Search Archived Marriage Records
These notices are dated: 03-03-2004
Sarah Doker, worked for Catholic churches
When her husband died in 1961, Sarah Carter Hall Doker went to work as a sacristan at St. Patrick Church in Covington to support herself and her two daughters.
Knowing her need and the work ethic she had displayed in the lunchroom of the parish school, the church pastor at the time, the Rev. Raymond McClanahan, offered her the position.
She lived up to his expectations, taking care of the vestments and sacred vessels, arranging flowers, dusting pews, training servers, and attending to all the other details the church required to run smoothly.
When St. Patrick closed, she moved on to St. Augustine, and was sacristan there until that church burned in a fire in 1985.
Including a few years more at Mother of God in Covington, Mrs. Doker worked 27 years for the Diocese of Covington.
It was a career she never could have imagined growing up as the youngest of 14 children of a staunch Baptist family in Hartwell, Ga., a small town northeast of Atlanta.
Mrs. Doker, who died Monday at St. Elizabeth Medical Center North in Covington at age 90, came to know Catholicism through her husband, Philip J. Doker.
After they married, he decided they should move away from Hartwell because of anti-Catholic sentiment there. They settled in Covington, and she converted to Catholicism at age 31.
"Like many converts, she was very devoted to the church, " said a daughter, Sarah Doker Welles, of Covington. "She said the rosary every day, and after she lost her sight, she would listen to Mass on the television."
When St. Augustine burned, Mrs. Doker watched in awe and horror from the porch of her Western Avenue home. After the ruins cooled, she picked through the rubble for mementoes and carried so many home that her daughters complained the house smelled like smoke.
"When she died, she had a beautiful crucifix from the top of one of the confessionals on her bed, " Welles said.
Mrs. Doker was a member of Mother of God, a former member of the St. Elizabeth Society there, and a former volunteer for Head Start and a Covington homeless shelter.
She was an avid Reds fan who loved to listen to games on the radio and kept up with the players, quoting their statistics to anyone who cared to listen.
"If she had been alive today, " Welles said Tuesday, "the first thing she would have told me was about Marge Schott dying."
Preceding Mrs. Doker in death besides her husband was a daughter, Phyllis Stutler, who died in 1998.
Surviving, in addition to her daughter, are five grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Services will be at the convenience of the family. Burial will be in St. John Cemetery, Fort Mitchell.
Memorials are suggested to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, P.O. Box 3704, Memphis, Tenn. 38173.
Middendorf-Bullock Funeral Home, Covington, is handling arrangements.
Joseph Mark Birkenhauer, 29, of Union, died Friday in Cancun, Mexico.
He was a restaurant and bar owner.
Survivors include a son, Corey Conley of Louisville; his father and stepmother, Jim and Laura Birkenhauer of Union; his mother, Cathy Haass Birkenhauer of Cincinnati; sisters, Jennifer Best of Harrison, Ohio, Amy Birkenhauer and Becky Birkenhauer, both of Union; a brother, Eric Schlaubach of Newton Falls, Ohio; and grandparents, Jeanne Birkenhauer of Cincinnati and Betty Haass of Cincinnati.
Mass of Christian burial will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at St. John the Baptist Church, Harrison, Ohio. Visitation is from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Fares J. Radel Funeral Home, Cincinnati. Burial will be in St. Joseph Cemetery, Cincinnati. Memorials are suggested to Boy Scouts of America, 2331 Victory Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45206.
Janet "LuLu" Deck, 61, of Covington, died at 11:30 p.m. Monday at St. Elizabeth Medical Center North, Covington.
She was a homemaker.
Survivors include a daughter, Penny Diesman of Covington; sons, Mike Moscoe of Covington and Richard Moscoe Jr. of Falmouth; her mother, Grace Deck of Covington; sisters, Ruby Thornsbury, Jackie Brooks and Judy Hill, all of Cov-ington; brothers, Ed Deck of Morning View, Richard Deck of Erlanger and Gary Deck of Taylor Mill; six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Don Catchen and Son Funeral Home, Elsmere. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Belleview Bottoms Cemetery, Belleview.
Thelma Mae Hamm, of Sarasota, Fla., died at 3:52 p.m. Thursday at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
She was an antique shop owner.
