March 2018

Page A38 MARCH 2018 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A MICHAEL D. CANZONE of Mayfield Heights, OH died February 5, 2018 at the age of 76. He worked for Superior Funeral Supply for several years before starting the Advertising Sales Company in Cleve- land, OH which his son, Matt took over several years ago. He continued to enjoy attending the Western Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association convention. RICHARD S. “RICH” DENNISON JR of Florence, NJ died January 22, 2018 at the age of 40. He worked at his father’s business, Dennison Funeral Homes in Florence, Burlington and Southampton as a licensed funeral director. He was a member of the Burlington County Funeral Directors Association and the New Jer- sey State Funeral Directors Association. MARIAN DREIS of Albany, NY died February 6, 2018 at the age of 96. She worked alongside her husband, the late Louis T. Dreis, in own- ing Dreis Funeral Home, which they operated for over 50 years. MARK OWEN ELDER of Ea- ton, OH died January 31, 2018 at the age of 59. Mark was an entrepreneur and a founder and partner of many businesses. He currently served as vice presi- dent of sales for Vandor Corpo- ration, Starmark® Cremation Products and C. J. Boots Casket Company. He was a past board member of the Casket and Funer- al Supply Association of America. JERRY DON ILEY of Ranger, TX died February 7, 2018 at the age of 77. He worked in the funeral industry for over 50 years as a licensed funeral di- rector, having served the Dal- las, De Leon, Morton, Haskell and Temple communities. He graduated from the Dallas In- stitute of Funeral Service. STEPHEN PETERSON of East Stroudsburg, PA died February 2, 2018 at the age of 71. He was a licensed funeral director for the past 35 years, retiring from the A. Barrett Funeral Home in Brooklyn, NY. HARTWELL WARDELL “SKIP- PER” RAGSDALE III of San Diego, CA died January 25, 2018 at the age of 64. He was a fourth generation funeral director, embalmer and own- er of Anderson-Ragsdale Mortuary. He served as pres- ident of the California Funer- al Directors Association from 2014 until 2015. PAUL COUNCIAL ROLLINS SR of Tuscaloosa, AL died November 21, 2017 at the age of 79. A licensed funer- al director and embalmer, he was the owner of Rollins Mortuary, which he estab- lished alongside his wife, the late Shirley Ann Smith Rol- lins in 1968. MARSHALL LANE STEEN of Ashland, KY died February 6, 2018 at the age of 65. He was a third generation funeral di- rector and embalmer at Steen Funeral Home, which was es- tablished by his father, John Steen in 1925. A 1974 grad- uate of the Kentucky School of Mortuary Science, he formerly served on the board of direc- tors for Ashland Cemetery. WILLIAM THOMAS STONE SR of Williamsburg, VA died January 18, 2018 at the age of 87. A licensed funeral di- rector for over 50 years, he was the owner and operator of Whiting’s Funeral Home. STEVEN FRANK VINCENT of Galena, IL died January 23, 2018 at the age of 70. He was a fourth generation owner of J. P. Vincent & Sons . He was elected to Doric Products board of directors in 1991 and was currently serving as president since 2006. F. MICHAEL VISCHER of Hartsville, PA died Janu- ary 13, 2018 at the age of 68. He worked in the fu- neral industry for nearly 50 years. During this time he worked for York Caskets, Boyertown Caskets and Messenger Corporation before starting his own business, Vischer Funeral Supplies in 1983. ELIZABETH M. WESTCOTT of Unadilla, NY died Jan- uary 24, 2018 at the age of 76. She owned and oper- ated the Westcott Funeral Home alongside her hus- band, James S. Westcott. HAYES F. SAMUELS JR of Manning, SC died January 17, 2018 at the age of 74. He was the owner and operator of Samuels Funeral Home in Manning, co-owned Sam- uels and Richardson Funer- al Home in Lake City and served as coroner for Claren- don County. A graduate of the Eckels College of Mortu- ary Science in Philadelphia, he was a member of the South Carolina Board of Funeral Services, South Carolina Morticians Association, and the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association. DONALD R. WOLFE, SR of Sciotoville, OH died January 31, 2018 at the age of 94. A licensed funeral director and embalmer for over 55 years, he worked for several area funeral homes until 1970 when he established the Don Wolfe Funeral Home in Sci- otoville. He continued to own and operate the Wolfe- Nelson Funeral Home un- til his retirement at 82. A graduate of the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, he was a member of the Ohio Funeral Directors Association. MYRTLE WESTMORELAND of Statesville, NC died Febru- ary 3, 2018 at the age of 97. A licensed funeral director and embalmer, she worked alongside her husband, Glenn Westmoreland in owning the Bunch Funeral Home and the Johnson Funeral Home, which they combined to form Bunch-Johnson Funeral Home. They also acquired the Reavis Funeral Home of Harmony and operated the funeral homes until retiring in 1994. Myrtle authored a book which was titled I Married a Funeral Director in 1997. Her second book, Left Behind Spouse, was pub- lished in 2007. Myrtle was past president of the former North Carolina Funeral Directors Auxiliary. HELEN S. PICKETT of Fort Wayne, IN died January 19, 2018 at the age of 92. She worked alongside her hus- band, Walter Pickett in own- ing and operating the Ellis Fu- neral Home LLC, which was established in 1968. She was the first black female licensed mortician in the state of Indi- ana, having served on the Indi- ana Funeral Service Board for many years and was a member of the Indiana Funeral Directors Association. Helen also served as past president of the Memorial Park Neighborhood Association and was the first woman to run for coroner for Allen County. CECIL MARVIN “BUB” HAR- VEY of Ardmore, OK died February 7, 2018 at the age of 93. A licensed funeral direc- tor and embalmer, he owned and operated his family’s busi- ness, Harvey Funeral Home, alongside his wife, Peggy un- til 1988 when they retired. A graduate of the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science, he was a member of the National Fu- neral Directors Association, served on the board of direc- tors for the International Order of the Golden Rule, and was president of the Oklahoma Funeral Directors Associa- tion, where he received the Director of the Year award. RONALD “RON” H. BERG of Baldwin City, KS formerly of Concordia, MO died January 27, 2018 at the age of 75. A licensed funeral director and embalmer in Missouri and Kentucky, he began his ca- reer working at the Pfitizger Mortuary in Kirkwood, MO before joining Ricks Funer- al Home in Elsberry in 1964. In 1965, he and his wife, Liz purchased the E. S. James Funeral Home in Con- cordia, and later two funeral homes in Sweet Springs and Blackburn, MO. They retired in 2001 after serv- ing 35 years in the funeral business. They remained active in the industry, having worked at Mt. Moriah and Freeman and the McGilley Memorial Chapels. He was a member of the Missouri Funeral Directors Association for over 50 years, where he served as presi- dent from 1998 to 1999 and district director, while also serving on the board of NFDA. RACHAEL NICOLETTA AN- DERSON of Columbus, OH formerly of Warren, OH died January 28, 2018 at the age of 24. She served her ap- prenticeship at the Shaw- Davis Funeral Homes in Columbus and was previ- ously mentored at the Nae- gele-Kleb-Ihlendorf Fu- neral Home in Norwood. A 2016 graduate of the Cin- cinnati College of Mortuary Science, she was a mem- ber of the Ohio Funeral Directors Association. 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 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 GARY FINCH of Nixon, TX died January 10, 2018 at the age of 72. A licensed funer- al director and embalmer, he founded Compliance Plus in 1992. Gary’s OSHA Com- pliance column appeared in the Funeral Home & Cemetery News since 2003. He was a member of both the Texas and National Funeral Directors As- sociations . See page A14 for a tribute to Gary.