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Date of these obituaries: 05-05-2000
Sam Droganes operated Covington fireworks-candy shop
For 63 years, Sam Droganes operated Sam's Confectionary, which is also known as the Premier Fireworks Co. in Covington.
His father, Soterios Delta Droganes, began the business on Madison Avenue in Covington in 1918.
Later, the business, which sold candy and ice cream and later fireworks, was moved to its permanent location in the 200 block of Pike Street in Covington.
"The original sign hangs until this day," said a daughter, Laura Roach of Park Hills.
"My father didn't know a stranger. When people talk to me about my father, they tell me how lucky I am."
Mr. Droganes, 82, of Fort Mitchell, died at 1:52 p.m. Wednesday at St. Elizabeth Medical Center South in Edgewood.
He was a member of Blessed Sacrament Church in Fort Mitchell, the American Numismatic Association, Pyrotechnicians International Association, the Pyrotechnicians International Guild and Restaurant Employees Union Local No. 12.
Mrs. Roach described her father as a friendly man who tended to both his customers and family with equal aplomb.
"Some people as far away as Dayton, Ohio, tell me the best candy and ice cream they have ever eaten was at Sam's," Mrs. Roach said. "He carried on the business for many years and now his son, with our help, will do the same."
Mr. Droganes' son, also named Sam Droganes, said he learned how to be both a good family man and a business man from his father.
"He loved his family more than anything, and he loved his business," said Mr. Droganes, who lives in Fort Mitchell.
"I think everyone knew him as the kind, wonderful human being that he was."
Besides his son and daughter, Mr. Droganes is also survived by his wife, Laura Grout Droganes; another daughter, Janet Droganes of Covington; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Blessed Sacrament Church. Visitation will be from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. Saturday at Allison and Rose Funeral Home, Covington. Burial will be in St. Mary Cemetery, Fort Mitchell. Memorials are suggested to American Cancer Society, 6612 Dixie Highway, Suite 2, Florence, Ky. 41042; or Leukemia Society of America, 100 Merchant St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45246.
Albert Bishop, 73, of Covington, died at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday at St. Elizabeth Medical Center North in Covington. He was a retired inspector with General Electric, Cincinnati, and a member of Masonic Lodge No. 736, Oneida, and Blue Lodge of Covington. He was a Navy veteran of World War II.
Survivors include his wife, Cleda Campbell Bishop; daughters, Victoria Runge of Rabbit Hash, Stephanie Bishop of Covington and Opal Marie Bishop of Walton; sons, Ron Bishop of Covington and Don Bishop of Independence; a stepmother, Dora Bishop of West Chester, Ohio; sisters, Elsie Haney of Cincinnati, Vera Adkins of West Chester, Jean Mason of Somerset and Jane Campbell of Anchorage, Alaska; brothers, Henry Clay Day of Brooksville, McKinley Bishop of Crab Orchard and James Persian Bishop of Morrow, Ohio; and five grandchildren.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Booneville Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 tonight at the funeral home. Burial will be in Griffey Grave yard, Booneville. Memorials are suggested to St. Elizabeth Hospice Unit, Dialysis Support Group Fund, 401 E. 20th St., Covington, Ky. 41014. Middendorf-Bullock Funeral Home, Covington, is handling arrangements.
Marie Courtney, 78, of Falmouth, died Thursday at Central Baptist Hospital, Lexington.
Arrangements are pending at Peoples Funeral Home, Falmouth.
Dorothea Erika Cushard, 78, of Erlanger, died at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Luke Hospital West in Florence.
Arrangements are pending at Connley Brothers Funeral Home, Latonia.
Patricia E. Benge Davis, 82, of Covington, died at 12:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Elizabeth Medical Center North in Covington. She was a homemaker. Her husband, Charles E. Davis, died in 1957.
