USA High School Yearbooks by State and County
Kenneth Ralph VanBuren
Kenneth Ralph VanBuren, 79, of Lewis Center, died Saturday (April 30, 2005) at his residence.
He was born May 3, 1925 in Pittsburgh to Elmer J. and Esther (Hirt) VanBuren. He was a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and served in the submarine service. He was a member of the AMVETS Post 102 and the U.S. Naval Fleet Reserve.
He is survived by his life companion, Pat Morse; his step-children, Kenneth D. VanBrimmer Jr. and his wife, Nina of Delaware, Sandra J. Mitchell and her husband, Richard of Ostrander, Sherry L. Dunn of Delaware, and Denise K. Random of Grove City; nine grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren; a brother and sister-in-law, Newton and Marian VanBuren of Meadville, Pa., and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, LaVerne Helen Waltman.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Robinson Funeral Home, 32 W. Winter St., with the Rev. Doris Shover officiating. The Delaware County Veterans Association will conduct military honors.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice at Grady, 561 W. Central Ave., Delaware, OH 43015.
Allen Butler
Allen Butler, 90, of Delaware, died early this morning (May 3, 2005) at the Arbors of Delaware. Arrangements will be announced by Rodman Bennett Brown Funeral Home, Delaware.
Brittany Ann Motter
Brittany Ann Motter, 14, of Delaware, died Monday evening (May 2, 2005) at her residence following a one-year illness. Arrangements are pending with the DeVore-Snyder Funeral Home, Delaware.
Margaret R. Sheets
Margaret R. Sheets, 84, of Marengo, died early this morning (May 3, 2005) at Grady Memorial Hospital. Arrangements are pending with the DeVore-Snyder Funeral Home, Marengo.
Lois Ruth Hohmann Engel
Lois Ruth Hohmann Engel, 78, of Delaware, died Sunday evening, (August 14, 20005) at the Cherith Care Center at Willow Brook Christian Village.
She was born March 8, 1927, in the Republic of Panama, to Kathryn (Gardner) and Frank Hohmann, American government workers in the Panama Canal Zone. After graduation from Balboa High School in 1944, Lois attended Bethany College in Bethany, W.Va., and graduated from the Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William and Mary and the Physical Therapy School of Virginia Commonwealth. She married Lewis Engel, a cargo specialist for the Military Sea Transportation Service, in 1949 and moved to Woodside, N.Y.; there she became an active member of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church. She worked as a physical therapist at Goldwater Memorial Hospital, New York City, until the birth of her first child. After raising two daughters, she returned to physical therapy, working in the special-needs program at a nearby elementary school. Upon her husband’s retirement in 1969, she and her family moved to St. Petersburg, Fla. where she joined Central Bible Church and continued her career as a physical therapist at St. Anthony’s Hospital. Her husband, Lewis, died in 1986. After retiring in 1990, Mrs. Engel moved to Delaware. She sang in the Delaware Bible Church choir for several years and often played piano in various ministries. She also enjoyed being a volunteer teacher’s aide at Delaware Christian School for several years. She had a lifelong love for the piano, from playing in a Canal Zone USO during World War II to playing for elderly homebound friends. She also enjoyed classical music and reading, especially true-life accounts of rural life and of work with animals. Above all, she loved the Lord Jesus Christ and took II Timothy 1-12b as her testimony - “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”
She is survived by a daughter, Diane Engel of Delaware; a daughter and son-in-law, Laura and Jeff Slider of Delaware; two grandchildren, Robert and Emily Slider of Delaware; a brother and sister-in-law, Roy and Marlys Hohmann of St. Cloud, Minn.; nieces and a nephew, grandnieces and a grandnephew; and many friends.
A memorial celebration will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at Delaware Bible Church, 45 Belle Ave., with Pastor Marvin Hintz officiating. There will be an hour of visitation before the service.
Memorial contributions may be made to Delaware Bible Church or to Delaware Christian School.
Arrangements are in charge of Robinson Funeral Home.
Julia 'Judy' Cushman Orahood
Julia 'Judy' Cushman Orahood, 92, of Delaware, and a former longtime resident of Marysville, died Friday (Aug. 12, 2005) at the Arbors at Delaware.
She was born Sept. 25, 1912 in Champaign County to the late Arthur and Mary Blake Cushman. A homemaker, she raised her family while she worked alongside her husband at their South Main Street drugstore and soda fountain located on the Marysville town square. The drugstore later became known as “Walgomont & Orahood” and then, “Orahood & McCarthy.” A member of Marysville First United Methodist Church, she was a former member and past president of Memorial Hospital of Union County Auxiliary and a member of Twig 1. She was very active with the “Hi Fever Follies” in the 1960s. She was a member of Mary Chapter Order of the Eastern Star and Kings Daughters. She was a former member and past president of Aletheia Society. She was a graduate of Woodstock High School.
