Funeral service set Wednesday for longtime Tri-Cities educator

By Sara Schilling, Herald staff writer


TRI-CITIES Gary Jensen could hardly go anywhere without running into a former student.

The West Richland man taught in Tri-City schools for more than 30 years, and in that time he touched countless lives, friends and family said.

Even the woman who visited him near the end of his life to talk about hospice care recognized him from the classroom.

“She said, ‘I can’t call you Gary. I have to call you Mr. Jensen,’ ” remembered his wife, Colleen.

Jensen, 63, died this week after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

He taught in Kennewick schools for 28 years and was a leader in the district’s teacher’s union. His tenure included several years at Highlands Middle School and a stint teaching students in juvenile detention.

He loved playing guitar and often used music to inspire his students. Sometimes, when his young charges in juvenile detention behaved well, he’d perform songs on request as a reward. A favorite was Jailhouse Rock.

Jensen also taught at River’s Edge High School in Richland for several years.

“He was one of those educators you just know had a lifelong passion for learning,” said River’s Edge teacher Brian Sites.

Jensen was born in Bellingham and attended Western Washington University. He had five children and eight grandchildren. Friends and family said he faced his illness with grace, even as it weakened his body and forced him to leave the classroom.

“Even when life was leaving him, there was a gentle humor,” said River’s Edge teacher Mike Carlson. “His spirit was not limited by what ALS was doing to his body.”

A funeral service is 1 p.m. Wednesday at the LDS Jadwin Chapel in Richland.

— Sara Schilling: 582-1402; sschilling@tricityherald.com



http://www.tri-cityherald.com/945/story/479039.html

Patricia Kober, retired crossing guard, dies at 72
BY CHAU LAM | chau.lam@newsday.com
February 20, 2009


Patricia Rose Kober, a crossing guard who spent most of her life in North Massapequa, died Monday at her home in North Carolina. She was 72.

The cause was Lou Gehrig's disease, according to her family.

For nearly two decades, Kober helped children cross the streets safely at the junction of Boundary Avenue and the entrance to Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway, said a son, James Kober, 45, of Hauppauge.

Over the years, Kober met and befriended some of the people who routinely walked on Boundary Avenue, her son said. One of them became Kober's lifelong friend. She retired from her job in 1999.

Kober was a kind and generous person who put others' needs before her, her children said.

Born in Brooklyn on Aug. 29, 1936, Kober attended St. Teresa of Avila. Kober's family moved to Seaford when she was 17, her son said. She married Neil Kober in 1962, and the couple settled in North Massapequa, where they raised three children.

In December 2007, Kober and her husband moved to Charlotte, N.C., to be closer to their only daughter, Donna Hutzel, 42, a registered nurse, who was also her mother's caregiver.

For more than four decades, Kober had belonged to the St. James Catholic Church in Seaford, where she attended Mass daily, her son said. And, every year, Kober did volunteer work, including collecting clothing and food as well as sending Christmas cards and letters to the poor.

Kober was also a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, a Catholic, Irish-American organization.

Kober loved going to the movies and enjoyed watching "Dancing with the Stars," said her daughter.

In addition to her husband, daughter and son James, a Newsday employee, Kober is survived by a second son, Christopher Kober, 38, of Rockville Centre; a sister, Mary Coppins of Rockville Centre; two brothers, James Devlin of Bethpage and Charles Devlin of Knoxville, Tenn.; and four grandchildren.

Services are scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9:30 p.m., at Chapey & Sons Funeral Home in Bethpage. A funeral Mass will be celebrated Monday at 9:15 a.m. at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Seaford.

Burial will be at Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to Carolinas ALS Center, 1010 Edgehill Rd., Charlotte, NC 28207.

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedi...,1673017.story

Brave paratrooper dies
By Pete Castle
December 11, 2008

video of jump click here.


A former paratrooper who battled through a serious illness to raise thousands of pounds for charity by tackling one final parachute jump has died.

Despite suffering from motor neurone disease (MND), a terminal illness which left him unable to speak or eat and struggling to breathe, Robert Applegarth decided to take on the challenge of a 12,000 ft freefall in aid of Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in July this year.

While Robert added one final parachute jump to a list of hundreds he undertook as a gunner in the Parachute Regiment and the Territorial Army, his 17-year-old daughter Katie tackled her first jump alongside her father.

