David D. “Sysco Dave” Avery

David D. (aka “Sysco Dave”) Avery, 48, died Feb. 26. at his home in Sparks, Nev. from complications of ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was employed by Sysco Food Service in the Lake Tahoe Basin until his disease forced early retirement in 2006. He was born in Janesville, Wis., Aug. 20, 1960, to Darrell and Barbara Avery. David is survived by his spouse of 24 years, Randi, his children Lauryn and Josh, all of Sparks. A Celebration of Life will be held at Cottonwood Restaurant, Truckee, Calif. on Sunday, April 5 from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Please contact Randi at (775) 425-1830 or ralajo@yahoo.com for details, directions and to RSVP. Mt. View Mortuary is handling the cremation.

Mark Kuhn, Huntington Bay artist, dies of ALS at 57
BY KATHLEEN KERR | kathleen.kerr@newsday.com
10:14 PM EST, March 5, 2009



Mark Kuhn, a painter and sculptor who loved jazz, died Wednesday after a valiant race against time to finish a group of paintings he called "The Lifeline Series."

Kuhn, 57, of Huntington Bay, died after battling Lou Gehrig's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He kept painting until shortly before his death despite the physical impediments posed by the disease.

Kuhn's "Lifeline Series" - featured in a Newsday story just last Sunday - is scheduled for a July exhibit at the Art League of Long Island in Dix Hills. The show will go on.

"He has enough for a full show," Kuhn's wife, Donna Simonetti, said yesterday. "He left one unfinished painting and one blank canvas."


Kuhn was born in Minneapolis on June 18, 1951, and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1975. He started painting in high school and took up sculpture after moving to Long Island 19 years ago. Kuhn taught drawing and painting at the Art League.

Simonetti said Kuhn, who played the saxophone in high school, started playing the bass guitar about seven years ago when he received one as a gift from a dying friend.

"He approached it with a passion as he did many things," Simonetti said. "He definitely traveled to his own drummer."

After receiving the guitar, Kuhn and some friends formed a rock band called The Barking Men. The band performed at Huntington's Summer Arts Festival last year.

Kuhn especially admired the work of the Swiss painter Paul Klee and of jazz musician Miles Davis. And he enjoyed returning to Minnesota to visit musician friends there but tried to avoid the northern snows.

"He despised the Minnesota winters," Simonetti said.

Lynn Gray, a drawing and painting professor at the University of Minnesota who taught Kuhn and later became his friend, described his work as "exceptional."

"He had a profound passion for his work," Gray said. "He was rebellious and at the same time committed. He had this unpretentious way of wanting to get to know people."

In addition to his wife, Kuhn is survived by a daughter, Paige, and a son, Bennett, both of Huntington Bay; his mother, Kathryn Kuhn of Minneapolis; a brother, Matthew Kuhn of Corcoran, Minn.; and two sisters - Gabriel Ross of St. Paul, Minn., and Georgia Kuhn of Coon Rapids, Minn.

A wake is planned for tomorrow and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Connell's Funeral Home in Huntington Station with a Mass at 11 a.m. Monday at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Roman Catholic Church in Centerport.

Last year, Paige and Bennett Kuhn formed a team to walk in an annual ALS fundraising event. The Kuhns request donations to the ALS Association in lieu of flowers. Information can be found at web.alsa.org/goto/markkuhn.

Barbara L. Page
March 8, 2009

Barbara L. Page, 76, Nashport, passed away Thursday, March 5, 2009 at Genesis Good Samaritan Hospital following a battle with cancer and Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Brave Neil loses his battle for life


Published Date: 06 March 2009
By Leanne Clarke


NEIL Platt, who bravely chronicled his fight with motor neurone disease in an inspirational effort to raise awarness to help find a cure, has died.

The 34-year-old, from Morley, lost his battle with the disease at St Michael's Hospice, Harrogate, on Wednesday just a year after being diagnosed.

His family said he died peacefully, and naturally, with them by his side.

http://editorial.jpress.co.uk/web/Up...303-122608.jpg

Her impact was clear in the end
By Mark Woods
Story updated at 7:30 AM on Wednesday, Mar. 18, 2009


Provided by the Bishop family
Starr Bishop (left), her parents, Bill and Melody, and brother, Bill, pose for a family photo last Easter, two days after she was diagnosed with ALS. Starr, 21, died Saturday.


