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Date of these obituaries: 04-13-2000
Robert Donegan Sr., art framer
Robert Donegan Sr., was not one to take no for an answer. Not when he wanted to join the Army at the age of 15. Not when he wanted to make a 14-year-old Tennessee girl his bride. And never when he wanted to talk about art.
Perseverance and personality served him well in establishing a successful Covington art-restoration and framing business, and supporting seven children during his 45-year marriage.
Mr. Donegan, 73, of Covington, died at 8:10 p.m. Monday at Veterans Hospital in Cincinnati, with his wife, Shirley A. Hamilton Donegan, at his side.
Mrs. Donegan said they married
when he was 31 and she was 14. Mr. Donegan was visiting his wife's Tennessee hometown, where the two met and swiftly decided to marry.
It was far from acceptable to Shirley's mother. But that didn't sway Robert Donegan.
"He came to pick up a sack of seed potatoes and wound up with me," said Mrs. Donegan with a chuckle. "We knew each other about three weeks and we got married. Then, 10 months after I married
him, we had our first child."
The couple's marriage wasn't the first time Mr. Donegan had beaten the odds to get what he wanted. Mrs. Donegan said when her husband was just 15, he desperately wanted to join the army, so he traded identities with an older teen and enlisted.
Mr. Donegan's perseverance also allowed him to work with the art he adored, although he had no formal art training. The couple owned Donegan's Art and Custom Framing on Main Street in Covington, and he taught framing at Northern Kentucky University.
Northern Kentucky's most notable judges and politicians trusted Mr. Donegan with their portrait framing, and he restored some of the area's finest artwork.
"Oh, that's all he did was talk art. I think he loved art more than he loved me!" Mrs. Donegan laughed.
The couple had seven children. A son, Casey P. Donegan, preceded Mr. Donegan in death.
In addition to his wife, survivors include son, Robert Donegan II of Los Angeles; and daughters, Peggy Lee Spanier of Cincinnati, Barbara Ann Ball of Hebron, Mary Louise Shell of Cleveland, Tenn., Jackie D. Constant of Reliance, Tenn., and Billie Jo Donegan of Covington.
Services will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Middendorf-Bullock Funeral Home, Covington. Visitation will begins there at 5 p.m. Friday. Burial will be in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati. Memorials: to American Diabetes Association, 8899 Brookside Ave., West Chester, Ohio 45069; American Cancer Society, 6612 Dixie Highway, Suite 2, Florence, Ky. 41042; or AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati, 2183 Central Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45214.
James K. Blackburn, 80, of Florence, died Tuesday at Woodspoint Health Care Center in Florence. He was a retired employee of Kirk and Bloom, Cincinnati, and was a member of First Baptist Church, Covington. He was a member of Hardin Browning Post No. 109 and the Latonia American Legion, and an Army veteran of World War II.
Survivors include sisters, Emma Raney and Dorothy Garrison, both of Florence, Ann Parrott of Covington, Lucille Kennedy of Charlotte, N.C., and Frances Raney of Burlington; and a brother, Chester Allen Blackburn of Burlington.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Woodhead Funeral Home, Falmouth. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 tonight at the funeral home. Burial will be in Gumlick Cemetery, Pendleton County.
Henrika Lynette Brown, 22, of Lexington, formerly of Warsaw, died Saturday at her home. She was a student at the University of Kentucky and worked at Kindercare Child Enrichment Center, Lexington. She was a member of the University of Kentucky Black Voices Choir, and Warsaw Consolidated Second Baptist Church.
Survivors include a daughter, Keziah Nicole Jenkins of Lexington; her parents, Henry and Betty Brown of Warsaw; sisters, Janice Brown of Louisville, Jeanette Brown, Kendra Stott and Nancy Brown, all of Warsaw; a brother, Derrick Brown of Warsaw; grandparents, James Jones of Memphis, Tenn., and Ruby Jones of Norwalk, Conn.; and her fiance, Kevin Jenkins of Lexington.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Warsaw Second Consolidated Baptist Church. Visitation will be from 5 to 9 tonight at Carlton-Lowder Funeral Home, Warsaw. Burial will be in Warsaw Second Consolidated Baptist Church Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to Henrika Brown Funeral Expense Fund, in care of the funeral home, P. O. Box 884, Warsaw, Ky. 41095.
