Leonard H. Peterson

Leonard Haley Peterson, 67, passed away on May 5, 2007, in Lodi, Wis., after a two-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Lenny was born to Dora Mae and Haley Peterson on Aug. 30, 1939 in Tacoma, Wash. He served as a jet mechanic in the U.S. Air Force, a pumpman on oil tankers in the Merchant Marine, and a cement truck driver in Santa Rosa, Calif., Cottage Grove, Ore., and in Fairbanks from 1989-2001.

Lenny loved people and cherished all those he knew. He loved restoring and driving antique cars and his Harley. He loved his trees, yard, cats and dogs.

Lenny was preceded in death by his parents, Haley and Dora.

He is survived by his wife, Julie Wojtalewicz Peterson; daughters and sons-in-law, Kim and Jeremy Delich of Normandy Park, Wash., and Christine Peterson Schwab and Jason Schwab of Federal Way, Wash.; grandchildren, Graysen and Annie Delich; stepchildren, Jackie and Mike Sill of Lodi, Wis., Brad Schmauss and his partner Kym Bartlett of London and Ben and Christy Schmauss of Las Vegas; step-grandchildren, Cassidy Sill and Ruby Schmauss; and brother and sister-in-law, Doug and Debbie Peterson of Maryville, Mont.

Condolences may be sent to Julie Wojtalewicz Peterson, N2860 Trevor Ridge Road, No. 12, Lodi, WI 53555.

Fundraiser loses battle with ALS
Local News - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 @ 02:00

A popular financial services agent, who tried to raise awareness about Lou Gehrig's disease after being diagnosed three years ago, has died.

Daniel "Dan" Gentilcore passed away Friday at Greater Niagara General Hospital, surrounded by members of his family.

He was 49.


Gentilcore, who worked in the insurance industry for more than 25 years, was diagnosed with the progressive and slowly debilitating disease in 2004.

He was the subject of a feature article in The Review published in November 2005, while trying to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for the disease, which is also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

"People are not aware, they don't know what ALS is," Gentilcore said at the time. "You mention Lou Gehrig, and they know a little more, but it's not well understood. I want people to be able to understand."

A funeral mass will be celebrated today at 10:30 a.m. at St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church. Entombment will follow at Fairview Mausoleum.

In memoriam donations can be made to ALS Research, c/o Dr. Turnbull at McMaster University.

Marlin E. Johnson, 75, of New Underwood and formerly of Lead, passed peacefully to walk eternally with the Lord Wednesday, May 16, 2007 after his battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and his brief stay at the Fort Meade VAMC in Sturgis.
Marlin was born March 15, 1932 in Lead to Marion and Margaret (Killoren) Johnson. The family purchased and moved to a ranch south of Lead where Marlin grew up and attended school at the Hillside School on the ranch and later in Lead where he graduated High School in 1952. Marlin enlisted in the Army in 1953 until 1955 when he returned to Lead.
After working briefly with the Corps of Engineers as a laborer on Pactola Reservoir, Marlin began work at Homestake Gold Mine in 1957 until retiring as an electrician in 1992 after 36 years. Shortly after retiring Marlin moved from the family ranch to New Underwood where he remained until he became ill at which time he moved to his Son, Ross', home in Spearfish prior to his final days.
Marlin spent his life enjoying ranching, hunting and fishing, with his children, brother, John, and numerous nieces, nephews and grandchildren. He always remained a jokester and loved socializing with all he met.
He will be dearly missed by his son, Ross (Carolyn) Johnson and two grandchildren of Spearfish, daughters Marcia (Jack) Davis and grandson of Moravia, Iowa, and Jolene Geer and three grandchildren of Clinton, Mo.
He is also survived by his brother's John (Phyllis) Johnson, Deadwood, and Theron (Grace) Young, Huntington Beach, Calif. and their children and numerous other nieces, nephews and cousins. He is also survived by two great-grandson's Raymond Olsen of Moravia, Iowa and Austin Clark of Spearfish.
Marlin was preceded in death by his parent's and one sister, Lavonne Libby of Grants Pass, Ore.
Visitation will be Sunday May 20, from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. at Fidler-Isburg Funeral Chapel in Spearfish. Services will be conducted Monday, May 21 at 2 p.m. at Fidler-Isburg Funeral Chapel, with Chaplin Charley Conger officiating and burial to follow at Mountain Lawn Cemetery in Lead.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established to benefit research for Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Arrangements have been placed in the care of Fidler-Isburg Funeral Chapel of Spearfish. Online condolences may be written at: www.fidler-isburgfuneralchapels.com

