Stories from Friday, July 16, 1993

Hardee Jobe, 86, of 721 N. Middle, died Thursday, July 15, 1993, at the Cape Nursing Center. The Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel is in charge of funeral arrangements, which are incomplete at this time.

COBDEN, Ill. -- Ernest Leroy Fisher, 69, of Cobden, died Wednesday, July 14, 1993, at Veterans Medical Center in Marion. He was born Dec. 30, 1923, in Dongola, Ill., son of Harvey and Jesse Williams Fisher. He and Amy Coplin were married Dec. 19, 1990...

TAMMS, Ill. -- Information about a deceased sister was not provided for the obituary of Floyd Edgar Heady Jr. of Granite City, which was published in Wednesday's Southeast Missourian. Heady, 64, died Sunday, July 11, 1993, at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Granite City...

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Clifton R. Palmer, 79, of Mounds, died Thursday, July 15, 1993, on arrival at Union County Hospital in Anna. He was born Feb. 18, 1914, at Mounds, son of Roy and Ethel Helman Palmer. He married the former LaVerne Tucker. Palmer was a switchman 30 years with Illinois Central Railroad. He was a member of the Congregational Church here, and United Trainmen Union...

Daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Depuy, Jackson Route 4, Southeast Missouri Hospital, 3:09 p.m. Sunday, July 4, 1993. Name, Taylor Danielle. Weight, 6 pounds 14 ounces. Second daughter. Mrs. Depuy is the former Kathy Launius, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Skelly of St. Louis. She is a deli clerk at Shop 'n Save. Depuy is a printer at Concord Publishing House, and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Conley of St. Louis...

With the meteoric rise of Branson as an entertainment star, tourism has come into its own in Missouri. But some people still feel too many state attractions remain some of the best-kept secrets in the nation. Simply put, national promotion takes money, and in these tight times state dollars for that purpose have been difficult to come by until now...

Over 700 people will attend the second-ever Cape Girardeau Central High School reunion for classes from the decade of the 1950s. Today and Saturday, classmates will gather at the A.C. Brase Arena Building for two days of activities, said Bill Evans of the class of 1955...

MARBLE HILL - It is understandable that people living in Marble Hill and western and southern Bollinger County might have difficulty remembering who their state representative is. It's not necessarily due to a lack of interest in government; but more likely because of the fact their legislator in the Missouri House of Representatives changes often...

As more and more Cape Girardeans are forced from their homes by rising flood waters, monies from state and federal emergency relief agencies are beginning to reach those who need help. "We've been real busy," said Bob Gruner, alternate governor's authorized representative for the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). Gruner is in charge of the Earth City, Mo., State and Federal Disaster Field Office...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson attended a meeting with President Bill Clinton Thursday afternoon to discuss Midwest flooding. The meeting took place at the U.S. Capitol, where Clinton met with about 30 legislators whose districts are affected by flooding...

Don't get me started on this sentimentality routine. I'll just embarrass myself. The grizzled newspaperman of tradition stands immune to the heartbreak and tragedy that nourish his livelihood. Too many B-movie journalists assume a tough-guy guise when reciting lines like, "I only cry at weddings," wearing cynicism as a badge of honor. Typical script development proves this sort to be a softy...

Governments, like life itself, are seldom simple and often neither black nor white but a strange and fascinating blend of two colors. This inability of government to provide a clear and definitive image to its constituents helps explain why John Q. Public is so often confused, and thereby angry, with the matrix of governance that guides and directs his life at the local, county, state and federal levels...

PUXICO -- Sharron Eugene Wilson, 51, Puxico Route 1, died Thursday, July 15, 1993, at his home. He was born Aug. 7, 1941, at Hayti, son of Charlie Doss and Zella Luella Bruce Wilson. He and Elizabeth Guthrie were married June 25, 1960, at Benton. Wilson was a farmer...

SIKESTON -- Benjamin Robert Lefler, 12, of Sikeston, died Thursday, July 15, 1993, at his home, following a lengthy illness. He was born Sept. 11, 1980, at Chaffee, son of Don and Marian Tetley Lefler. He was a student at Scott County Central Elementary School, and member of First Baptist Church in Sikeston...

