Ex-Indian 'Gomer' Hodge dies
Tuesday, May 15, 2007Dennis ManoloffPlain Dealer Reporter
Harold "Gomer" Hodge played just one major-league season, but he was around long enough to utter one line that left an indelible impression.

After notching his fourth hit in four official at-bats for the Indians in April 1971, Hodge said, "Golly, fellas, I'm hitting 4.000."

The quote captured the essence of the easygoing Hodge, who died Sunday in Rutherfordton, N.C. He was 63. Hodge had suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.


"Fans loved him," said Russell Schneider, who covered the Indians for The Plain Dealer in 1971. "Everybody loved being around him."

Schneider devoted a chapter to Hodge in his latest book, "Whatever Happened to Super Joe'? Catching up with 45 Good Old Guys from the Bad Old Days of the Cleveland Indians."

Hodge finished the 1971 season with a .205 average in 83 at-bats in 80 games. The reserve infielder had one homer -- over Fenway Park's Green Monster -- and nine RBI.

The Indians demoted Hodge, then 27, to Class AAA and he never made it back. Hodge was a minor-league player/coach or manager in the Indians' system through 1976, Schneider wrote. Hodge held various jobs in the systems of other clubs, and coached in Australia and Mexico before retiring in 2001.

"Gomer would be the first to tell you he wasn't blessed with an abundance of talent," Schneider said. "He was a solid, hard-working country boy who played the game for the sheer love of it."

Hodge was nicknamed Gomer by teammates in the minors because they thought he sounded like Gomer Pyle, the TV character played by Jim Nabors.

The funeral is at 11 a.m. today at McMahan's Funeral Home, 249 S. Main St., Rutherfordton. The family will receive friends after the service.

Donations can be made to Hospice of the Carolina Foothills Inc., 130 Forest Glen Drive, Columbus, N.C., 28722.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

dmanoloff@plaind.com, 216-999-4664

Former disc jockey dies at 56
By ROBERT WILSON, rlwilson2594@msn.com
May 18, 2007


Though Bill Purdue never got to see this world, he tried to experience it in every way he could.
Through it all, his wife said, "he didn't hold back."





"He always said being blind could be an ability or a disability. He made his an ability," Sandra Purdue said.

William Ray "Bill" Purdue died Monday at age 56, a victim of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Mr. Purdue was blind almost from birth, said Sandra Purdue. He was born prematurely in East St. Louis, Ill., and weighed 2 1/2 pounds. He spent four months in an incubator where, she said, an overabundance of oxygen in his system cost him his eyesight.

He was educated at the Illinois School for the Blind in Jacksonville and the Missouri School for the Blind in St Louis and was one of the first vision-impaired students in the public school system there.

His father, a Baptist pastor, accepted a job at a church in East Tennessee, and Mr. Purdue wound up getting a degree from Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City.

"He would rather have been an auto mechanic," Sandra Purdue said.

She told how his college friend, John Abbott, would place a piece of cardboard on his bike so that it made a sound as the spokes hit it and that Mr. Purdue would follow the sound around campus riding on his own bike.

Mr. Purdue got his degree in sociology and was for a time a social worker. But his prime vocation was in radio. He worked as a disc jockey at stations in Morristown, Alabama, West Tennessee and other places. His wife said he had an ear for classic country and rock music.

"He always called his show the 'Wild Bill Extravaganza,' " Sandra Purdue said, adding he also worked in gospel radio.

Mr. Purdue got his chance to try driving with the help of some of his buddies in a church parking lot once, according to longtime family friend Mary Mitchell.

And Sandra Purdue said that Mr. Purdue also got the chance to drive a boat and pull his friend Abbott as he skied behind.

"I would tell him which way to steer," she said.

"My husband was nothing but a gentleman."

Former owner of Burroughs Appliance dies on his birthday
BETTY TYLER, News Editor
Article Launched: 05/17/2007 02:56:23 PM PDT


John A. Lehman, a longtime Redlands businessman who was active in the community, died on his 81st birthday, May 11, at Redlands Community Hospital from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Lehman was well-known in Redlands as the manager and then owner of Burroughs Appliance Center on East State Street, and he was active in the community, especially with Rotary Club projects.

He was born May 11, 1926, in Loma Linda, grew up in Beaumont and finished high school in Compton, where he also attended college.

It was in high school in Compton that he met some of his lifelong friends, his son Jack Lehman said. Those friends included Pete Rozelle, who was commissioner of the National Football League from the 1960s through the '80s.