Survivors include sisters, Edna Fields of Sarasota and Edith Maher of Miami, Fla.
Services will be at the convenience of the family. Burial will be in Maysville Cemetery. Brell and Son Funeral Home, Maysville, is handling arrangements.
Iola Sweet Martin Jones, 78, of Gainesville, Fla., formerly of Covington, died Monday in Gainesville.
She was part owner of Martin and Martin Accountants Inc.
Survivors include daughters, Linda Northrup of Park Forest, Ill., Victoria Brennan of Cincinnati, Rebecca Bitty of Burlington, N.C., Tina Brossart of Crestview Hills; sons, Rodney Powers of Gainesville and Gaines Martin of Orange Park, Fla.; 16 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Williams-Thomas Funeral Home, Gainesville. Visitation will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Countyside Cemetery, Gainesville.
Mary Howard Lee, of Lexington, died Tuesday at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington. Arrangements are pending at Allison & Rose Funeral Home, Covington.
Rickey Paul Moser, 46, of Cincinnati, died Friday at Mercy Franciscan Hospital, Cincinnati. He was a construction worker with River Downs, Cincinnati.
Survivors include daughters, April Moser and Amy Moser, both of Cincin-nati; a son, Ricki Moser of Cincinnati; brothers, Bob Moser, Butch Moser, De Moser and Robban Moser, all of Ohio; sisters, Cricket Moser and Crystal Harcourt, both of Ohio; and three grand-children.
Services were this morning at Hillside Chapel, Cincinnati. Burial was in Baltimore Pike Cemetery, Cincinnati.
Cooper Funeral Home, Grants Lick, is handling arrangements.
Betty M. Reed, 76, of Fort Wright, died at 5:30 a.m. Friday at Lee Convalescent Nursing Home, Fort Myers, Fla.
She was co-founder of B.J. Novelty Co., Covington, and a member of Latonia Baptist Church.
Survivors include her husband, John Reed; a son, Jeff Reed of Fort Wright; a daughter, Gwen Reed of Omaha, Neb.; a brother, Doug-las Robinson of Edgewood; a sister, Norma Zaidan of Edgewood; and five grandchildren.
Services were this morning at Swindler and Currin Funeral Home, Latonia. Burial was in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Erlanger.
Memorials are suggested to American Lung Association, 1636 Nicholasville Road, Suite 1, Lexington, Ky. 40503.
Rev. Carl Sears, 89, of Nicholasville, formerly of Falmouth, died Tuesday at Hospice Care Center, Lexington.
He was a retired pastor of Falmouth Baptist Church, and a former pastor of Pinckard Baptist Church in Woodford County, Flag Spring Baptist Church in Campbell County, Mentor Baptist Church and Twelve Mile Baptist Church in the Northern Kentucky Association. He also was a former teacher and bus driver with Grants Lick Elementary School. He served on the executive board of the Kentucky Baptist Convention and the Kentucky Temperance League and was a trustee of Cumberland College.
He was treasurer of the Union Association of Baptists, served on the Pendleton County Library Board, and was a member of the Rotary Club and OrionLodge No. 222. He also was secretary treasurer of the Riverside cemetery board in Falmouth.
Survivors include his wife, Garnet Fardo Sears; a son, Brent Sears of Nicholasville; a sister, Dorothy Ford of Versailles; two grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and a step-great-grandchild.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Falmouth Baptist Church. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Woodhead Funeral Home, Falmouth, and from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday at the church. Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery, Falmouth.
Memorials are suggested to Falmouth Baptist Church, 403 Maple Ave., Falmouth, Ky. 41040 or to Hospice of the Bluegrass, St. Joseph Hospital, 1 St. Joseph Drive, Lexington, Ky. 40504.
Evelyn Mae Webster, 79, of Latonia, died at 1:40 p.m. Monday at Rosedale Manor, Latonia.
She was a retired assembler with KD Lamp, Cincinnati, and a member of Order of the Eastern Star.
Survivors include brothers, Eugene Neuspickel of Morning View and Raymond Neuspickel of Ghent; and a sister, Viola Lanningham of Camp Dennison, Ohio.
Services will be at the convenience of the family.
Memorials are suggested to the charity of the donor's choice.
Swindler and Currin Funeral Home, Latonia, is handling arrangements.