Arlene Ranshaw Wetzel

CHESTERHILL - Arlene Ranshaw Wetzel left this world to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus on May 21, 2007, after a long battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).

Mrs. Wetzel was a music teacher in the Morgan Local Schools for 27 years. She graduated from Moon High School in Coraopolis, Pa. and received her bachelor of music education degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She was a student of organ performance of Dr. Robert Sutherland Lord at the University of Pittsburgh, and served as organist at numerous Pittsburgh area churches including Brookline United Presbyterian, Sharon United Presbyterian, Mount Lebanon United Presbyterian, University and City Ministry (UACM), and Heinz Chapel. After moving to Chesterhill in 1970 she continued her organist career at various churches in Marietta and Parkersburg, most recently at Trinity Episcopal Church, Parkersburg.




She enjoyed more than 50 years of marriage with her husband, Richard D. Wetzel. She is also survived by her four children, Richard (Diana) Wetzel, Erika (John) Paradiso, John (Celia) Wetzel and Dara (Mark) Gillis; four grandchildren, Laura and Andrew Wetzel, and Mark and Jessica Gillis; and her sister, Joanne Pettit of Erie, Pa.

She was preceded in death by her parents, John Dressel Ranshaw and Mildred Cole Ranshaw.
Calling hours will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 24, at Stone- Matheney Funeral Home, Chesterhill and 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 25, at Matheney Funeral Home in McConnelsville.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 27, 2007, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 430 Juliana St., Parkersburg, W.Va.

Officer an inspiration to others, friends say
By Hafsa Naz Mahmood
hmahmood@dailyherald.com
Posted Friday, May 25, 2007



Retired Glen Ellyn police Sgt. Robert Madden is being remembered as a humble, cheerful, caring, helpful and reliable man who was loved greatly.

The 51-year-old Glen Ellyn resident, who spent 29 years with the department, died Tuesday in his home after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's disease.

Madden loved his family and was dedicated to his job.

He also was a fighter.

“He just kind of decided that he would do things his own way, so the disease never really took him,” said Alison Madden, his wife of 30 years and high school sweetheart. “He just kind of lived his life.”

Madden was born in Chicago, received his bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois University and loved gardening, basketball, bicycling, traveling, reading and the White Sox.

Glen Ellyn Police Chief Phil Norton knew Madden for 21 years and shared an office with him for about five years.

“If you were his friend, you knew he had your back,” Norton said. “He had a great sense of humor, he was a no-nonsense guy and he never held a grudge.”

Norton said he often teamed up with Madden to pull small pranks on their colleagues.

“At the end of the week on Friday afternoons, you’d kind of wind down after busy weeks,” Norton said. “You could hear the laughter from our office. It was a good way to end the week. I miss him.”

Madden had positive influences on the people he worked with and trained throughout the years.

“He was so inspirational through so many things,” said Deputy Police Chief Bill Holmer, who knew Madden for 16 years. “His work was very important to him, but he always had the philosophy of family first. In this line of work, it’s so easy to lose that.”

Friends said Madden was someone they could count on for an honest opinion.

“He was certainly a man full of integrity,” Holmer said.

Visitation will be 3 to 9 p.m. today at Leonard Memorial Home, Ltd. in Glen Ellyn. A memorial funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn.

Madden is survived by his wife; children, Shawn Barth of Wheaton, Sarah Madden of Chicago and Timothy Madden of Glen Ellyn; and 10 siblings. He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters.

English, Daniel J.; 62; Evansville; died 5/16; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Payne family mourns loss of patriarch
By Marty Maciaszek
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com
Posted Tuesday, June 12, 2007


Jim Payne exhibited his toughness and fighting spirit during the toughest fight of his life.