Funeral service for Rosena Luedemann of Cape Girardeau will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel. The Rev. Steven MacDougall will officiate, with burial in Fairmount Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today...

Funeral service for Harry Waldren Gosa, Cape Girardeau Route 2, will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Marshall Bishop will officiate. Burial will be in Memorial Park, with graveside rites by Veterans of Foreign Wars...

GRASSY -- L.B. "Dick" Dinkens, 94, of Grassy, died Wednesday, July 14, 1993, at his home. He was born April 17, 1899, in Bowling Green, Ky., son of Francis and Mary Williams Dinkens. He first married Lillian Harkey, who preceded him in death. He and Mabel Hendershott Gaines were married Dec. 15, 1950...

Mirly Burnell Hahs, 56, of Cape Girardeau, died Thursday, July 15, 1993, at St. Luke's West Hospital in St. Louis. Funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at New Salem United Methodist Church at Daisy. The Rev. Fred Rister will officiate, with burial in the church cemetery...

Jean N. Warhol, 66, of Minneapolis, Minn., died Tuesday, July 13, 1993, at Fairview Riverside Medical Center there. She was born Oct. 18, 1926, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Fred and Ethel Nicholas. Survivors include her husband, Steven; a daughter, Carolyn Larson of Santa Barbara, Calif.; three sons, David Warhol of Prior Lake, Minn., Jeff Warhol of Portland, Ore., Jim Warhol of San Francisco, Calif.; a brother, Robert Nicholas of Cape Girardeau, and two grandsons...

MORLEY -- Ernest Elbert Sanders, 52, of Morley, died Tuesday, July 13, 1993, at his home. He was born Aug. 6, 1940, in Mountain View, Ark., son of Homer Elbert and Edith Vienna Reynolds Sanders. He and Jacqueline Bryant were married Dec. 31, 1989, in Las Vegas, Nev...

JACKSON -- Elsie Marie "Mee-Maw" Evans, 72, of Sedalia, died Thursday, July 15, 1993, at Bothwell Regional Health Center in Sedalia. She was born Aug. 20, 1920, at Jackson, daughter of Homer I. and Frieda K. Hanschen O'Neal. She married Charles Q. Evans in July 1939 at Cape Girardeau. He died Feb. 26, 1967...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Ella B. Bryan, 83, of Washington, Ill., formerly of East Prairie, died Thursday, July 15, 1993, at Methodist Medical Center in Peoria, Ill. She was born Oct. 13, 1909, at Anniston, daughter of Sabert D. and Amanda McCommons Choate. Bryan was a retired caseworker with Missouri Division of Family Services. She was a member of the Assembly of God Church in East Prairie...

JACKSON -- Nathalee R. Woods Frentzel, 68, of Port Huron, Mich., formerly of Jackson, died Wednesday, July 14, 1993. She was born Feb. 2, 1925, at Fruitland. She and C.E. "Jim" Frentzel were married Oct. 9, 1944, in Osceola, Ark. Survivors include her husband; a son, James Frentzel of Oxford, Mich., a daughter, Juliann Frentzel of Long Island, N.Y.; a brother, Alden Woods of Granite City, Ill.; two sisters, Barbara Landis of Granite City, and Retia Sasso of Flagler Beach, Fla...

KELSO -- Mary Ann Weber, 64, of Kelso, died Thursday, July 15, 1993, at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She was born April 26, 1929, at Illmo, daughter of Otto J. and Lorene Schlosser Ressel. She and Richard Fred Weber were married April 21, 1951, at Kelso...

Paul Francis Sciortino, 73, of the Veterans Home, died Wednesday, July 14, 1993, at St. Francis Medical Center. He was born July 8, 1920, in Cape Girardeau, son of John and Josephine LaMantia Sciortino. Sciortino was a graduate of St. Mary's High School, 1950 graduate of Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and received a master's degree in city planning from Yale University in 1957...