Lehman and Rozelle were best men at each other's weddings, Jack Lehman said, and they remained close through the years.

The group of friends from Lehman's Compton years, including some from college, became the "Super Bowl" group, about a dozen men and their wives who got together every year at the Super Bowl and visited with Rozelle, Lehman's son said.

After high school, Lehman served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and when he returned to


California he married and raised his family in Colton and Redlands.
He worked for Sears, then for the Edison Co. before he settled into what became a career in the appliance business.

After leaving the Edison Co., he began working with his father in the appliance business, then had an opportunity in the early 1950s to work in sales at Waldo F. Burroughs Appliances in Redlands. He later became the store's manager and then owner after Waldo Burroughs retired.

Lehman retired in 1993 and sold the business to Jim Thorpe.

In recent years, the store switched from appliances to a cabinets, tying in with Lehman's passion for woodworking and his skill as a master cabinetmaker.

After his retirement, Lehman enjoyed making cabinets, furniture, toys and other projects in the workshop of the home in Angelus Oaks that he and his wife Martha built together.

His son said everyone in the family, including every grandchild, has something he made, as do many other families.

In addition to cabinets and furniture, his son recalled the toy wagons made of wood, with wooden building blocks fit into them, that he made for his grandchildren and for other people's grandchildren.

His woodworking skill was also appreciated in the Rotary Club of Redlands. He had been an active member of the club since he joined in 1971.

Bill Hatfield, a member of Rotary and owner of Hatfield Buick-GMC Truck in Redlands, said Lehman was always there whenever Rotary members had a major project, such as building a shade cover at a community garden.

"He was an excellent woodworker," Hatfield said. "He knew how to build and fix anything - always hands on."

Hatfield said Lehman also took on the job of standing at the door during Rotary's annual Red Wine and Blues wine-tasting fundraiser, greeting people and handing out glasses and plates.

He said Lehman was also one of the people who made sure the room was ready for Rotary meetings. "He was one who did all the grunt work," Hatfield said.

Lehman's skill with people equaled his skill in the workshop, according to Hatfield.

"He made sure he got to know everyone in the club," Hatfield said, "and when you saw him, you felt better having visited with him, whether it was just hello or quite a conversation.

"He would compliment you, tell you you were doing a good job. He cared about you."

Lehman was also a "wonderful guy to deal with" as a businessman, Hatfield said.

He recalled the time the icemaker in his first refrigerator broke down the day before the Fourth of July and said Lehman was at his house until 8 that night, fixing it.

In the Rotary Club, in addition to the many hours he gave working on service projects, he was also a multiple Paul Harris Fellow.

A few weeks ago, the Redlands club honored him for his many years of service and made a donation to the ALS Association in his honor.

Lehman's other community involvement included serving on the Redlands school board in the 1960s and serving many years on the board of the Salvation Army.

He had also been a member of the Redlands Business Improvement District and had been active in the First Congregational Church of Redlands, holding many offices.

He had been a member of the Order of DeMolay as a youth and later was a member of the Redlands Masonic Lodge. He had also been a Boy Scout leader and a member of the Exchange Club and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Survivors include his wife Martha Lehman of Angelus Oaks; his son and daughter-in-law Jack and Tawnie Lehman of Brea; his daughters and sons-in-law Susan and Russ Nelson of Belgrade, Mont., Lori and Kent Porter of Bozeman, Mont., and Mari and Cliff DeManty of Fullerton; his former wife Donna Lehman of Bozeman, Mont.; eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; and friends Ken and Donna Goodner of Angelus Oaks who were like family to him.

A celebration of his life and sharing of memories is planned for 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 20, at the Tartan Restaurant, 24 E. Redlands Blvd., Redlands. Private family services will be held later.

Memorial donations may be made to the ALS Association.

Theater advocate succumbs to ALS
WALNUT CREEK: 'Jann' Schaub worked tirelessly on behalf of area arts for a quarter of a century
By Jeanine Benca
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Article Launched: 05/18/2007 03:07:51 AM PDT


Janet Rose Schaub, a tireless local arts enthusiast who helped build theater programs in Diablo Valley for more than 25 years, died Monday at her home in Walnut Creek.
"Jann" Schaub was passionate about promoting the legacy of American playwright Eugene O'Neill, especially among young people. She served on the board of the Eugene O'Neill Foundation from 1987 until her death, coordinating the foundation's "Student Days" program, a popular arts workshop for East Bay students held each spring at Tao House, O'Neill's one-time estate in the Diablo hills.