Starr Bishop got the news less than a year ago, on Good Friday.

She had ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Even at its best, if there is such a thing with ALS, it's a horrible disease, one with no known cure, no stories of people who underwent treatment and stopped the ravaging of their bodies. And Starr and her family found out she had one of the most progressive types of ALS, one that gave her a life expectancy of one to two more years.

On that day, Melody Starr Anne Bishop was 20 years old.

She lived another 358 days, the disease methodically tearing apart her body. Her speech went first. Then her neck and arms and eventually the muscles that allowed her to breathe.

She died Saturday afternoon.

But her family says her death isn't the story. It's what happened in the 21 years of her life - particularly those 358 days.

"You think you know your child," said her mother, Melody Bishop.

Starr's parents are Bill and Melody Bishop, two local architects who are quite active in the community, particularly in areas of neighborhood planning. Bill is the city councilman for District 2. Melody designed the Northbank Riverwalk. And while they thought they knew their children (Starr and her 20-year-old brother, Bill), this past year was full of revelations.

They knew that Starr loved the outdoors. She had played soccer and skied, went sky diving and scuba diving. She made it to State Science Fair while at Paxon School for Advanced Studies with her studies on the river. And when she was 18, without any prodding from her parents, she went to a public meeting and spoke against closing off Hogan Street to building a parking garage. Our river, she argued, should be made more accessible, not less.

Her parents knew all this. Knew that she went to the University of Central Florida, dreaming of becoming a lawyer, a prosecutor, a politician. Knew that she ended up at the College of Architecture at the University of Florida, dreaming of following in the footprints her parents have left all over Jacksonville.

They knew she was active at Christ the King Catholic Church, even after she went away to college.

But they didn't know just how much she had affected others along the way. And how much she continued to do it until the end.

Even though she no longer could speak, she still was in school last fall. Through a disability program at UF, she had hired two graduate students to help her continue to work on a project. The focus of the project was a fascinating paradoxical concept. Create buildings that make people, especially kids, want to leave them. Entice those who are inside to get outside. And bring the outside to the inside.

Health and architecture. For future generations. As she was dying, this was her goal.

Melody Bishop found out about this when she went to visit her daughter in Gainesville and discovered a studio, the graduate students, drawings and a professor who started telling her all about the project.

And this was followed by more personal and profound revelations once Starr ended up back in Jacksonville, bed-ridden, but still plugging away at her school work online until a couple of weeks ago.

"It took her being hospitalized for me, as her mom, to begin to hear the rest of the story," Melody Bishop says.

When she went into respiratory failure and ended up in hospitals, first Memorial then Mayo, the news spread. People started showing up and inevitably telling Starr's family stories about her.

They heard from one parent about the time when Starr, then in high school, had heard that a friend who was at UF had been heading down a dangerous path. She hopped in a car after a half day of school, drove to Gainesville and confronted him. She made a difference for that family, the boy's mother told Starr's mother.

You think you know your child - and you assume the parts you don't know are the parts they want hidden, the embarrassing moments, the examples of immaturity.

As it turns out, even when you think you have a good kid, sometimes you don't know how good.

Each day in the hospital there were stories like this from a steady stream of visitors. Classmates, friends from church, parents of her friends, a high school teacher.

And each night, there was the 10 O'Clock Club.

A small sign said that only two visitors were allowed. But in the evening at least a dozen people crammed into Starr's room.

They told stories about her, held her hand and sang to her, mostly Christian rock songs from the Teen Life program at Christ the King.

"Some of the nurses even would come in and be tearfully singing along," Melody Bishop said. "You could hear the music kind of floating out to the hallways."

You think you know your child. And then, as she's dying, you learn so much about her life.

You would think that others were carrying her during the last 358 days. And I'm sure that did happen. But if you hear about the stories, or the messages waiting for her on her BlackBerry, you realize that even at the end it often was the other way around.

She was carrying them.

Arrangements

A vigil (viewing as well as stories or comments) for Starr Bishop will be held 6 p.m. Thursday. The funeral Mass will be 4 p.m. Friday. Both the Mass and vigil are at Assumption Catholic Church.

