U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-CurrentBATCHO - James C. 9/7/2002
A service for James C. Batcho, a retired foreman, will be held at 9:30 a.m. Monday in St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 311 Ontario St., after prayers at 8:30 in Lombardo Funeral Home, 102 Linwood Ave. Batcho, 62, died Thursday (Sept. 5, 2002) in Hospice Buffalo, Cheektowaga, after a long illness.
Born in Hawk Run, Pa., he came to Buffalo with his family at age 13. He worked for many years at Protective Closures, a unit of Mark IV Industries, working his way up from laborer to working foreman.
An outdoorsman, he was a member of the West Side Sportsmen's Club, the Erie County Sportsmen's Federation and the Mohawk Club, where he was hunter education instructor. He was a past president of the 210 Social Club in Riverside. Batcho was a foster father for 21 years.
Survivors include his wife, the former Sara Sloan; four daughters, Christine, Sharon, Jennifer and Yashira, all of Buffalo; six sons, James of Denver, Nicholas of Rochester and Douglas, Anthony, Angelo and Manuel, all of Buffalo; a brother, Michael of Depew; a sister, Mary Ann Grodek of Buffalo; seven grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
CONNORS - Margaret M., retired teacher 9/7/2002
Margaret M. Connors, 82, of Amherst, a former teacher, died Friday (Sept. 6, 2002) in Crestwood Nursing Home in Wheatfield after a brief illness.
Mrs. Connors was born Margaret Marshall in Buffalo. She attended local schools and graduated with honors from D'Youville College in 1940. She taught in St. Mary's Academy as well as other parochial schools in the area. For the latter part of her career, she taught in the Buffalo Public Schools. She retired in the late 1970s.
She married James M. Connors, former associate superintendent of personnel for the Buffalo Public Schools, in 1943. He died in 1994.
She enjoyed traveling, reading, bridge and crossword puzzles.
Survivors include a daughter, Maureen A. Badding of Wauwatosa, Wis.; five sons, Michael of West Seneca, James F. of Porway, Calif., John of Clarence, Peter of Hemet, Calif., and Kevin of Snyder; and 11 grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 9:15 a.m. Monday in St. Leo the Great Church, 885 Sweet Home Road, Amherst. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Lackawanna.
DIPIRRO - Robert P., Occidental worker 9/6/2002
Services for Robert P. DiPirro, 70, a lifelong Buffalo-area resident and longtime worker at Occidental Chemical Corp., were held Friday in Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Depew. Prayers were said in Amigone Funeral Home, Depew. Burial was in St. Adalbert's Cemetery, Lancaster.
DiPirro died Tuesday (Sept. 3, 2002) in his Depew home after a brief illness.
Born in Buffalo, he attended Burgard Vocational High School and Kensington High School. He was a consultant at Occidental Chemical in North Tonawanda, where he worked for 43 years. While there, he fought for workers' rights for medical coverage and cancer screening.
He enjoyed antique cars, woodworking and traveling.
His wife of 46 years, Marlene Kohlman DiPirro, died in 1998.
Surviving are four daughters, Christine Gummo of Clarence, Debra DiPirro-Pyc of Holland, Donna Jo Hibbitts of Tucson, Ariz., and Doreen Stanley of Cheektowaga; a son, Patrick of Syracuse; three sisters, Shirley Kreuder of Kenmore, Beverly Schiefellein of Tucson and Bonnie Nowicki of Cheektowaga; and 13 grandchildren.
HALE - Eleanor Mae 9/7/2002
HARTLAND - Eleanor Mae Hale, 75, died Thursday (Sept. 5, 2002) in Inter-Community Memorial Hospital, Newfane, after a lengthy illness.
Mrs. Hale was born Eleanor Servis in Marion, Ind. She graduated from Angola High School in Angola, Ind., and attended Purdue University.
She had lived in Niagara Falls before moving to the Gasport area in 1973.
Mrs. Hale, a homemaker, was an active member of Zion Lutheran Church, Gasport, until her illness kept her homebound.
Survivors include her husband of 52 years, Robert W.; a daughter, Barbara L. of Lockport; a son, Matthew of Salem, Ore.; two brothers, Richard Servis of Clinton, Tenn., and Robert Servis of Garden Grove, Calif.; a sister, Betty Beury of Houston; and two grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 15 in Zion Lutheran Church, 4447 Central Ave., Gasport.
KONTRABECKI SR. - Joseph B. 9/7/2002
Joseph B. Kontrabecki Sr., 82, of Hamburg, a retired Bethlehem Steel mechanical foreman, died Friday (Sept. 6, 2002) at home after a long illness.
The Buffalo native attended Buffalo Public Schools and had lived in Hamburg for 47 years. He worked for Bethlehem Steel for 38 years, retiring in 1972.
He enjoyed hunting and fishing and taking trips to visit his children.
Survivors include his wife of 62 years, the former Jane Fleming; three daughters, Jacqueline Hooper-Kaminska of North Tonawanda, Jane Sowinski of Blasdell and Joyce Markiewicz of Hamburg; three sons, Joseph Jr. of Hamburg, George A. of Palm Coast, Fla., and John T. of San Francisco; a sister, Lillian Setlock of Lackawanna; 18 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Prayers will be said at 8:45 a.m. Monday in John J. Kaczor Funeral Home, 5433 Southwestern Blvd., Hamburg, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 9:30 in St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church, 4737 Lake Shore Road, Hamburg. Burial will be in Lakeside Memorial Cemetery, Hamburg.
KRZES - Shirley Ann 9/7/2002
Private services will be held in Buffalo; Boulder, Colo.; and Tampa, Fla., for Shirley Ann Krzes, a former Grand Island resident who died last Saturday (Aug. 31, 2002) at her Boulder home after a long illness. She was 67.
The former Shirley Jordan was born and raised in Buffalo. She lived on Grand Island from 1961 to about five years ago, when she began splitting her time between Sherkston Beach, Ont., and St. Petersburg, Fla. About a month ago, she moved to Colorado.
She worked as a reproduction manager at Cannon Design on Grand Island for 19 years before retiring in 1997. She enjoyed reading and walking.
Survivors include a daughter, Tina Arthur of Boulder, and a grandson.
MANCH - Dorothy, widow of superintendent 9/7/2002
A memorial service for Dorothy Manch, wife of the late Buffalo superintendent of schools, will be held at noon Sept. 26 in Temple Beth Zion, 805 Delaware Ave.
Mrs. Manch died Aug. 30, 2002, in Phoenix, where she had lived since suffering a stroke four years ago. She was 92.
Her husband, Joseph, who was superintendent from 1957 to 1975, died in 1987.
Born Dorothy Strom in Buffalo, she attended local public schools.
During the 1930s, she worked as a secretary for the Remington Rand Corp.
During the late 1930s and early '40s, the Manches worked with children during summers at the Jewish Fresh Air Camp. From 1946 to 1962, they operated Camp Arrowhead in Allegany State Park.
Mrs. Manch enjoyed opera, was a member of Hadassah and had been active in the Allentown Village Society. She and her husband were active with the Chautauqua Institution, the University at Buffalo Alumni Association, the United Jewish Fund and what is now the National Conference for Community & Justice.
Survivors include two sons, David and Dr. Richard, both of Phoenix; three grandchildren; and a great-grandson.