Throughout the 1980s, Schaub hosted a popular community access cable program, "Walnut Creek in Focus." The weekly television show examined issues in local schools and government.

A native of Detroit, Schaub studied drama at Michigan State University and Wayne State University. After moving to California in 1974, she became active in community theater, performing with Center Repertory Company, ACT Now, J&L Players and Town Hall Theatre.

Schaub gave her last stage performance in 2006 at the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church in Walnut Creek in a production of "Handy Dandy," in which she played an activist nun leading a peace march on a nuclear power plant.

In November, Schaub was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a chronic neuromuscular disease.

"She never made an issue of it. Her focus was not on herself," said longtime Eugene O'Neill Foundation board


member Bob Rezak.
In Schaub's final community theater performance, "she brought the same conviction and passion she has demonstrated for issues she cares deeply about -- world peace, the environment, her church, her community, her country, people and, above all, the arts," Rezak said.

Schaub is survived by her husband of 37 years, Gary Schaub; her brother, Robert Rose of Irvine; and two nephews, Matthew and Scott.

A celebration of her life will be held at 3 p.m. June 2 at the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the ALS Association, Greater Bay Area Chapter, 131 Steuart St., San Francisco, CA 94105 and to the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church, 55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek, CA 94596.

Former Van Buren Mayor Dies

POSTED: 8:06 pm CDT May 27, 2007
UPDATED: 8:16 pm CDT May 27, 2007

VAN BUREN, Ark. -- A former mayor of Van Buren has died, officials confirmed.

John Riggs, who had lived with Lou Gehrig's Disease for several years, died at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Riggs retired as mayor last December because of his battle with the disease.
He served as Van Buren's mayor for 12 years and is known not only for his genuine love for the city but also his accomplishments such as successful road projects, the capital improvements program and a community effort to rebuild following the 1996 tornado.

http://www.4029tv.com/news/13398425/detail.html

'Will' Weir carried Olympic torch in 2004

By Sharon Boase
The Hamilton Spectator
(May 28, 2007)
A powerful flame has been extinguished.

The worlds of elite triathlons, theatre, modern dance, kick-boxing and ALS advocacy have all lost a leading light since William ("Will") Weir succumbed to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, on May 21. He was 58.

Friends and family remember Weir most fondly at a moment in which he truly shone -- carrying the Olympic torch during the Canadian leg of the Olympic Torch Relay leading up to the Athens Games in 2004.

"It was a very proud moment for him, regardless of the illness," said long-time friend Steve Lessy of Weir's participation in his wheelchair. Accompanied by his wife, Jennifer, and then one-year-old son Billy, in carrying the torch in Montreal, it was a moment of joy.

"He used that opportunity to give a very passionate speech about movement -- whether related to dance or sport. He was able to articulate some of his philosophy of life and try to promote ALS issues because it just doesn't get the same attention as cancer or heart and stroke."

Born and raised in Toronto, Weir excelled at swimming, cycling and running. He swam while at university and competed in triathlons for 20 years, winning many top level awards. He also dabbled in kick-boxing, theatre and modern dance.

In 1999, he was diagnosed with ALS, a rapidly progressing disease that causes nerve cells to degenerate and muscles to become paralyzed while leaving the intellect and senses intact. It is incurable and generally fatal within two to five years of onset.

From the age of two, Billy would scramble up his father's wheelchair and plop himself in Weir's lap. Unable to move his arms and hold his son, Weir had a ritual of rubbing noses with his little boy.

In 2004, Weir and his wife (who studied in Steeltown) moved to Hamilton after Weir had to give up his business staffing pools in condominiums with lifeguards and they could no longer afford to live in Toronto.

Jennifer, a nurse, found a job at Dofasco and Weir continued his advocacy work with the ALS Society in Toronto.

"His contribution was immeasurable," said Corina Chevalier, with the ALS Society of Ontario. "He was a pillar of strength and hope for people with ALS because he was always so positive."

Weir had to be moved to St. Joseph's Healthcare where he received complex continuing care after Jennifer was diagnosed with cervical cancer last year. When the cancer returned in her lymph nodes, she went for a second round of chemotherapy but is now part of a clinical trial receiving a drug that targets cancer cells.

Meanwhile, Weir developed a blood clot in his lung. Although doctors managed to clear it up, complications from ALS eventually took his life.