Payne, a teacher and coach at East Leyden High School and patriarch of one of the area’s best-known high school sports families, battled amyotrophic lateral sclerosis for 17¨ years.

And Payne easily bucked the odds of what is better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease and is supposed to result in death after a few years. Payne finally succumbed to it at 10:10 a.m. Monday in his Schaumburg home at 66.

“It’s tough but my father’s in a better place,” said Kent Payne, who was a basketball star at Schaumburg High and has coached at St. Edward and Addison Trail high schools and at Elgin and Harper community colleges.

“I’ve known him all my life and I’ve never heard one person say anything in a negative connotation about him,” said Ray Pettenuzzo, who played for Payne when East Leyden won the Class 5A state football title in 1977. “He’s how an educator should be portrayed and how a coach should be portrayed.

“Whether you were the fifth-string running back or first-string, he treated you the same every day. You were like, ‘Wow, this guy really does care.’æ”

Pettenuzzo credited Jim Payne for pointing him in the direction of teaching and coaching. Pettenuzzo played at Carthage College, where Payne was a star running back in the early 1960s, and just resigned in May after 16 years as head football coach at Maine West.

“His advice to me set the ball rolling,” Pettenuzzo said.

Jim Payne, who is survived by his wife Ruth Ann, graduated from downstate Amboy High School before going to Carthage. He is a member of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame and also coached track and field at East Leyden.

Payne’s grandchildren include Cully, who will be a junior at Burlington Central and has committed to DePaul to play basketball, Katlyn, who helped St. Edward reach the Class A Elite Eight as a freshman, and Quentin, who will be a seventh grader.

“Driving home (Sunday night), I told all three of them if you get anything out of ‘papa,’æ” Kent Payne said, “it’s he didn’t know when to quit and didn’t know how to quit.”

Visitation for Jim Payne will be from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Thursday at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Schaumburg. A service will follow for Payne, who will be cremated and has donated his spine and brain to the Les Turner ALS Foundation for research.

Coach beat odds with ALS
By Eileen O. Daday
Daily Herald Correspondent
Posted Thursday, June 14, 2007



James L. Payne ~ 1940-2007

Every year after football season ends at Leyden High School in Franklin Park, officials bestow a special honor on one player: the “Jim Payne Badge of Courage Award.”

They began the tradition in 1991, shortly after Assistant Football Coach James L. Payne had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's Disease.

In 1993, when Mr. Payne was no longer able to coach, the football team dedicated the season to him.

Mr. Payne passed away Monday. The 30-year Schaumburg resident had defeated the odds and lived 17 years after he was diagnosed. He was 66.

“There is no doubt that because he was such an outstanding athlete and he had this tremendous will to stay alive, that he lived that long,” said Jack Leese, former head football coach of East Leyden High School.

Mr. Payne grew up in Amboy, where he was a standout athlete in high school, lettering in football, basketball and baseball.

When he attended Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., he set several records.

As a halfback for the Redmen, Mr. Payne played on a team that had a 19-game winning streak. During their run, Mr. Payne set the record for longest punt return — 88 yards — and average career yards from 1960-1963 by averaging 8.7 yards per carry.

He held the record for yards per season within the College Conference Illinois Wisconsin (CCIW) and was All-Conference, All-State and All-American while at Carthage.

Mr. Payne began his teaching career in Woodstock before accepting a position at East Leyden, where he taught physical education and coached freshmen football.

Within four years, he moved up to coach the backfield on the varsity team.

“Of the eight years he coached with me at the varsity level, we won six conference championships and one state championship in 1977,” Leese said. “There has to be a correlation.

“From the players’ and students’ viewpoints, he was the most popular coach we every had,” Leese added.

Mr. Payne also was well known in the Schaumburg community. For several years during the summer, he managed Atcher Community Pool, now known as Atcher Island Water Park.

Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Ruth Ann, as well as his son Kent (Sherry) of Burlington, and daughters Krista (Steve) Feldman of Pingree Grove and Angela (Adam) Gallien of Sugar Hill, GA, as well as five grandchildren.