She is survived by a son, Richard C. Orahood, M.D., of Delaware; grandchildren, James Andrew (Tammie) Orahood of Indiana, Molly Powers Orahood of Indiana, Karen (Peter) Hazelton of Westerville, Dawn Orahood of Columbus and Richard Kevin Orahood of Georgia; a stepgrandson, Silas (Heather) Ungar of Cleveland; two great-grandsons, Sean and Ethan Hazelton; three sisters, Bertha Karrer of Columbus, Verna Bergandine of Sunbury and Josephine Claar of Indiana; a brother, Arthur (Marie) Cushman, of Arkansas; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert L. Orahood in 1972; a son, Robert L. “Bo” Orahood Jr. on May 26, 1995; three brothers, William, Robert and Charles Cushman; a sister, Elsie Bowerman; a grandson, John Orahood; and two daughters-in-law, Barbara Orahood and Deborah DeBrular.
The family received friends Monday at Underwood Funeral Home, Marysville. Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. today at Marysville First United Methodist Church. She was buried beside her husband at Oakdale Cemetery.
Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.underwoodfuneralhome.com.
Patricia Ann Blue
Patricia Ann Blue, 57, of Ostrander, died peacefully Sunday (Aug. 14, 2005) surrounded by her loved ones. Calling hours will be Sunday and funeral Monday at Schoedinger Worthington Chapel. See Friday’s Gazette for full obituary.
Joanne Hopper
Joanne Hopper, 74, died Monday morning (Aug. 15, 2005) at Mount Carmel Hospital. Arrangements will be announced by the Rodman Bennett Brown Funeral Home in Delaware.
Mary K. Spurlock
Mary K. Spurlock, 78, of Delaware, died Monday evening (Aug. 15, 2005) at Grady Memorial Hospital. Arrangements will be announced by the DeVore-Snyder Funeral Home in Delaware.
Imo Kilbury Eyssen
Imo Kilbury Eyssen, 102, died Monday (Sept. 26, 2005) at Wesleyan Glen Retirement Home, Columbus.
She was born Jan. 9, 1903 to Thomas and Minnie Kilbury. After graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1926, she married her college sweetheart, Donald Eyssen. Together they launched their teaching careers in the field of speech and dramatics at Upper Iowa University and the University of Dubuque. From 1937-41 they were also on the faculty of Albion Summer College in Bay View, Mich. In 1945 they returned to Delaware to teach at their beloved alma mater. They each received Danforth scholarships at Boston University for the summer of 1953. In 1967 they retired from Ohio Wesleyan University and became affiliated with American University in Cairo, Egypt for two years. After several retirement years in Texas, the Eyssens happily returned to their home in Delaware and their cottage in the Ohio Wesleyan summer community at Blind River, Canada. They were a “remarkable husband and wife team, known to hundreds of alumni as either classmates or teachers,” according to the alumni magazine at the time of their retirement. Although she carried a full teaching load, Mrs. Eyssen was hired as a part-time instructor in a time before husbands and wives were officially allowed to teach in the same department. During her last year of teaching she was finally honored and she retired as a full-fledged faculty member. She will be remembered as a woman of graciousness and dignity by her students and also by her many Delaware friends from Shakespeare Club, Book Club, Irving Club, PEO Sisterhood, her Asbury Church Circle and the national dramatic honorary, Theta Alpha Phi. As a lifelong student of literature, poetry and drama, she had a deep reservoir of memorized verse, especially of Tennyson and Shakespeare, that she could summon to capture the essence of life’s joys and sorrows. Not unlikely to end with “Lord, what fools we mortals be!”
She is survived by her sister, Joyce Seitz; her daughter, Donna Eyssen Rosser; three grandsons, Eric, Carl and Edward Rosser; and five great-grandchildren, Ethan, Micaela, Benjamin, Max and Aaron.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Eyssen; sisters, Louise Wogaman and Beulah Lombard; and her brother, William Kilbury.
There will be an open house for relatives and friends from 2 to 5 p.m. Oct. 1 at 36 W. Winter St. There will be a private burial in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Ohio Wesleyan University Theater Department Equipment Fund.
Arrangements were handled by Cook & Son-Pallay Funeral Home, Columbus.
Allan Ai Ichida
Allan Ai Ichida, 76, of Delaware, retired Ohio Wesleyan University professor of botany and microbiology, died suddenly at home on Sunday (Sept. 25, 2005).
