in partnership with Gene Farison. Jack and his wife, Marilyn owned and operated the Denzer-Farison-Hottinger Funeral Home together for thirty one years, until 2006, when Chad Snyder and the Snyder Funeral Homes family acquired ownership. He continued helping at the fu- neral home for as long as he was able. A 1964 graduate of the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, he was a member of the Ohio Funeral Directors Association. ated Schoonmaker Funer- al Home Inc, which served the Dutchess County com- munity since 1874. In 2005 Schoonmaker Funeral Home joined Parmele Funeral Home in Poughkeepsie, NY and was renamed Parmele Auchmoody & Schoonmak- er Funeral Home. He gradu- ated from the Simmons Col- lege of Mortuary Science. A. ALLENDORPH “AL” SCHOONMAKER III of Pleas- ant Valley, NY died May 20, 2019 at the age of 74. A fourth generation funeral director, he oper- MARTIN R. DABLE of Wauke- sha, WI died September 19, 2019 at the age of 83. A li- censed funeral director, he worked for Borgwardt Fu- neral Home, Molthen Bell Funeral Home and John J. Walloch Funeral Home be- fore purchasing the former Hansen Funeral Home in 1972 with his partner Wil- liam Randle. He remained co-owner of the Randle-Dable Funeral Home until his retirement. A graduate of the Wisconsin Institute of Mortuary Science, he served on the board of directors for Randle-Dable-Brisk Funeral Home and was a member of the Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association. MARK C. KOWALCZYK of New York Mills, NY died Oc- tober 2, 2019 at the age of 54. A licensed New York State fu- neral director, he began his career in funeral service with the J. S. Waterman Funeral Homes in Boston, MA and the Griswold Funeral Homes in Schenectady, NY. He later joined his father in the oper- ation of Kowalczyk Funeral Homes, Inc in Utica and New York Mills, where he served as vice president and co- owner. He received his degree in funeral service from the New England Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1987 and was a member of the National Funeral Directors As- sociation and the Tri-County Funeral Directors Associ- ation, where he was instrumental in their annual golf outing fundraiser for many years. Kowalczyk served on the board of directors for the New York State Funeral Di- rectors Association from 1995-2004, was vice president and served two consecutive terms as president. ROBERT D. CARPENTER of Huntington, WV died Octo- ber 8, 2019 at the age of 87. He was a licensed funeral di- rector and mortician at the Klingel–Carpenter Mortu- ary. A member of the West Virginia Board of Funeral Service Examiners, Carpen- ter began the National Di- rectors Emergency Disaster Committee, now known as D-Mort in 1980 and was past president of the West Virginia Funeral Directors Association . SCOTT R. SELLS, CCFE of San Jose, CA died Septem- ber 29, 2019 at the age of 57. He was market director for Service Corporation In- ternational. Prior to relocat- ing to the San Francisco Bay area, Sells served as area vice president for SCI in Hawaii. In 2017, he served as Inter- national Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association presi- dent. He is a past president of the Colorado Associa- tion of Cemeteries and served on the Board of Direc- tors of the Hawaii Allied Memorial Council. ODESSA PITTS JOHNSON of Bessemer, AL died Octo- ber 4, 2020 at the age of 87. She and her husband, How- ard Johnson founded John- son Memorial Funeral Di- rectors, where she served as a licensed funeral director and corporate secretary. Odes- sa was a member of the Al- abama Funeral Directors As- sociation and the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, where she was past president of the Ladies Auxiliary. EUGENE FRANCIS KOWALCZYK of South Windsor, CT died September 15, 2019 at the age of 74. A licensed fu- neral director and embalm- er for over 50 years, he was employed by several funeral homes including Weinstein Mortuary in West Hartford, Guiliano-Sagarino Funeral Home in Hartford, and Ma- ple Hill Chapels-Talarski Funeral Home in Hartford, where he worked until his retirement in 2015. He graduated from the McAl- ister School of Embalming in New York. 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 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 • E-mail info@nomispublications.com