"For someone to have been athletic his whole life, who never smoked or drank or abused his body to be stricken with something like this ... nobody can know unless you walk in his shoes," Lessy said.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the ALS Society of Ontario (alsont.ca).

sboase@thespec.com 905-526-2452

May 28. 2007 6:59AM

Ex-Irish star Demmerle dies
Former Notre Dame standout receiver Pete Demmerle, lost his battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) on Thursday at the age of 53.

He played from 1971 to 1974 and was a starting wide receiver for Ara Parseghian's national championship team in 1973.

A funeral mass will be celebrated Wednesday at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Greenwich, Conn.


A knee injury in his final college game reduced his chances at a pro career, although he was drafted by San Diego in the 13th round. Instead, he attended Fordham University Law School in 1976.

He joined the international law firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae in 1979 as an associate tourney.

Demmerle received the 2003 Edward "Moose" Krause Monogram Club Member of the Year Award.

He was Notre Dame's leading receiver in '73 and '74 (43, then sixth-best in ND history), when he helped the Irish post a pair of season-ending bowl victories over Alabama. His three first-quarter catches and a later two-point conversion helped spark the 1973 team to the 24-23 Sugar Bowl victory over the Crimson Tide.

German expressionist artist Joerg Immendorf
dies Monday 28 May 2007 14:04German expressionist artist Joerg Immendorff died on Monday after a long illness, his wife said.One of Germany's foremost modern artists, the 61-year-old had been suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease which attacks and destroys nerve cells in the brain.

He died in the early hours of Monday at his home in Dusseldorf, his wife, Oda Jaune-Immendorff, said.

A charismatic figure, Immendorff was known for his flamboyant lifestyle as well as oil his paintings, prints and sculptures that mixed surrealism with an element of satire.

In August 2004, he was fined and given an 11-month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to offences relating to a widely publicized "cocaine orgy" at a Dusseldorf hotel.

The terminally ill artist testified that he only wanted to "go out with a fling" when he hired a hotel suite and invited several prostitutes to a party where alcohol and drugs were available in large quantities.

Immendorff became afflicted with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in 1998, and set up a foundation in his own name to finance medical research into the condition.

ALS leads to increasingly serious stages of paralysis and then to death when the person's respiratory system becomes paralysed.

Born on June 14 in the north German town of Bleckede, he first gained attention in the 1970s with a series of works called "Cafe Deutschland" dealing with the division of Germany.

One of his most publicized works was an official portrait commissioned by Gerhard Schroeder in which the former chancellor appears in a gilded head and clothes.

A professor at the Dusseldorf Academy of Art, Immendorf's last major exhibition was held at Berlin's New National Gallery when he was confined to a wheelchair. dpa ms sc

Triathlete loses battle with ALS

07:35 AM EDT on Tuesday, May 29, 2007

BY CAROLYN THORNTON
Journal Sports Writer


Blais
The triathlon community lost a valued friend and competitor Sunday when Jonathan Blais died after a 2-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Known to his friends as the “Blazeman,” the 35-year-old Seekonk native and Rhode Island College graduate waged a valiant war against the disease, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, after being diagnosed on May 2, 2005.

Realizing that those with ALS usually die within two to five years after being diagnosed, the special-education teacher worked tirelessly to create more awareness about the neurodegenerative disease that relentlessly attacks the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord and for which there is still no cure.

Documenting his efforts on his Web site ( http://www.alswarriorpoet.com), Blais mobilized an army of triathletes — called Team Blazeman Warriors — to help with his war on ALS. He and that dedicated group of friends have spent the last two years holding fundraisers throughout the United States to support the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Therapy Development Fund, a nonprofit biotech company in Cambridge, Mass., dedicated to finding effective treatments for individuals with ALS.

In 2005, Blais became the first competitor suffering with ALS to complete the prestigious and grueling Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.

Wheelchair bound the following year, he was forced to watch the event as a spectator. Brian Breen — a 31-year-old banker from Tinley Park, Ill. — completed the 2006 event in tribute to Blais.

In accepting an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Edited Sports Special for the 2006 Ford Ironman World Championship at the 28th-annual Sports Emmy Awards Ceremony, Ironman’s executive television producer, Peter Henning, announced that the award was being dedicated to Blais and his family.

Blais was also named the Competitor of the Year at the 15th-annual Competitor Endurance Sports Awards, held last February in San Diego.

