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Page A42
MARCH 2017
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
ARNETT RAY BURNSIDE
of
Bridgeport, WV died Febru-
ary 8, 2017 at the age of 83.
He established
Burnside Fu-
neral Home
in 1997 along-
side his son,
Scott P. Burn-
side
and was a member of the
West Virginia Funeral Direc-
tors Association.
GEORGE B “MIKE” DODGE
JR
of Cambridge, MA died
January 29, 2017 at the age
of 87. He joined
The Dodge
Company
in 1956, was
elected treasurer in 1966,
and served as vice president
alongside his brother,
Arnold
Dodge
and later both daugh-
ters,
Debbie
and
Kristie
.
CHARLES EDWIN GILLIL-
AND
of Greensburg, IN died
January 24, 2017at the age
of 75. He joined his father’s
business,
Gilliland-Howe
Funeral Home
at the age of
20 and later operated it as a
licensed funeral director un-
til his retirement. He gradu-
ated from the
Indiana School
of Mortuary Science
in 1962.
TERRY L. MOFFETT
of Boi-
se, ID died February 3, 2017
at the age of 72. He worked
alongside his wife,
Faye
as
a licensed funeral director,
owner and operator of
Mof-
fett’s Memorial Chapel
for
over ten years and was a grad-
uate of the
Gupton Jones Col-
lege of Mortuary Science.
GERALDINE
BROWSER
WOOD
of Wynnefield, PA
died January 13, 2017 at the
age of 89. In 1959, she and
her husband,
Clarence M.
Wood
established the
Wood
Funeral Home
in Philadel-
phia, where she acted as the
support staff and lady atten-
dant.
RICHARD H. SEARER
of Tyrone,
PA died January 22, 2017 at the
age of 91. He served his appren-
ticeship at
Graham and Getz
Funeral Home
before becom-
ing sole proprietor of the firm in
1988. He owned and operated
it as the
Richard H. Searer Fu-
neral Home, Inc
for 29 years.
In 2012, he was recognized for
60 years of service as a licensed
funeral director in Pennsylvania.
A 1954
graduate of the
Pitts-
burgh Institute of Mortuary Science,
he was member of the
National Funeral Directors Association, Pennsylvania Funeral
Directors Association
and the
Keystone (local) Funeral Direc-
tors Association,
which he served as past president.
JOHN H. KERNS
of Oelwein,
IA died February 4, 2017 at
the age of 75. He worked as a
funeral director for the
Mur-
doch Funeral Home
in Mar-
ion and the
Fawcett Funer-
al Home
in Winthrop before
joining
Brant Funeral Home
in Oelwein in 1968. He later
purchased the firm along with
the
Delsing-Wright Funer-
al Home
in Maynard and the
Gleim Funeral Home
in Ar-
lington and continued to own and operate them un-
til May 1, 1987. John later worked as the public rela-
tions and entertainment director for
Omaha Wilbert
Vault
and
Wilbert Vault
of Waterloo, Fort Dodge,
Mason City and West Union; and was part owner of
Zenith Casket Co
in Des Moines. He graduated from
the
Milwaukee Institute of Mortuary Science
in 1965.
JOHN HARVEY GIVENS, JR
of
Pearisburg, VA died January 10,
2017at the age of 82. He served
his apprenticeship at
J.T. Mor-
ris & Son Funeral Home
in Pe-
tersburg before receiving his fu-
neral directors license in 1957.
He returned to Pearisburg in
1959 to join his brother,
Cale
T. Givens
at
Givens Funeral
Home,
which was established
by their father, the late
John
Harvey Givens Sr
in 1912. He
was a golden licensee funeral director with over 50 years of
service. A 1955 graduate of the
Cincinnati College of Mor-
tuary Science,
he was a member and past president of the
Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers.
THOMAS EDWARD “TOM”
GRAVES, JR
of Norfolk, VA
died January 13, 2017 at the
age of 92. He served his ap-
prenticeship at
Hale Funer-
al Home
in Norfolk before
establishing the
Graves Fu-
neral Home
in 1953 with
the help of his family and
wife.
It was the first establish-
ment ever designed and built
to service the African-Amer-
ican community in the area.
He remained licensed with the
Virginia State Board of
Funeral Directors and Embalmers,
was licensed in the
state of North Carolina until 2016 and was active in
both local and national levels in the industry for many
years. He graduated from the
Echols School of Mortuary
Science
in Philadelphia, PA, where he completed a two
year course in one with honors and was subsequently
inducted into the honorary fraternity.
WILLIAM “STEVE” SOUTH-
ERLAND, SR
of Lynn Hav-
en, FL died January 26, 2017
at the age of 79. He was a li-
censed funeral director at
Southerland Family Funeral
Home
for 41 years, which he
established alongside his par-
ents,
Ray
and
Bobbie South-
erland
in 1955. As president
of the firm, he and his wife,
Mary Sue,
expanded the busi-
ness beyond Bay County to
include neighboring counties. A 1966 graduate of the
John A. Gupton College of Mortuary Science
in Nash-
ville, he served as past president of the
Florida Funeral
Directors Association
and was a member of the
National
Funeral Directors Association
policy board.
CARL LEONARD GERBER SR
of Norwalk, OH died Febru-
ary 2, 2017 at the age of 79. He
was a licensed funeral director
and embalmer at
Gerber and
Son Funeral Home,
which his
father, the late
Leonard David
Gerber
established in 1939 as
Gerber Funeral Home.
He
then acquired
Heaston Fu-
neral Home
in the late 1970’s
and created
Heaston-Gerber
Funeral Home
in Norwalk
and he also acquired
Norwalk Monument Compa-
ny
and sold it four years later. Gerber Funeral Home
merged with
Kubach-Smith Funeral Homes
of Nor-
walk and Milan. A graduate of the
Cincinnati College of
Mortuary Science,
he was a member of the
National Fu-
neral Directors Association, Ohio Funeral Directors Asso-
ciation
and served as past president of the
Huron County
(Firelands) Funeral Directors Association.
R. KLINE ASHTON SR
of Palmer
Township, PA died January 25,
2017 at the age of 84. He was
a fourth generation funeral di-
rector and owner of the
Ashton
Funeral Home
in Easton for
more than 60 years. He graduat-
ed from
Lafayette College
in 1954
with a degree in mortuary sci-
ence and was a founding mem-
ber of the
Northampton Coun-
ty Community College Funeral
Service
program and advisory
board. He was past president of the
Eastern Pennsylvania
Funeral Directors Association,
where he was recognized with
a Lifetime Achievement Award. A member of the
National
Funeral Directors Association,
he
served as
a district governor
of the
Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association
and was a
state chair for the
International Order of the Golden Rule.
Death Notices
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