Because of Starr's love of the outdoors, the St. Johns River and the Riverwalk, the family is asking that contributions be made to the Starr Bishop Memorial Fund for tree plantings along the Riverwalk. Make checks payable to Greenscape with notation for the "Starr Bishop Memorial Fund." Send to: Greenscape, 4401 Emerson St., Suite 3, Jacksonville, FL 32207.



http://www.jacksonville.com/news/col...ear_in_the_end

Highland Park resident, director of AIDS advocacy group changed many lives before dying Saturday at 51
By ERICA HARBATKIN • Staff Writer • March 17, 2009



MIDDLESEX COUNTY — As Riki Jacobs made her way through college and law school, her goal was always the same: to change the way society serves the underserved.

When she died Saturday, she had succeeded in doing just that. Committing her life to helping people with HIV and AIDS, she succeeded in making a direct impact on laws and policies designed to help people often relegated to the fringe.
She was 51.

Jacobs, of Highland Park, served as the executive director of Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, the largest AIDS service organization in the state.

But when she took the helm of Hyacinth in 1993, it was on the brink of collapse.

The once-struggling nonprofit now has six offices throughout the state and a $5 million budget that goes toward serving more than 15,000 people living with HIV and AIDS.

"When the position of executive director opened up, she was one of the top candidates for it because she knew about HIV in New Jersey. The agency was a mess back then; it was about ready to go under," said Jerry McCathern, Hyacinth's senior director of development. "She could either be a hero or the agency could have failed. It would have failed under most people. But she took it from there and it's now the premiere AIDS service agency in the state."

But Jacobs never set out to be a hero. She considered her work a part of her life — part of her calling.

"To some degree, I think that has to do with being raised in a Jewish home, where you carry on a tradition of healing the world," said her older sister, Ellen Jacobs. "The message that drove all of us was the same — it's part of our responsibility to heal the world. In Hebrew it's called tikkun olam: repairing the world."

Before Riki Jacobs joined Hyacinth, she worked for the New Jersey Association on Correction from 1982 to 1992. There, she saw the severe impact AIDS was having on offenders and ex-offenders — especially women. And since New Jersey was the last state in the nation to provide syringe access through needle-exchange programs or over-the-counter syringe sales, the number of intravenous drug users in the state to contract HIV rose sharply.



But no one was paying attention.

"AIDS has been spread tremendously through injection drug use, through sexual contact with their partners — so women have this disproportionate rate of infection in New Jersey," McCathern said. "All the attention in the '80s and early '90s was on gay men dying, but women were dying too and they weren't getting any help, any attention."
Jacobs became an advocate for those women.

She developed one of the first programs in the country to help offenders with HIV and AIDS before their release from prison, created a prevention and education program at Mercer and Middlesex County correctional facilities, and cofounded the New Jersey Women's AIDS Network.

She earned her law degree from Rutgers-Newark School of Law in the mid-80s, and soon after married Angel Perez. They have two sons: Willie, 12, and Eli, 8.

"She wasn't just a mom or just a wife or just a social activist. Her life is the whole package," Perez said. "She didn't have two lives, like a lot of people who have a work life and a home life. Riki's life was all-involved."

And in balancing each aspect of her life, she also found balance in her attitude toward it.

"She didn't allow the depressing business that she was in and the difficulty of the job she was doing get her down," Perez said. "She could always see the funny side or the bright side while still maintaining a serious approach to it."

When a coworker, friend or family member was distracted by something at home, she would step back from her own work and listen.

"She absolutely cared about the people that worked in this organization," said Kathy Ahearn-O'Brien, who worked with Jacobs as the agency's senior director of finance and administration. "You could go to Riki and talk to her about stuff and she would sit and listen and she would give you advice."

McCathern laughed.

"Whether you wanted it or not," he added.

"And it was always with humor and the best of intentions," Ahearn-O'Brien said.

And complete honesty.

"She was absolutely authentic," Ellen Jacobs said. "With Riki, you always knew where you stood, for better or worse."

Riki Jacobs was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis — or Lou Gehrig's Disease — in January 2005. Over the last two years, she lost her ability to speak, eat and use one of her arms. But by the end she was still using one finger to type e-mails to friends and colleagues. Even while she was fighting the disease that was paralyzing her body, she never stopped fighting for the the underserved populations with HIV and AIDS.