Services for Mr. Payne will begin with a celebration of life at 5 p.m. today at Church of the Holy Spirit, 1451 Bode Rd. in Schaumburg, followed by a 7 p.m. funeral.

Firefighter's death raises concerns dies of ALS; Second death from ALS in city department has some questioning possible link to job

SCOTT DUNN
Local News - Tuesday, June 05, 2007 @ 08:00

Not long after Owen Sound firefighting Capt. Jim Blair retired, he found out he had Lou Gehrig's disease. It claimed his life Friday at age 59.

Blair is the second Owen Sound firefighter to die from Lou Gehrig's disease. Ronald Muzzell died in 1990 when he was 52.

"It's definitely a concern . . . It definitely raised some flags. And nobody really knows what causes Lou Gehrig's disease," said Dave Cruickshank, president of the Owen Sound Professional Firefighters' Association.

"We've looked to our professional organization, the Ontario Professional Firefighters' Association, and posed a question to them: How can we have two people with ALS in a department of 30 people?"

Blair was a firefighter with the Owen Sound Fire Department for more than 30 years.


His wife Nancy Blair said her husband loved being a firefighter and he passed his passion for emergency services to his son, who is an OPP detective, and daughter, who is a paramedic.

Blair retired in 2003. When his neurodegenerative disease, also called ALS, was diagnosed in 2005, Blair accepted it quietly.

"He didn't complain once and he went on with his life," his wife said Monday.

She said her husband came across as stern, but really he was soft-hearted. "He would do anything for anybody. He's kind and he is the most courageous man I have ever known."

Blair was a member of the Canadian Forces reserves and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel with the Grey and Simcoe Foresters in 1993.

Blair also volunteered with the Scenic City Order of Good Cheer, was on the Grey Granite Club board of directors and was involved with the campaign to raise $350,000 to put retractable seats in the OSCVI auditorium.

Former Owen Sound fire chief Gord Woods said Blair was too young to die.

He did his job well, but Woods wonders whether firefighting contributed to his illness.

Cruickshank said said Blair was well-liked and respected. "He fell into a leadership role right from the get-go."

The Ontario government announced last month a proposal to amend the Workplace Health and Safety Act that would allow the government to designate eight cancers and heart injuries which happen within 24 hours of fighting a fire which would be presumed to have been caused by firefighting. Workers' compensation coverage would be automatic in those cases if criteria were met.

Lou Gehrig's disease is not on the list.

Blair leaves his wife and their children, Maureen Blair and Jamie Blair Jr. and his wife Tracy and two grandchildren, Keegan and Chris.

A firefighter honour guard was to greet Blair's visitors Monday night at the Breckenridge-Ashcroft Funeral Home. The funeral service was to take place at 11 a.m. today. A fire truck will lead the procession from the funeral home to St. Mary's Cemetery

Jags lose devoted fan
Loses battle with ALS


By Vic Ketchman, jaguars.com senior editor
06/14/07



The Jaguars have lost one of their biggest fans with the passing of Rick Murray, a season ticket holder since the team’s inaugural season who developed a strong friendship with coach Tom Coughlin.

Murray lost a nine-year battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) when he passed away Wednesday evening at his home in Mandarin. He was relentless in his struggle to overcome the debilitating effects of the disease and his book, “Rick’s Reflections,” was recently released.

“You have accomplished more from the neck up than most of us have accomplished in a lifetime. You are an inspiration to all who know you and we look to you for wisdom and strength,” Coughlin wrote to Murray some years ago.

Coughlin had befriended Murray when the two met during an Ireland vacation in the summer of 2000. Coughlin was the Jaguars’ head coach at the time and the two maintained their friendship when Coughlin became the head coach of the New York Giants. Coughlin paid a special tribute to Murray at the coach’s Jay Fund golf tournament dinner this year. Murray’s home is littered with Coughlin memorabilia.

From his office at Giants Stadium on Thursday, Coughlin told jaguars.com: “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.”

Despite his affliction, Murray rarely missed a Jaguars home game. He attended practice during mini-camp in May and posed for a picture with the Jaguars’ wide receivers.