He was born Aug. 26, 1929 in Seattle, the first of three sons to Kikuko (May) Tominaga and Ainosuke Ichida, both Brigadier officers in the Salvation Army. He spent much of his childhood in San Francisco, where his parents ran an orphanage, before being relocated in 1942 to the Manzanar Japanese internment camp during World War II. Following the war, his family moved to Cleveland, where Allan graduated from Collinwood High School. He earned his bachelor of arts degree from Ohio Wesleyan in 1953, where he was a member of Beta Sigma Tau. He then attended the University of Tennessee, studying botany, mycology and bacteriology, and received his master’s degree in 1955. Mr. Ichida’s studies then took him to the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he received his Ph.D. in botany in 1960. While at the University of Wisconsin he met Jann Machotka in the bacteriology research laboratories. They were married in June of 1962. He returned to Ohio Wesleyan in 1961 as a faculty member in the Department of Botany and Microbiology until he retired in 1995. He was a much-admired professor of plant biology and mycology. His research interests were also pursued during several sabbaticals at the University of California in Berkeley. During his tenure at Ohio Wesleyan he served as president and adviser of the Ohio branch of the American Society for Microbiology and on the Olentangy Scenic River Commission, where his water quality research helped to secure the river’s “Scenic River” status. He continued his research in the OWU Bohannan and Kraus nature preserves. He was a board member for the Salvation Army in Delaware and was also an active council member of the Central Ohio American Youth Hostels. He was an enthusiastic canoeist, kayaker, cyclist, skier, and traveler. His love of travel was shared by his family, who cherished their extended camping trips, cruises and journeys to all parts of the world. The outdoors and driving through scenic countrysides were passions for him and he spent much of his life studying, preserving and enjoying the natural world.
He is survived by his wife, Jann; daughters Jennifer of Salt Lake City; Audrey (Steve Casper) and grandson Declan Alexander Casper, of Cheverly, Md.; and brothers Shinji of Ogden, Utah and Grant of Cleveland. His family remembers him as a kind man of quiet strength who always had a smile and a pat on the back for friends.
A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Jemison Auditorium, Sanborn Hall at Ohio Wesleyan University, with a reception to follow.
The family requests that donations be made to the Salvation Army, 252 Curtis St., Delaware, OH 43015 (740-369-5301) and/or to Ohio Wesleyan University Botany and Microbiology O’Neal-Jones Botany Endowment Fund in memory of Allan A. Ichida.
Verlin J. Place
Verlin J. Place, 82, of Delaware, died Sunday (Sept. 25, 2005) at Grady Memorial Hospital in Delaware.
He was born Aug. 24, 1923 in Delaware County to Verne and Florence (Penney) Place. A 1943 graduate of Willis High School, he was a lifelong resident of Delaware County and a retired inspector for Denison Engineering and Flxible. He was an active member of Hiram Masonic Lodge, Chapter and Past Illustrious Master of Council in 1968, a member of the Vintage Auto Club and was the original owner of his 1974 Pontiac convertible. He was a former member of Delaware Lions Club.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Lucille (Criner), whom he married Nov. 12, 1944; one brother Arvin (Myriam) Place of Delaware; numerous nieces, nephews and friends; and his dog and faithful companion, Pepe.
He was preceded in death by a brother, Weldon.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Robinson Funeral Home, 32 W. Winter St., where a Masonic service will be held at 7 p.m. today. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home, with the Rev. John Lengar officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Memorial Park.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice at Grady, 561 W. Central Ave., Delaware, OH 43015.
Herbert 'Herb' Webb
Herbert 'Herb' Webb, 71, of Delaware, died Sunday evening (Sept. 25, 2005) at the home of his daughter in Delaware.
He was born on June 24, 1934 in Webbville, Ky., to the late Clyde and Grace H. (Hill) Webb. An area resident since 1959, he worked in the machinist trade for Denison Engineering. He enjoyed picking the banjo, fishing and hunting.
He is survived by his three children, Shirley (Patrick) Desmond of Delaware, Dean (Becky) Webb of Cardington and Daniel Webb of St. Petersburg, Fla.; two grandchildren, Chris Norman and Josh Webb; one sister, Tina B. Doane of Sunbury; and two brothers, David Jesse Webb of Mount Gilead and George Webb of Delaware.
He was preceded in death by three sisters, Mary E. Doane, Rose E. Owens and Jewell M. Webb.
Friends may call from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at DeVore-Snyder Funeral Home, Ohio 3 at Ohio 61, Sunbury, where services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, with Pastor Jerry Owens officiating. Interment will follow in Sunbury Memorial Park.
Memorial contributions may be made to Vista Care Hospice Foundation, 2760 Airport Drive, Suite 100, Columbus, OH 43219.