Survivors include sons, Tom Buford of Newport, Jerry Buford and Dale Davis of Covington; a daughter, Patty Ruf of Butler; 16 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Middendorf-Bullock Funeral Home, Covington. Visitation will begin there at 9 a.m. Monday. Burial will be in Floral Hills Cemetery, Taylor Mill.
Rev. Buford Dunavent, 78, of Sparta, died Wednesday at his home. He was a retired minister, having pastored at Clark's Creek Baptist Church in Dry Ridge, Kenton Baptist Church and Mount Zion Baptist Church in Owenton. He was district missionary for Letcher County Baptist Association with Craft Colly Baptist Church in Ermine and Isaban, W.Va., Baptist Church. He was ordained in Decoursey Baptist Church in Fairview in 1948. His wife, Virginia Glore Dunavent, died in 1991.
Survivors include a son, Mickey Dunavent of Indianapolis; a daughter, Connie Wynn of Dayton; a sister, Dorothy Toole of Carrollton; five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at McDonald Funeral Home, Main Street, Owenton. Visitation will be from 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Burial will be in IOOF Cemetery, Owenton. Memorials are suggested to Pleasant Ridge Church, 3575 Sweet Owen Road, Owenton, Ky. 40359.
Viola Early, 97, of Ludlow, died Wednesday at Baptist Convalescent Home, Newport. She was a homemaker and a member of First Presbyterian Church, Ludlow. She was a former member of the original Ludlow Senior Citizens group. Her husband, Charles Early, died in 1969.
Survivors include a daughter, Peggy Johnson of Villa Hills; four grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grand daughter.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Forest Lawn cemetery Chapel, Erlanger. Visitation will begin there at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Burial will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to Ludlow Interfaith Committee, 2121 Castlebar, Box 304, Crescent Springs, Ky. 41017. Ronald B. Jones Funeral Home, Ludlow, is handling arrangements.
Howard L. Harrison, 86 of Williamstown, died Thursday at his residence.
Arrangements are pending at Elliston-Stanley Funeral Home, Williamstown.
Thomas S. James, 87, of Erlanger, died Thursday at St. Luke Hospital East, Fort Thomas. He was a loan officer with the Veterans Ad ministration, a member of Elsmere Baptist Church and a Navy veteran of World War II.
Survivors include his wife, Dorothy Collier James; a son, John James of Elsmere; and a daughter, Linda James of Florence.
Services will be at the convenience of the family. Entombment will be in Forest Lawn Mausoleum, Erlanger. Memorials are suggested to Alzheimer's Disease Association, 644 Linn St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45203. Stith Funeral Home, Florence, is handling arrangements.
Mary Johnson, 75, of Covington, died at 1:30 a.m. today at St. Elizabeth Medical Center South in Edgewood.
Arrangements are pending at Connley Brothers Funeral Home, Latonia.
Nellie Ella Johnson, 77, of Newport, died at 9:55 a.m. Tuesday at her home. She was a packer with Frank Tea and Spice Co., Cincinnati, and a member of Lawler-Hanlon VFW Post No. 5662 Ladies Auxiliary in Newport, American Legion Post No. 1 Ladies Auxiliary, Hilltoppers Senior Citizens and Northern Kentucky Headstart.
Survivors include her hus band, Emmett "Johnny" Johnson; a son, Jim Johnson of Florence; a sister, Anabel Lewis of Fort Thomas; and two grandchildren.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Muehlenkamp-Erschell Funeral Home, Newport. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home, with VFW services at 7 p.m. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery, Fort Mitchell. Memorials are suggested to Kentucky VFW Auxiliary Cancer Fund, 326 W. 10th St., Newport, Ky. 41071.
David Allen "Jonesie" Jones, 29, of Foster, died in an auto accident Saturday in Pendleton County. He was a meat packager and a member of Germantown Baptist Church.
