Stories from Thursday, December 24, 1992

Distractions of the Christmas season should be of the kinder, gentler variety: what size sweater does a child require, what dish should be taken to the neighborhood potluck, which lights no longer function? While this is the season of good cheer, weighty matters won't seem to wait. News from far and near confounds us at times, and it takes effort not to lose track of what the season is really about. We mustn't though, because the season is about what is best in all of us...

Missourians take to the highways this holiday season to visit family and friends in every part of the state. Many will make longer drives to see loved ones and friends in other states. The precious spirit of the season will be found in reunions with a brother who lives in Sedalia, parents who live close to town, or with a loved one or friend who lives many hours distant. ...

OAK RIDGE -- Flora A. Maintz, 95, of Oak Ridge died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 7, 1897 at Friedheim, the daughter of Daniel and Louise Tuschhoff. She married William F. Maintz on Sept. 25, 1927 at Friedheim. He died on Aug. 18, 1961...

Martin J. Schwab, 91, of St. Louis and formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Tuesday, Dec. 22, 1992, in St. Louis. He was born Aug. 1, 1901, in rural Cape Girardeau, the son of Jacob and Bertha Milde Schwab. In 1924, he married Rowena Rhyne, who preceded him in death in 1987...

EAST PRAIRIE -- William Frank Furgerson, 87, of East Prairie, died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1992, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born July 11, 1905, in Mississippi County, son of Jim and Cynthia Furgerson. He and Annie Addline Newman were married May 31, 1936...

SIKESTON -- Claude M. Plunk, 79, of Sikeston, died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1992, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born May 15, 1913, in Adamsville, Tenn., son of Rufus W. and Jessie Gladys Plunk. He and Alpha Burney were married Sept. 30, 1936, in Corinth, Miss...

SIKESTON -- Fred T. Laminack, 87, of Sikeston, died Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1992, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born Oct. 17, 1905, at Rison, Ark., son of Thomas E. and Shelly C. Hutto Laminack. He and Eva Lee Carr were married Dec. 26, 1926, in Aim, Ark...

BLOOMFIELD -- Jerry W. McCall, 43, of Bloomfield, died Tuesday, Dec. 22, 1992, at Dexter Memorial Hospital in Dexter. He was born Aug. 18, 1949, at Holcomb, son of Virgil and Olean L. McCall. He and Carol Sue Hartley were married July 21, 1983. McCall served 12 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served in the Special Forces in Vietnam, and was a prisoner of war for a year...

Elizabeth "Bess" Shale, 78, of Macon, died Tuesday, Dec. 22, 1992, at Loch Haven Nursing Home there. She was born Feb. 23, 1914, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Bernard and Freda Helmkampf Gockel. She married Charles Reed "Brick" Shale, who died in 1973...

SIKESTON - Jennie Marie Gardner, 92, of Sikeston, died on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1992, at the Sikeston Health Care Center. She was born Feb. 20, 1900, in Point Pleasant, Mo., daughter of John and Virgie Bowen Adcock. She married Albert J. Gardner in 1918. He died in 1935...