"Even last week, if you would have suggested that she wasn't going back to work, she would have looked at you like you had two heads," Perez said.


http://www.mycentraljersey.com/artic...NEWS/903170369

Former Lake supervisor dies of ALS
Barry Dean Poindexter

Barry Dean Poindexter, 56, Houghton Lake, died March 14, 2009, at his home, surrounded by his family.
A service was held March 17 at Christler Funeral Home, Houghton Lake Chapel. Interment will be in Lake Township Cemetery. Condolences may be shared at www.christler-holdship.com.

Mr. Poindexter was born May 19, 1952, in Breckenridge, the son of Frank and Clarice (Doty) Poindexter. He moved to Houghton Lake in 1978 and owned and operated Tradewinds Resort and Party Store on the West Shore. After selling the resort, he worked eight years with Region 7-B, now known as Michigan Works! He was an employment specialist and enjoyed working with employers and potential employees trying to fit needs together for the advantage of both. While with Region 7-B, he also worked with local agencies and service organizations with their relationship with the State of Michigan, gaining much knowledge of how the system of government works.

He went on to become the grant writer for Houghton Lake Community Education for more than 13 years. He specialized in obtaining many grants to assist people in reaching their employment and family support needs.

For the past four years, Mr. Poindexter was Lake Township Supervisor, obtaining funding through grants to improve services for Lake Township residents.

He and the former Sherry Vanderhoof were united in marriage Sept. 17, 1994. He enjoyed hunting and fishing, along with being with his family. He had been a coach and umpire with Houghton Lake Little League for many years and was involved in the starting of the Houghton Lake soccer leagues about 20 years ago.

Surviving Mr. Poindexter are his wife, Sherry Poindexter of Houghton Lake; son, Nick and his wife Nicole Poindexter of Higgins Lake; two daughters, Jessica Vanderhoof of Houghton Lake and Jennifer Vanderhoof of Houghton Lake; five grandchildren; his parents, Frank and Clarice Poindexter of Breckenridge; three sisters, Joleen and her husband Gary Lewis of Wheeler, Colette and her husband Mike Corgan of Shepherd and Jenny and her husband Greg Keller of Traverse City; two brothers, Lynn and his wife Janice Poindexter of Wheeler and Steve and his wife Rosie Poindexter of Saginaw; mother-in-law, Barbara Cone of Somerset Center; brother-inlaw, Alan and his wife Shannon Vanderhoof of Perry; and several nieces and


Funeral services were held for Barry Poindexter, former Lake Township supervisor, Tuesday. The 56-year-old Poindexter had resigned from his position in January following a diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrig's Disease (see obituary on A3).

Nancy L. Claytor
March 21, 2009


CROOKSVILLE - Nancy L. Claytor, of Keystone St. Crooksville, passed away after a long battle with Lou Gehrigs Disease at 1:44pm Thursday, March 19, 2009 at Genesis Hospice Morrison House. Nancy was born in Perry County, the daughter of the late Robert Gareth and Ivy (Savage) Smith. She worked as a home health aid with Genesis Hospital, she was a member of the Jehovah Witness, Kingdom Hall at 6 mile turn.

She is survived by her three sons, Michael (Myra) Claytor of Campbellsville, KY, Daniel Shane (Christy) Claytor of Crooksville and William Lee Claytor of Crooksville; a brother, Joseph L. (Joyce) Smith of Logan; and four sisters, Gladys M. (Jack) Robinson of Crooksville, Judith (Dennis) Shattuck of Burlington, KY, Cinda Sue (Owen) McIntosh of Crooksville and Linda Lou (Roger) Brown of Roseville; six grandchildren Stacy (Dale) Baughman, Misty Claytor, Shayla McAllister, Will Claytor, Danielle Claytor and Traise Claytor; and four Great Grandkids, Arik Baughman, Sarah Baughman, Adrian Baughman and Jon-Micheal McAllister.

In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husband, Billy Claytor who passed away March 10, 2009; and a brother, Robert L. Smith.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. The Thompson-Farus Funeral Home of Duncan Falls is assisting the Claytor family.