Survivors include a son, Zachary David Alan Jones Torline of Butler; a daughter, Savannah Georgia Allene Jones Torline of Butler; his mother and stepfather, Evelyn Marie Jones Lawson and Ithel Leon Lawson of Rome, Ohio; sisters, Barbara Ann Jones Lawson and Jane Lynn Jones Eckler, both of Manchester, Ohio, Kimberly Kay Jones Arthur of West Union, Ohio, and Rebecca Lynn Jones Shively of Rome; brothers, Clifford Glenn Jones of Maysville and James Robert Jones of Dover; and step-grandmother, Lettie Mae Lawson.
Services were this morning at Moore and Parker Funeral Home, Augusta. Burial was in Maple Grove Cemetery, Germantown. Memorials are suggested to David Jones Memorial Fund.
Wanda Lois Richards Lowe, 65, of Newport, died at 1:07 a.m. Thursday at St. Luke Hospital East, Fort Thomas. She was a homemaker.
Survivors include her husband, Joe Lowe; a daughter, Alta Mead of Vevay, Ind.; sisters, Pinky Rudd, Joyce Rudd, Doris Richards and Imogene Long, all of Knoxville, Tenn.; a brother, Carlos Richards of Knoxville; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Muehlenkamp-Erschell Funeral Home, Newport. Visitation will begin there at 8 a.m. Saturday. Burial will be in Maple Grove Cemetery, Germantown.
Carol Powell Pixler, 57, of Southgate, died Thursday at her home. She was a re-certification specialist with Hart Realty in Cincinnati.
Survivors include her husband, Charles Pixler; sons, David Powell of Alexandria and Kevin Powell of Erlanger; a daughter, Tammy Rechtin of Bellevue; brothers, Ron Enslen of Newport and Todd Miles of Bellevue; a sister, Janice Taylor of Newport; and four grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Dobbling Funeral Home, Bellevue. Visitation will begin there at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Southgate. Memorials are suggested to Hospice of Northern Kentucky, 1403 Alexandria Pike, Fort Thomas, Ky. 41075. Margaret J. Rigney, 79 of Ludlow, died Thursday at her home.
Arrangements are pending at Ronald B. Jones Funeral Home, Ludlow.
Rev. John Joseph Wordeman, 68, of Ashland, formerly of Covington, died Wednesday at Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, Ashland. Ordained in 1957 at Cathedral Ba silica of the Assumption in Covington, he served as an assistant pastor with Blessed Sacrament and St. Augustine churches in Covington before becoming the assistant diocesan director for vocations in 1963.
He went on to serve as an assistant pastor at St. Agnes Church in Fort Wright while on the faculty of Thomas More College and later Northern Kentucky University. He became co-pastor of Sts. Boniface and James Church in Ludlow in 1979, then pastored St. Vincent De Paul Church in Newport from 1980-86. He became pastor of Holy Family Church in 1996.
Survivors include his mother, Mildred Wordeman of Covington; and a brother, James Wordeman of Atlanta.
Mass of Christian burial will be at noon Monday at Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption. Visitation will begin there at 10:45 a.m. Monday. Visitation will also from from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Holy Family Church in Ashland, beginning with a scripture service. Burial will be in Mother of God Cemetery, Fort Wright. Middendorf-Bullock Funeral Home, Covington, is handling local arrangements.
Mabel Louise Tilton Workman, 82, of Cynthiana, died Thursday at Grand Haven Nursing Home, Cynthiana. She was a homemaker. Her husband, Carlyn King Workman, died in 1990. A daughter, Joan Sue Hurt, and a son, Harlan King Workman, also preceded her in death.
Survivors include daughters, Linda Charlene Collins of Indianapolis and Dawn Janene Wiglesworth of Cynthiana; sisters, Anna Mary Baily, Myrle Powell and Virginia Leforce; eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Moore and Parker Funeral Home, Brooksville. Visitation will begin there at 10 a.m. Saturday. Burial will be in Bracken Memorial Hospital, Brooksville.
