November 18, 2004

OBITUARIES

David Branning

Lance Corporal David M. Branning of Cockeysville, Md., was killed Friday, Nov. 12, in the recent fight for control of Fallujah, Iraq. He was 21.

Branning is the brother of Yellow Springs resident Annie Branning.

According to an obituary in The Baltimore Sun, Branning was raised in the Baltimore area by pacifist parents. He was the 16th Maryland resident to die in Iraq. The family received news of Branning’s death on Friday when two Marines visited his father, Daniel Branning, at his home in Albuquerque, N.M.

Branning attended the Waldorf School, the Carver Center for Arts and Technology and graduated in 2001 from Dulaney High School. He was known as a talented sketch artist.

Family members were surprised when Branning decided to join the Marines in 2002, according to the Sun, but he said he wanted to see the world and earn money for college.

“He wanted to know what was beyond here,” Branning’s stepmother, Tia Steele of Govans, Md., was quoted as saying. “He was also interested in the discipline. He was testing the self. We honored his decision. We weren’t happy, but we didn’t want to not support him.”

Branning was a member of the Hawaii-based 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force.

Branning was preceded in death by his mother. He is survived by his father and his sister. According to the Sun, Branning’s body will be transported to Yellow Springs for burial.

George Furman

George C. Furman of Xenia died Wednesday, Nov. 10, at the VA Medical Center in Dayton. He was 82.

Born Nov. 9, 1922, in Springfield, Ky., he was the son of Oliver and Ethel (Clark) Furman.

He retired from Antioch College, where he worked as a custodial engineer. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and was a member of the American Legion in Cedarville and VFW in Yellow Springs. He was also an avid hunter and fisherman.

He was proceeded in death by his parents; his wife, Oma Lee Tucker; a brother, James C. Furman; and a sister, Naomi Furman.

He is survived by his children and their spouses, Karen Davis of Dayton, Barbara Furman-Ashby, Sharon and Rick Thornton and George Lee Furman, all of Xenia, Mary and Michael Morgan of Washington, Frank B. and Deborah Furman of Oklahoma, Richard W. Furman of Maryland; brothers, Clyde, Thomas and Oliver Furman Jr., and one sister, Delcenia Mickens, all of Kentucky; 10 grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren.

A funeral service was held Tuesday, Nov. 16, at McColaugh Funeral Home in Xenia, with interment following in Dayton National Cemetery.

Dorothy Wagner

Dorothy E. Wagner of Tampa and formerly of Yellow Springs died Tuesday, Nov. 9, in Tampa. She was 73.

Born in Dayton on Oct. 8, 1928, she was the daughter of Nathan and Agnes (DeWine) Burgess. She was a schoolteacher in Dayton, Kentucky and Tampa.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Lester F. Wagner, in January 1989; her parents; aunts, uncles and cousin, Joan and Howard Tagtmeir, Jane, Lawrence and Rose Marie Dennehy, Mary Ellen and Lee Falke.

She is survived by four daughters and a son-in-law, Anne and Tom Sankowski of Tampa, Jennie Wagner of Gainesville, Fla., Lisa Wagner and Holly Wagner, both of Tampa; four grandchildren; one sister, Agnes Lenckos of Pittsburgh; two brothers, Frank Burgess of Bradenton, Fla., and Jack Burgess of Gainesville, Fla.; and two nephews.

A mass of Christian burial was held Friday, Nov. 12, in St. Paul Catholic Church, with burial following in St. Paul Cemetery. Jackson Lytle & Ingling Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.