Alice Hord Chipman, 75, of Brookville, Ohio, formerly of Northern Kentucky, died at 11 p.m. Tuesday at her home. She was a postal worker with the Dayton, Ohio, Post Office, and a member of Ladies Auxiliary of VFW Post No. 9966, New Carlisle, Ohio. Her husband, Raymond F. "Buddy" Chipman, died in 1986.
Survivors include nieces and nephews.
Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hill Crest Cemetery, Dry Ridge. Elliston-Stanley Funeral Home, Williamstown, is handling arrangements.
Theodore W. Hunter, 87, of Florence, died Wednesday at his home. He was a retired scheduler with Armco Steel and a member of Florence United Methodist Church, Hugh L. Bates Masonic Lodge and the Ohio Farm Bureau.
Survivors include his wife, Charlotte Marshall Hunter of Florence; nieces and nephews.
Services will be at noon Friday at Stith Funeral Home, Florence. Visitation will begin there at 10 a.m. Friday. Burial will be in Miltonville Cemetery, Trenton, Ohio. Memorials are suggested to Florence United Methodist Church, 8585 Old Toll Road, Florence, Ky. 41042; or Hospice of Northern Kentucky, 1403 Alexandria Pike, Fort Thomas, Ky. 41075.
Margaret C. Lang, 78, of Erlanger, died Saturday at St. Luke Hospital West, Florence. She was a waitress. Her first husband, Marvin Tucker, died in 1973. Her second husband, Pat Lang, died in 1985.
Survivors include a son, Mel Tucker of Erlanger.
Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at St. Mary Cemetery, Fort Mitchell. Memorials are suggested to the charity of the donor's choice. Linnemann Funeral Home, Erlanger, is handling arrangements.
Joshua Patrick McGaha, son of Chad and Lisa McGaha of Park Hills, was stillborn Tuesday at St. Elizabeth Medical Center South, Edgewood.
Other survivors include a sister, Delilah Powers of Alexandria; and grandmother, Marla Shelton of Amelia, Ohio.
Graveside services will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Evergreen Cemetery, Southgate. Dobbling Funeral Home, Bellevue, is handling arrangements.
Anna Belle Parker, 83, of Erlanger, died at 5:12 a.m. Wednesday at St. Elizabeth Medical Center South, Edgewood. She was a retired typist with Great American Insurance Co. Her husband, John Paul Parker, died in 1970.
Survivors include a daughter, Jean Stenger of Florence; and two grandchildren.
Services will be at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Forest Lawn cemetery Chapel, Erlanger. Visitation will begin there at 10 a.m. Friday. Burial will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to American Heart Association, 2936 Vernon Place, Cincinnati, Ohio 45219. Allison and Rose Funeral Home, Covington, is handling arrangements.
Wayne M. Stewart Sr., 73, of Cynthiana, died Tuesday at his home. He was a farmer and a member of Cynthiana Christian Church, where he served as a deacon and a member of the church board. He was a World War II veteran.
Survivors include his wife, Betty Jean McCauley Stewart; a son, Wayne M. Stewart Sr. of Harrison County; daughters, Jeanne S. Moberly of Susan S. Copes, both of Harrison County; a brother, Frank Stewart of Frankfort; and five grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Whaley-McCarty Funeral Home, Cynthiana. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 tonight at th funeral home. Burial will be in Battle Grove Cemetery, Cynthiana. Memorials are suggested to Hospice of the Bluegrass, 508 E. Pike St., Cynthiana, Ky. 41031; or Cynthiana Christian Church Building Fund, Cynthiana, Ky. 41031.