Carol Ann Davis

Carol Ann Davis, age 54, of Omro, passed away after a courageous battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at the Omro Care Center. Carol was born on April 18, 1954 in Oshkosh, WI, the daughter of Roger and Nancy (Joy) Kleinschmidt. Carol was a graduate of Omro High School. She married Claire W. Davis on August 3, 1974.

Her memory will be cherished by her husband and best friend, Claire W. Davis of Omro, her daughters, Carrie Ann (Dennis) Davis of Wisconsin Rapids, Michelle Lynn Davis of Omro, one grandson, Harley Hunter Davis; one sister, Patricia (Steven) Mueller of Oshkosh; brothers, Russell (Susan) Kleinschmidt of Omro and John Kleinschmidt of Neenah. She is further survived by cousins, nieces, nephews, other relatives, friends and her kitties. Carol was preceded in death by her parents, Nancy and Roger Kleinschmidt.

Carol grew up farming and retired in 1990. She was active in her community and very outgoing. She had several hobbies which included her crafts and animal rescue. In addition to this, she assisted her husband with lawnmower repairs.

Visitation for family and friends will be held at the funeral home on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 from 3 p.m. until the time of the funeral service at 7 p.m. with Rev. Michael Magnuson officiating.

The family would like to thank the Omro Care Center, especially Dan; the MDA and ALS Association for their help and support.

"Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I'll remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, then don't remember me at all." – Laura I. Wilder

Kwiatkowski Funeral Home

425 Jefferson Ave., Omro

(920) 685-2207

www.omrofuneralhome.com

Robert E. Brooks
March 21, 2009


Robert E. Brooks, 81, of Great Falls, who spent most of his life farming and ranching in Minot, N.D., died of complications from Lou Gehrig's disease Monday in Great Falls.



A celebration of his life is 11 a.m. today at Immanuel Baptist Church in Minot. Thomas Funeral Home of Minot is in charge of arrangements.

Bob was surrounded by his family when he died.

His family includes his daughters, Lisa (Troy) Lindquist of Great Falls, Candy (Duane Tofteland) Brooks of rural Minot, and Becky (Ron) Nelson of Great Falls; his brother, Loren (Janet) Brooks of Hardin, Mont.; and his four grandchildren, Kelsey, Brooks, Connor and Allie.

Bob was born Sept. 30, 1927, in a stone farmhouse near Glenburn, N.D., to James and Goldie Brooks. He graduated from Glenburn High School, where he excelled in basketball and played trombone in the school band. He also was a member of the Glenburn Baptist Church. With the support of their parents, Bob and his brother, Loren, purchased their first Hereford heifers in 1943, starting a lifelong commitment to the breed. From that small beginning, their registered Hereford herd expanded. They showed their cattle at livestock shows across the country, including the National Western Stock Show in Denver.

In 1950, with the cooperation of their parents, another ranch was purchased near Burlington.

On Dec. 11, 1958, Bob married Alexzine Grenz. They made their home on the Burlington ranch, where they raised their three girls.

Bob loved the ranch life, and enjoyed teaching his girls to ride horse and work cattle. Brooks Ranch had its first production sale in 1958, and 55 sales followed. Some of these sales were listed in the Top 10 sales by the American Hereford Association. The Brooks brothers were among some of the first breeders to begin performance testing on their herd. A second ranch was purchased near Hardin in 1975, which his brother and family operated. Bob continued to operate the Brooks Ranch near Glenburn, where he enjoyed farming and ranching with his daughter, Candy.

Bob was instrumental in getting his grandchildren interested in livestock, and enjoyed helping them select their 4-H steers and watching them show. He was a member of the North Dakota Stockmen's Association for 56 years, and was an active member of the North Dakota Hereford Association, where he served as director and president. He also served as a trustee in the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, and was a member of Immanuel Baptist Church.



Bob walked softly around his herd of cows. He would carry a baby calf on his saddle, coaxing a cow to come and find shelter in the barn. He was a true and honest cowboy, loved and respected by his family. His children and grandchildren loved to hear him sing and whistle his large repertoire of old songs.

Bob lovingly cared for his wife, Alexzine, for many years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He stayed by her side as she battled the disease and cared for her at home until she passed away Nov. 3, 2008.

In addition to his wife, Bob was preceded in death by his parents.

Memorials are suggested to the ALS Association, the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, or Peace Hospice.

Condolences may be posted online at www.gftribune.com/obituaries.