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Date of these obituaries: 11-16-1999
Rev. Dr. William Robert Wood, Methodist minister and loving dad
Being a minister, the Rev. Dr. William Robert Wood had to move his family around Kentucky every four years or so.
That can be hard on a kid, said Rev. Wood's son, Dr. Mont Wood, but his father managed to make it easy.
"Regardless of where the four walls were, when you walked through the door, you were home," he said. "We were just lucky to have him."
Rev. Wood, 67, of Maysville, died Sunday at Meadowview Regional Medical Center in Maysville. A native of Robertson County and a United Methodist minister for 47 years, he had lived all over Kentucky.
Rev. Wood helped start the Volunteers in Mission Effort for the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church. He traveled to Belize and Haiti on short-term mission trips, helping to build houses, repair schools and minister to the local people.
In Hazard and Flemingsburg, he was involved in television and radio ministries from the 1960s through the 1980s. Dr. Wood said his father, a kind man with a gift for preaching, enjoyed using the media to spread the word.
"He felt like the church had a great opportunity to reach out using radio and television," he said.
He was twice a district supervisor for the Kentucky Conference and a past minister of the Erlanger United Methodist Church.
Other survivors include his wife, Joyce Brierly Wood; son, Brad Wood of Lexington; a daughter, Denise Clapp of Covington; his mother, Hazel Collins Wood of Mount Olivet; a sister, Mollie Heisel of Georgetown, Ohio; and 12 grandchildren.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Trinity United Methodist Church of Maysville. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 tonight at the church. Burial will be in Fosters Chapel Cemetery, Maysville. Memorials are suggested to Methodist Home for Children and Youth, P.O. Drawer B, Versailles, Ky. 40383; or United Methodist Mountain Missions, 403 Court St., Jackson, Ky. 41339. Robertson County Funeral Home, Mount Olivet, is handling arrangements.
Ben H. Clatfelter, 93, of Florence, died Saturday at St. Elizabeth Hospice Unit in Covington. He was a retired division sales manager with Andrew Jergens Co. in Cincinnati, and a member of Cheviot Masonic Lodge No. 140 F&AM. His first wife, Dorothy Clatfelter, preceded him in death.
Survivors include his wife, Norma J. Clatfelter; a daughter, Ruth Exeler of Independence; a son, William Clatfelter of Noblesville, Ind.; stepdaughters, Shirley O'Dwyer of Fort Mitchell and Carol Redd of Ludlow; a stepson, Duane Floro of Broken Arrow, Okla.; 12 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Memorial services were this morning at Independence Christian Church. Memorials are suggested to the charity of the donor's choice. Nicholls Funeral Home, Cincinnati, handled arrangements.
Edith Charlotte Ewald, 88, of Fort Thomas, died Sunday at St. Luke Hospital East in Fort Thomas. She was a stenographer and bookkeeper with the Food and Drug Administration and a member of First Baptist Church of Fort Thomas and Rebecca Chapter Order of the Eastern Star in Southgate.
Survivors include friends, Emma and Edwin Parks, who took care of Ms. Ewald.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Dobbling Funeral Home, Fort Thomas. Visitation will begin there at 10 a.m. Thursday. Memorials are suggested to Baptist Convalescent Center, 120 Main St., Newport, Ky. 41071; Gideons International, P.O. Box 18488, Erlanger, Ky. 41018.
Celeste Pfirman Gueterman, 89, of Bellevue, died Sunday at Highlands of Fort Thomas Nursing Home.
She was a homemaker and a member of Bellevue YWCA. Her husband, Frank Gueterman, died in 1967.
Survivors include nieces and nephews.
Mass of Christian burial will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Anthony Church, Bellevue. Visitation will be from 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesday at Radel Funeral Home, Newport. Burial will be in St. Stephen Cemetery, Fort Thomas.
Helen Hamilton, 89, of Covington, died Monday at Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati.
Arrangements are pending at Catchen Funeral Home, Elsmere.
Wayne Oliver, 74, of Falmouth, died Sunday at his home. He was a retired truck driver, a former Falmouth police chief and a member of Falmouth Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife, Mable Oliver; sons, Kenneth Oliver of Lawrenceburg, Gary Oliver and Terry Oliver, both of Falmouth; a daughter, Kathy Owen of Falmouth; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Peoples Funeral Home, Falmouth. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 tonight at the funeral home.
Burial will be in Bethel Cemetery, Pendleton County. Memorials are suggested to Hospice of Hope, 1 W. McDonald Parkway, Maysville, Ky. 41056.
Owen Wayne Orme, 62, of Maysville, died at 5:03 p.m. Sunday at Meadowview Regional Medical Center in Maysville. He was a self-employed auto mechanic, and an avid race car fan, owner and driver. A son, Anthony Wayne Orme, died in 1981.
Survivors include his wife, Juanita Graves Orme; daughters, Cathy Sue Hopper of Sardis and Carol Ann Cracraft of Mays Lick; a brother, Gary Joe Orme of Maysville; and six grandchildren.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Palmer Funeral Home, Mays Lick. Visitation will be from 6 to 9 tonight at the funeral home. Burial will be in Shannon Cemetery, Mays Lick. Memorials are suggested to Hospice of Hope, 1 W. McDonald Parkway, Maysville, Ky. 41056.
Robert J. Ripberger, 53, of Alexandria, died at 2:10 a.m. Monday at St. Luke Hospital East, Fort Thomas. He was an environmental control worker with Jewish Hospital, Cincinnati.
Survivors include his wife, Margaret Brock Ripberger; daughters, Jenny Ripberger and Chrissy Ripberger, both of Alexandria; and his mother, Mae Ripberger of Florence.
Services will be at the convenience of the family. Cremation will be Hillside Chapel, Cincinnati. Memorials are suggested to American Cancer Society, 6612 Dixie Highway, Suite 2, Florence, Ky. 41042. Alexandria Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
Betty Jean Stewart, 64, of Dayton, died at 8:55 p.m. Sunday at Highlands of Fort Thomas Nursing Home. She was a homemaker and a member of Dayton Church of the Nazarene.
Survivors include a niece, Joyce Stewart.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Muehlenkamp-Erschell Funeral Home, Dayton. Visitation will begin there at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Burial will be in Carlisle Cemetery.
Ellen R. Benson Weckler, 51, of Dexter, Mich., formerly of Florence, died Sunday at her home. She was a concert pianist and a music instructor with the University of Michigan.
Survivors include her husband, Harold Weckler; her mother, Mabel Benson of Florence; a sister, Karen DeFren of Florence; and brothers, Nick Benson and Stan Benson, both of Florence.
Memorial services will be Thursday at St. Andrews Church, Ann Arbor, Mich. Memorials are suggested to Bird Rescue of Huron Valley, 4600 Saline-Waterworks Road, Saline, Mich. 48176.
Donald Lee Whitehead, 52, of Dayton, died Monday at Florence Park Nursing Home.
Arrangements are pending at Catchen Funeral Home, Elsmere.
