Page A46
SEPTEMBER 2015
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
DONALD RAY BELLMER
of
Sedalia, MO died July 9, 2015 at
the age of 83. He was a licensed
funeral director and embalm-
er at
Ewing Funeral Home
in
Sedalia,
Norman-Wagy Funer-
al Home
in Chillicothe and later
served as manager of the
Hedges
Funeral Home
in Camdenton.
He spent his retirement working
at
Allee-Holman-Howe Funer-
al Home
in Columbia.
DALE EMERSON HILL
of
Kingston, OH died July 16,
2015 at the age of 59. He was
the owner and operator of
Hill Funeral Home,
where
he served as a second genera-
tion funeral director and em-
balmer for 37 years. He grad-
uated from the
Cincinnati
College of Mortuary Science
in
1978.
CONRAD JOE MASTERS
of
Greenville, SC died July 21,
2015 at the age of 81. He
was a funeral director and
embalmer at the
Wood Mor-
tuary
for 67 years. He was a
member of the
South Caroli-
na Funeral Directors Associa-
tion.
DALTON “DALE” MINERD SR
of
North Hills, PA died July 8, 2015
at the age of 87. He began his ca-
reer as a mortician, including a
brief stint running his own funer-
al home on the North Side be-
fore settling into a career as a sort
of freelance embalmer, traveling
among funeral homes to prepare
people for their final rest. He was
a graduate of the
Pittsburgh Insti-
tute of Mortuary Science.
MOSES P. SMOOT
of Pampli-
co, SC died July 25, 2015 at the
age of 73. He was a licensed fu-
neral director, embalmer, own-
er and operator of
People’s Fu-
neral Home.
A graduate of the
historic
Atlanta College of Mor-
tuary Science,
he was a member
of the
South Carolina Morti-
cians Association.
RAY ALLEN “RED” TUCKER
of Mason, WV died July
13, 2015 at the age of 83. He was a longtime funer-
al director at
Foglesong Funeral Home
for 59 years
and was during that time part of the first ambulance
service in the Mason area.
DONALD JAMES “JIM” WALTERS
of Zephyrhills,
FL died July 11, 2015 at the age of 76. He proud-
ly served his country in the United States Air Force
Medic Corp for 8 years as an embalmer in Viet
Nam. He spent his entire career serving as a funer-
al director and embalmer. He served as the guest
speaker at universities and professional programs
all over the world, educating hundreds of students
and licensed professional alike. In the 1990’s, he
co-wrote the curriculum and embalming book and
served as director of Practicum for the
Embalming
Institute of Germany.
A graduate of the
Cincinnati
College of Mortuary Science,
he was a member of the
Marion County Funeral Directors Association,
the
In-
diana Funeral Directors Association
and served as the
co-founder and past president of the
Indiana Em-
balmers Educational Affiliation.
CLYDE JOSEPH BAKER
of
Manchester, NH died May
6, 2015 at the age of 76. He
was a licensed funeral direc-
tor, president and treasurer of
the
J. N. Boufford & Sons
Funeral Homes
for over 30
years. A graduate of the
New
England Institute of Embalm-
ing and Mortuary Sciences
in
Boston, he was a member
of the
National Funeral Directors Association
and the
New Hampshire Funeral Directors Association.
REGINALD WILBUR GASKIN
of Philadelphia, PA died July
12, 2015 at the age of 72. He
began his cemetery employ-
ment at
West Laurel Hill
in Bala Cynwyd. He went
on to manage the cemeter-
ies at
Chelten Hills,
Wash-
ington Lane and Woolston
Avenue; 2
0
th
Century Vault
Co.,
Glenside;
White Cha-
pel Gardens,
Feasterville;
and
Mount Peace,
31
st
Street and Lehigh Avenue,
where he remained until his health began to fail. In
1982, he attended
Temple University,
where he stud-
ied landscape design.
WALLACE WILLIAM “WAL-
LY” SCHWAHN
of Rock Is-
land, IL died July 22, 2015
at the age of 92. He was em-
ployed by
Hodgson Funeral
Home,
where he worked as a
funeral director and embalm-
er from 1950 until his retire-
ment in 1991. Following his
retirement, he assisted the
funeral home on a part-time
basis for many years. He graduated from the
Worsham
College of Mortuary Science
in Chicago.
Death Notices
ERNEST WILLIAM GON-
ZALES JR
of Galveston, TX
died July 16, 2015 at the
age of 54. He was the own-
er and operator of
Gonzales
Funeral Directors and Lim-
ousines.
He served funeral
homes throughout the Bay
Area, Harris and Fort Bend
Counties, including a long
and close relationship with
Carnes Brothers Funeral
Home
that spanned 45 years. He graduated from the
Commonwealth College of Funeral Service.
WILLIAM PAUL THOMAS
of
Miami, OK died July 11, 2015
at the age of 91. He worked
alongside his wife,
Wanda In-
gram
as a licensed funeral direc-
tor, owner and operator of the
Paul Thomas Funeral Home
in Picher, which they estab-
lished in 1948. In 1991, they
added a second location in Mi-
ami and another in Commerce
in 2005. He graduated from the
St. Louis College of Mortuary Science
in 1947. He was a
member of the
Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association
and
the
National Funeral Directors Association
for over 60 years.
JAMES ALLEN McMULLEN
SR
of Columbus, GA died
July 26, 2015 at the age of
75. He was the owner and
operator of
McMullen Fu-
neral Home,
which he estab-
lished alongside his family in
1987. He previously worked
at
Striffler-Hamby Mortu-
ary
as a funeral director and
served thousands of families
in Muscogee County for over
50 years. He graduated from the
Dallas Institute of
Mortuary Science
in 1987 and was a member of the
Selected Independent Funeral Homes, Georgia Funeral
Directors Association
and the
National Funeral Direc-
tors Association.
TAMBRA CHARMAGNE SIM-
MONS
of Detroit, MI died
June 19, 2015 at the age of
57. She worked for several fu-
neral homes as a licensed fu-
neral director, including the
Frank Givens Funeral Home,
Queens Chapel and the
Cav-
er Memorial Funeral Home.
She received her Bachelor’s De-
gree in Mortuary Science from
Wayne State University
in 1980.
