Stories from Tuesday, November 24, 1992

The former Cape Girardeau City Councilman who last month filed a formal complaint against proponents ward-style city elections issue said Monday he believes voters were deceived into supporting the measure Nov. 3. Curt Smith, who served on the council from 1982-87, filed the complaint with the Campaign Reporting Division of the Missouri secretary of state's office...

Heavy rains last week caused the Mississippi River here to rise 7 feet since Sunday, and will push the river above flood stage later this week for the first time since July 1990. No serious flooding is expected. The Mississippi at Cape Girardeau stood at 28.2 feet at 7 a.m. Monday, a 7-foot rise in 24 hours. Since Friday the river here has risen almost 9 feet...

Southeast Missouri State University plans to renovate two of its four high-rise Towers dormitories in a move designed to completely change living space within the residence halls. The $11 million project to be funded by issuance of bonds will mark the first major renovations of the Towers complex since its construction 25 years ago, university officials said Monday...

In 1961, Art Sobery was stationed with a small Army unit in West Berlin during one of the scariest periods of the Cold War. They were surrounded by the newly-built Berlin Wall, and real war always seemed to lurk around the next confrontation. Sobery, then a surgical technician, often has wondered what happened to some of the guys he shared the tension and exuberant youthfulness of those times with...

BENTON -- Elementary students were chewed up, swallowed, digested and eventually sneezed out as they took a "fantastic voyage" through the human body Monday at Kelly Schools. The project, called Body Walk, allowed kindergarten through fourth-grade students to crawl inside a make-believe body and look around...

The American Red Cross will hold an Introduction to Disaster Services class Dec. 5 at the Red Cross chapter house, 2610 Gerhardt St. The class provides fundamental information about disasters, their effects and to outline the role of agencies in disaster relief...

There was a new kind of senior in the Cape Girardeau Public Schools last week senior citizens. It was part of a program to introduce or reintroduce retirees to the public schools. It's an idea that's well worth pursuing, not just for senior citizens but all ages of adults who have lost touch with our schools...

JACKSON -- Etta Boyd, 94, of 730 N. Union, died Monday, Nov. 23, 1992 at Chateau Girardeau Nursing Center in Cape Girardeau. Funeral arrangements are incomplete at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

Funeral service for Paul E. Meyer, 72, of 1902 Herman will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel with the Rev. Art Kelley, chaplain at St. Francis Medical Center, officiating. Burial will be in Lorimier Cemetery. Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. today at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel...

JACKSON -- Roy "Slim" Proffer, 78, of Fort Worth, Texas, died Monday, Nov. 23, 1992, at Four Seasons Nursing Home. He was the son of Jesse and Abbie Proffer. Survivors include a son, Jerry Proffer of Fort Worth; a daughter, Geraldine Maxwell of Fort Worth; two brothers, Troy and J.W. Proffer of Millersville; four sisters, Margie Proffer of Cape Girardeau, Ruth Taylor of Burfordville, Alma Williams and Lucille Rhodes of Crump, and a grandchild...

PERRYVILLE -- Joseph "Tudor" Courtois, 78, of Perryville, died Monday, Nov. 23, 1992, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 16, 1914, in Perry County, son of Vincent and Alice Steyns Courtois. He and Pearl F. Zahner were married Feb. 15, 1952. She died April 11, 1984...

MARBLE HILL -- Albert P. Myers, 57, of Jennings, died Monday, Nov. 23, 1992, at Hannibal Regional Hospital, from injuries received earlier that day in a car accident near Hannibal. He was born Aug. 16, 1935, in St. Louis, son of Frederick and Alma Skaggs Myers. He and Norma Secrease were married Aug. 10, 1957...

Helen L. Keller, 2500 Fairview Drive, died Nov. 23, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center. Funeral arrangements at Ford and Sons Funeral Home are incomplete.

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- Marie Rodgers Beaver, 67, of Villa Ridge, died Monday, Nov. 23, 1992, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon. She was born June 5, 1925, at East Prairie, Mo., daughter of Sam and Eva Lindell Phimister. Survivors include a daughter, Sharon Wilson of Tamms; two sons, Ricky Rodgers of Pulaski, Randy Rodgers of Cairo; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren...

OLMSTED, Ill. -- Julia Pittman, 85, of Olmsted, died Saturday, Nov. 21, 1992, at Massac Memorial Hospital in Metropolis. She was born March 23, 1907, in Unity, daughter of Elisha and Jane Pennell Bowles. She married Noble Pittman Sr., who died in 1982...

CHARLESTON -- Louise Brown, 84, of Charleston, died Sunday, Nov. 22, 1992, at Belcourt Terrace Nursing Home in Nashville, Tenn. She was born Jan. 14, 1908, at New Madrid, daughter of T.J. and Mary Hunter Brown. Brown had been a volunteer with Mississippi County Chapter of American Red Cross, and was a former Gray Lady at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was a member of the United Methodist Church...

CHAFFEE -- William Ervin Shumpert, 57, of Germany, formerly of Chaffee, died Saturday, Nov. 21, 1992, in Germany. He was born Feb. 8, 1935, son of Stanley and Rhoda Ross Shumpert. Survivors include his wife, Hilda; a son, Ricky Shumpert of Germany; five brothers, Dave Shumpert of Chandler, Ariz., Charles Shumpert of Scopus, Stanley Shumpert Jr. ...

CHARLESTON -- Marie Murphy, 87, of Bertrand Retirement Home, formerly of Wyatt and Charleston, died Monday, Nov. 23, 1992, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 10, 1905, in Mississippi County, daughter of Charles Henry and Ellen Reagan Vowels. She and Tandy B. Murphy were married June 1, 1925. He died in 1968...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Jessie Elkins, 79, of East Prairie, died Monday, Nov. 23, 1992, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born Jan. 30, 1913, in Howe, Okla., daughter of Martin Luther and Pearl Effie Barnett Allbritton. She married John Elkins June 3, 1971...

ADVANCE -- W.L. "Bill" Cagle, 87, Advance Route 2, died Monday, Nov. 23, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born Oct. 7, 1905, at Swinton, son of Fred and Flora Bright Cagle. He and Elva Townsend were married Nov. 9, 1931, at Leora...

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- Alfred Eugene Brown, 72, of Unity, died Monday, Nov. 23, 1992, at his home. He was born Feb. 6, 1920, at Mound City, son of Ed and Lillie Handle Brown. Brown worked for Rose City Rides at Perryville, and served in the U.S. Army during World War II...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Betty Abbott, 79, of Upland, Calif. and formerly of Cairo died Monday, Nov. 23, 1992, at Evanston Hospital in Evanston, Ill. She was born Feb. 2, 1913, in Cape Girardeau, the daughter of George C. and Nell Browner Roberson. She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward F. Abbott, and was of the Catholic denomination...