Robert’s brother Michael Applegarth, 49, from Southwood, another ex-Para, also took part in the fundraising jump. Between them, the three raised more than £8,000 for the hospice and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Robert’s second wife Debbie, a nurse, said that Robert had amazed doctors at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London who treated him, when he had asked for permission for the jump.

The consultant who finally gave him the green light for the feat told him that he had never heard of an MND patient doing anything like a parachute jump, calling him a “one in a million” patient.

“They all thought he was bonkers,” Debbie said. “They had never had anyone ask anything like it before.”

Although Robert was determined to do the final jump with his brother and daughter, the experience took a lot out of him.

“He did say never again,” Debbie said. “It was almost too much for him really, but he wanted to do his last jump, and he did it."


http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/s...ratrooper_dies

Dantzler praised for inspiring others

By Larry Fleming
Dalton Daily Citizen

Danny Dantzler, who had a profound impact on hundreds — if not thousands — of lives before and during his heroic battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, widely known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, passed away Friday night.

The former football star at Dalton High and the University of Georgia, and one of Dalton’s best amateur golfers, was diagnosed with ALS in July 2007. He immediately launched a personal ministry to anyone he came in contact with and worked tirelessly at Fellowship of Christian Athletes functions all across the area.

“His life of service to God and our community was going on when I got to Dalton,” said David Grusnick, executive director of the Northwest Georgia FCA. “It just breaks my heart to hear the news that Danny has passed away.”

In November 2007, friends from across Georgia honored Dantzler at “Danny Dantzler Day,” and his old college coach, Vince Dooley, participated in the fundraising event at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center. A golf tournament was held at The Farm. Current Georgia coach Mark Richt’s wife, Katharyn, was the featured speaker at a women’s luncheon at First Presbyterian Church.

Loran Smith, the Georgia radio network’s sideline reporter and freelance columnist, emceed the dinner banquet, which attracted a sellout crowd at the trade center.

“If I had to talk about Danny, I would say that I never saw him flinch,” said Grusnick, who knew Dantzler for 20-plus years. “He had a deep, authentic faith and he remained solid in that faith through good times and the bad times. There was a glorious consistency about him, no matter the circumstances.”

Grusnick said he traveled extensively with Dantzler when he made appearances at high schools in the surrounding area to speak to FCA groups. Dantzler also spoke at various youth camps.

“Danny has been impacting the lives of young people for years and years,” Grusnick said. “And the one thing that stuck with me is him telling a lot of people he was going to be cured. And what he meant by that was he would be cured either on this side or the other side.”

Bill Chappell coached Dantzler at Dalton High School.

“Danny was a very unique person,” Chappell said, “and he had the most positive attitude as long as I’ve known him, and that’s going back to his time at Dalton High. He was a special person and influenced an awful lot of people. He sure influenced me. I was always amazed with his attitude, his outlook on life and everything else.”

Chappell’s admiration for Dantzler only grew as his former player battled Lou Gehrig’s disease, named for the famed New York Yankee first baseman who died of ALS in June 1941 at the age of 38.

“Since his illness he was just amazing,” Chappell said. “I can’t imagine putting myself in his situation. I can’t imagine me being like him, handling that the way he did. I don’t know many people who could be like Danny. It’s a terrible loss. We need a lot more Danny Dantzlers.”

Dantzler is survived by his wife, Jean, and children Leland, Watts and DeLancey.

DeLancey Dantzler posted a message on her father’s blog Friday, saying he was in the hospital and “won’t be posting for a few days.” DeLancey wrote, her father’s sodium count dropped and doctors put him on an IV to get the number up. She said her dad wasn’t up to seeing anyone, but the family would “covet all of your prayers. Thank you all for your support.”

On Thursday, it was evident that Dantzler still had his wonderful sense of humor.

He wrote: I goofed. I took too much medication. I’ve been groggy all day. Forgive me. I can almost hear the trumpet. Danny D.”

http://www.northwestgeorgia.com/loca...052001327.html

Doctor had huge impact on lives of those around him

BORN in 1933 in Manchester to Cassandra Valerie and Colonel Alexander Joseph Gunn, Alexander Derek was the first of their two sons.

He grew up in Brooklands and Sale and went to William Hulme Grammar School where he achieved academic success in mainly arts subjects, including languages and history.