Blais’ parents, Mary Ann and Bob, sent out this e-mail following their son’s death on Sunday:

Dear Friends,

Jonathan passed away at approx 8:30 Sunday, May 27, 2007.

He was a great son, brother, uncle and friend. We shall miss him more than you know.

He lost this battle in hopes others may win the war. Donations to the Blazeman Foundation or Jonathan S. Blais Scholarship fund would be appreciated. … Please keep up the fight that Jon started 2 yrs ago in his honor.

Mary Ann and Bob Blais

cthorn@projo.com

His determination was an inspiration


Rick Murray, 66, battled Lou Gehrig's disease for nine years.




By Jessie-Lynne Kerr, The Times-Union


Richard "Rick" Scott Murray, a retired Navy commander and avid sportsman who became the Jacksonville face of Lou Gehrig's disease/ALS by his determination to do the best that he could with the strength he had left, died at his Mandarin home Wednesday evening. He was 66.



The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Monday at All Saints Chapel at Jacksonville Naval Air Station. Among the speakers will be MaliVai Washington, the former professional tennis player who became a good friend. Burial will be at a later date in Arlington National Cemetery. The family will receive friends at their home from 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday and after the service Monday.

Cmdr. Murray acquired a cadre of fans - from sports figures to congressmen to average Joes - who admired the courage he showed over the nine years that he fought the disease he knew one day would take his life.



Those nine years tripled the prognosis of the life expectancy given to him by doctors. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a degenerative disease of the nerve cells that control muscular movement and is named for the baseball great whose career it cut short.

As late as three days before his death, Cmdr. Murray marshaled the strength in his rapidly weakening body to attend the Jacksonville Suns' Lou Gehrig/ALS Day game, an annual fundraiser he convinced the baseball team to start several years ago.

"I could tell Rick was in a lot of pain," said Suns President Peter D. Bragan Jr., who met Cmdr. Murray four or five years ago at a game. "He was not quite his usual smiling self, but he was determined to be there."

Cmdr. Murray this year published what he called Rick's Reflections, a collection of "inspirational thoughts, quotes and phrases for dealing with life's many challenges." The foreword was written by Washington, a 1996 Wimbledon finalist whose kids foundation Cmdr. Murray supported. The two met in 1997 when Cmdr. Murray participated in a 24-hour tennis marathon for Washington's foundation before the early stages of the disease set in.

On the cover is a photo of the author with Tom Coughlin, coach of the New York Giants and former coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The two men met seven years ago when both had children attending The Bolles School.

After learning of his friend's death this week, Coughlin said in a statement, "We all have our own Hall of Fame - people who have touched our lives deeply and inspired us to live our lives more fully, to appreciate the precious gifts we've been given. Rick Murray sits in the front row of my Hall of Fame."

Former Jacksonville Mayor Hans Tanzler, a neighbor of the Murrays for 10 years, said Cmdr. Murray was a great inspiration to him two years ago when Tanzler, who had been an athlete all his life, lost a leg to a blood clot.

"Every time I would begin to feel sorry for myself, I'd go see Rick because I was so impressed with his attitude and optimism. I took a lot of instruction from him," Tanzler said.

The former mayor went to visit and pray with him shortly before he died. "I sang The Old Rugged Cross to him and I could see his response in his eyes," Tanzler said. "He was one of the most incredible people I ever met."

A native of Philadelphia, Cmdr. Murray graduated from Colgate University in 1962 and entered the Navy later that year. After training as a Navy flight officer, he was assigned to Jacksonville Naval Air Station.

After other assignments, he completed his 25-year career at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1987. The family moved back to Jacksonville in 1995.

Sherry Murray, his wife of 42 years, said friends made bumper stickers that read "Don't Quit, Rick Won't."

"He used this disease to help people," she said. "He wanted people to know you can live with it."

He traveled to Russia and Europe after his illness began, she said. "He said the only difference between an ordeal and an adventure is attitude."

His younger son, Mark Murray of Seattle, said he will remember his father's motto: "Persistence Wins Again."

"Regardless of what the doctors said about his prognosis," Mark Murray said, "Dad was determined to live life to the lees and live as long as he could."

He also is survived by a daughter, Allison Hastie of Orange Park; another son, Richard Scott Murray Jr. of Jacksonville; and five grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation, 2933 N. Myrtle Ave., Suite 101, Jacksonville, FL 32209; or the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund, P.O. Box 285, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250.