Aside from all the bustle which normally resounds within the walls of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, dispatchers this week have had to contend with the construction going on all around them. Preparations are well underway for the installation of the new Emergency 911 system which is expected to be on line by the beginning of November. Most of the equipment is now standing stacked in boxes in the police station garage...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- An earthen levee along the Mississippi River south of Miller City broke Thursday afternoon, flooding farm land and forcing area residents to flee to higher ground. The levee broke about 1 p.m., with the flood-swollen river pouring through a gap about 100 feet wide. By late afternoon, the levee break had widened to about 300 feet, and the relentless muddy water was flooding the low-lying Miller City and Horseshoe Lake area of Alexander County...

Balloon Fest '93 brings 35 hot air balloons to Cape Girardeau next weekend for thee days of competition, displays and rides. The fest is planned July 23-26, said David Ross, manager of the Show Me Center, where the balloon competition will originate...

Fire destroyed a building materials storage facility and its contents owned by Michael L. Annis Inc. Wednesday night. The fire department was delayed in arriving at the blaze because Highway 74 has been closed by backwater from the Diversion Channel...

The National Weather Service Thursday held to its forecast of a 46.5-foot flood crest on the Mississippi River in Cape Girardeau on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department said Thursday it will close Highway 25 at Dutchtown at 2 p.m. today to facilitate the closing of a gap in the sandbag levee built last week to protect Dutchtown. The highway will remain closed until the water drops to a safe level, the department said...

Quinn Eudy had never appeared in even a grade-school production before his mother took him and a couple friends to a recent audition held by The Muny in St. Louis. They did it "just for the experience," he says. About 1,400 people tried out for Muny roles. Among those few who were called back was Quinn Eudy...

Members of the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday rejected a request from the Kuss family to re-zone a 6.29 acre tract that is between Route K and Gordonville Road. The tract is currently zoned R-1 for single family residential. A proposed sketch for development on the site asked that it be rezoned C-2 for general commercial; R-3 for two family dwellings; and R-4 for multiple dwellings...

JONESBORO, Ill. -- A toll-free telephone number has been established for residents in three Illinois counties to get information about flood conditions and assistance. The number is 1-800-600-6444. The Tri-County Flood Information Center, located at the Forest Service office in Jonesboro, is available for residents of Alexander, Jackson and Union counties...

A temporary levee designed to shore up a potential weak link in the Main Street Levee District is being constructed today. C.A. "Andy" Juden Jr., president of the district, said, "We do not want to create any fears; this is strictly precautionary." The levee is being built on North Main just north of the state license bureau office...

A toll-free telephone number has been established for flood victims looking for assistance with the emotional stress caused by the rising water. The number is 1-800-367-5305. People can call for information about flood-related stress counseling services and disaster relief centers in their area. The number is staffed 24 hours a day to make referrals to services throughout the state...

As Cape Girardeau faces record Mississippi River flooding, coordinating activities and sharing information has been pivotal in emergency planning. Daily meetings of city department heads and other emergency officials have been held to coordinate efforts during the disaster, City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said Thursday...

A whole lot of people's favorite bands are lined up for the first annual Music Fest to be held tonight and much of Saturday at the River City Yacht Club in downtown Cape Girardeau. Besides the headlining Jungle Dogs and St. Stephen's Blues from Carbondale, Ill., the eclectic bill also includes Esspresso Bongo, Duo-Sonic, the Moore Brothers, and Carter & Connelley. The event is co-sponsored by Port Cape Girardeau and Q-99 radio...

Samples of work by the River Valley Carvers Club will be exhibited at Gallery 100 beginning Monday and continuing through Aug. 1. The exhibit will consist of wildlife miniatures, decoys, caricatures and Christmas items. A hand-carved carousel horse and a cigar-store Indian also will be in the display...

The Sam A. Baker State Park Bluegrass Festival will be held July 22-24 at the park, which is located near Patterson in Wayne County. The festival will feature five bands, including the Over the Hill Gang, the Ezell Family Band, George Portz & Friends of Bluegrass, Christ Starkey & the Ozark Mountain Boys, and Pro-Max Bluegrass Band...

A new government initiative called the Arts Corps has sent Lee Soroko to Cape Girardeau to lead an acting workshop in the use of theatrical masks. The workshop will be presented Aug. 2-12, and is open to both teenagers and adults, and to both beginning and advanced acting students...