His ambitions to follow his father into the army were thwarted by failing the medical examination due to an eye injury sustained in boyhood which left him partially sighted in one eye.

The many visits to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London prompted a fascination in surgery and biology. Despite no science qualifications from school, he applied to read medicine and was accepted at Sheffield University — one of the only educational establishments at the time to welcome those without A levels in the three sciences. He was president of the Sheffield Medical Society 1959-60.

On qualifying in 1960 he completed post-graduate placements in Sheffield hospitals where he studied dermatology, obstetrics and public health.

At this time he was raising his two young children with his wife Sheila, an Oxford modern languages graduate whom he first met in Manchester when they were both young teenagers, and he married in 1958. He financed the family budget by driving taxis at night in Sheffield.

He took a position as an assistant medical practitioner at the University of Manchester’s Darbishire House Health Centre in Moss Side. It was here that he gained experience and developed interest in the health of university students as well as acquiring his diploma in public health. During this time he had many papers and articles published.

In 1965 he was awarded the Oliver Hawthorne research prize by the British Medical Association for his work.

Later in the Sixties he returned to Sheffield University as the assistant medical officer for the Student Health Service. In 1966 he became the medical correspondent for the Sheffield Telegraph.

His first published book, The Privileged Adolescent, provided an insight into the various health problems that affect academic youths, based on his experience at Sheffield and later in Reading, where he moved to take up the position as deputy director of the University of Reading Health Service in 1967, later succeeding to the position of director, which he held until retirement in 1997.

In 1975 he was awarded an Upjohn Travelling Fellowship to study student health in Canada and the United States, so he travelled to North America with his family for six months to complete his study and report.

Further medical journalism assignments during the Seventies and Eighties, included becoming the “Dear Doctor” for Mother & Baby magazine and for Woman magazine. This led to various broadcast and TV interviews.

Macdonald Publishing invited him to write a sex education book, Sex & You — an illustrated guide to the facts of life for young people, which was published in 1986. This was followed by Knowing about Pregnancy, Infertility — a practical guide to coping and a range of question and answer books on labour and birth, infertility and pregnancy. Other books published included Differential Diagnosis, and Oral Contraception in Perspective: 30 years of Clinical Experience with the Pill, which was jointly authored.

He supported a number of commercial organisations in Reading and London PR firm, DJ Edelman as well as writing leaflets and literature for Nestle, Roche, the Milk Marketing Board, and a range of other pharmaceutical companies.

He was a long term volunteer for the Red Cross Berkshire branch, providing gratis training and medical support.

An active lecturer on student health issues, he travelled extensively for the British Association of Health Services in Higher Education and the Medical Officers of School’s Association, delivering papers on his findings. He wrote for their news letters and was an active contributor at their annual conventions. His study Stress in Young People was published in 1975.

He was particularly vocal about enabling disabled students to pursue academic studies. In 1977 his study of UK university practices University Education for the Physically Disabled was published by the British Journal of General Practitioners.

Over many years he provided support to the British Council on behalf of students in the UK from overseas who suffered serious medical problems or needed repatriating. His jointly written paper Uprooting and Health: Psycho-social Problems of Students from Abroad was published by the World Health Organisation, Division of Mental Health, Geneva in 1983.

Post-retirement he provided medical surgeries for the students at Bulmershe College in Reading and helped with the assessment of students. He continued with this work until late 2007.

For his work with students, he was awarded an OBE in 1989.

Dr Gunn lived in Reading for 15 years and in Wargrave for more than 20 years. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, his son, daughter and three granddaughters.

He died on February 4th 2009 aged 75, after suffering from motor neurone disease, diagnosed in September 2008.


http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?id=559320

EllaMarie Saldi Wheeler
POSTED: February 26, 2009

EllaMarie Saldi Wheeler, 67, of 10331 W. Sombrero Cr., formerly of Jamestown, went home to be with the Lord on Friday, Feb. 20, 2009, in Peoria, Ariz.

She was born in Jamestown, the daughter of Frank and Grace Vullo Saldi and left at the age of 18 to get married. She lived in Southern California most of her adult life and was a medical transcriptionist in hospitals for more than 33 years.

She and her husband, Donald Wheeler, moved to Sun City, Ariz., in 2006, and were active members of Bellevue Heights Baptist Church.

She is survived by two sons: David McJimsey of Norco, Calif., Bruce McJimsey of Candby, Calif.; and three daughters: Kathleen Mueller of Escondido, Calif., Christina Galindo R.N. of Riverside, Calif., and Angela Galindo of San Marcos, Calif.; and 10 grandchildren.

A celebration of life service will be held by Pastor Mark Stevens at Bellevue Heights Church on Feb. 28, 2009, in Sun City, Ariz. The family suggests memorials may be made to the ALS Association.

http://post-journal.com/page/content....html?nav=5009

Joann Cataldo-Linker


Of Boston, formerly of Winthrop



Joann (Fagone) Cataldo-Linker of Boston, formerly of East Boston and Winthrop, died on February 18.


She was the devoted mother of Joanna Cataldo, Michelle Cataldo, Chuck Cataldo and Kara Cataldo, all of Winthrop; loving daughter of Phyllis (DeBonis) and the late Joseph Fagone; dear sister of Joseph Fagone of New Hampshire, formerly of East Boston, Charles and Frank Fagone, both of East Boston, and the late Annette Mannetta; cherished grandmother of Justin, Michelle, Johnna, Julliana, Jacqueline and Addison and is also survived by her many adored nieces and nephews.


Funeral arrangements were by the Ruggiero Mazzarella Memorial Home (Orient Heights), East Boston. Entombment was in Holy Cross Mausoleum.


Memorial donations may be made to ALS Association, 320 Norwood Park South, Second Floor, Norwood, MA. For more information or to send an online condolence, please visit www.ruggieromh.com.

http://www.winthroptranscript.com/20...w-newburyport/

[IMG][/IMG]

Mayo Peacock 1939-2009

It is with deep regrets that we have to inform you that Mayo has been released from the grips of ALS and is now in a peaceful place. Mayo really enjoyed the companionship that he received from this site and the encouragement that you all gave him. Mayo will be greatly missed by all his friends and family.

His loving wife,

Diana


Kensil
Male, 69 years
Quispamsis, NB

Sara M. Still -- Cresco, Iowa
3/3/2009 8:45:41 AM

CRESCO, Iowa -- The funeral for Sara M. Still will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Protivin, Iowa. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

Sara Marie Still, 72, of rural Cresco, Iowa, died Monday (March 2, 2009) at the Regional Health Service Hospital in Cresco. In February 2008 she had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease.

She was born April 20, 1936, in Dumont, Iowa. In May 1953 she married Ed Oelmann; he died in 1971. She married Ronald A. Still on Dec. 27, 1975, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Protivin. Through the years she worked in factories in the Hampton and Nevada areas of Iowa. She also helped her second husband, Ron, farm and ran a daycare out of their home.

more at

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmana...p?z=5&a=388130

Robert ‘‘Bob’’ Sheesley


Robert ''Bob'' Sheesley, 60, of 3277 Route 430 Bemus Point, passed away Tuesday (March 3, 2009), in his home surrounded by family, after a courageous battle with Lou Gehrig's Disease.

He was born March 19, 1948, in Punxsutawney, Pa., the son of the late Boyd and Mildred Kuntz Sheesley.

Bob was employed by Local 17 as an operating engineer for 35 years. He loved operating heavy equipment. He was a member of Ingjald Lodge No. 65 Vikings, Lakewood Rod and Gun Club, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 557, and Randolph Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6533. Bob enjoyed baseball, hunting, boating, fishing, and golf.

He is survived by his wife, Becky Rhinehart Sheesley, whom he married Nov. 16, 1985; his daughter, Vicki and son-in-law, Bob Rauh of Ashville; four grandchildren, Libbi, Bobby Jr., Christina, and Nicki Rauh; a brother, George (JoAnne) Sheesley of Jamestown; two sisters, Jan (Ron) Staples and Shirley Payton, both of Catersville, Ga.; a stepbrother, Jim Kuntz of Big Run, Pa.; and several nieces and nephews.

Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by a son, Bobby Sheesley; a brother, Tom Sheesley; and a sister, Carol Custer.

A celebration of Bob's life will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Lind Funeral Home. The Rev. Dayle F. Keefer, will officiate.

Burial will be in Sunset Hill Cemetery.

Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and for one hour prior to the service Thursday in the funeral home.

Memorials may be made to Hospice Chautauqua County 4840 West Lake Road, Mayville, NY 14757.