March 3, 2005

OBITUARIES

Sarah J. Hale

Sarah J. Hale died on Friday, Feb. 25, at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield. She was 80.

She was born on Jan. 25, 1925, in London, Ohio, the daughter of Howard and Effie (Evans) Morgan.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Richard K. Hale Sr.; two sons, John Robert and Patrick Michael Hale; grandson Rob Carlisle; and five brothers and two sisters.

She is survived by her children, Linda Pagura of Columbus and Richard and Sandy Hale of Springfield; a sister, Leona Lindsey of Springfield; grandchildren, Elizabeth Hale and Patrick Wolfe of Yellow Springs, Deborah and Andy Heister of South Charleston, Sherry Carlisle of New Carlisle, Amy and Joey Fitzwater of Columbus, Andy Pagura and Aaron Wiesenbarger of Columbus, and Angie and Brad Smith of Florida; and eight great-grandchildren.

Funeral services were held Monday, Feb. 28, at the Littleton & Rue Funeral Home in Springfield. Burial was in Sunset Cemetery in Columbus.

James P. Birtle

James P. Birtle of Alexandria, Va., died of pneumonia on Wednesday, Feb. 23, in Fairfax, Va. He was 77.

The son of Mary A. Birtle, Jim was born in a farmhouse on Fairfield Pike in Yellow Springs, on May 22, 1927. He grew up in Yellow Springs, a town he dearly loved. He played basketball for Bryan High School before graduating in 1945. From 1946 to 1953 he worked at the Yellow Springs post office, where his quiet warmth won him many friends throughout the community. It was at the post office that he met Lucy E. LaRocca. Lucy had moved to Yellow Springs from Stamford, Conn., in 1949 to work at the Kettering Foundation, and Jim and Lucy soon began dating. They married in 1951.

In 1953, Jim quit the postal service and began commuting from Yellow Springs to Dayton, where he attended the University of Dayton. He played basketball for UD and graduated with a degree in business in 1956. He and Lucy then moved to Pittsburgh, where Jim began working for U.S. Steel. After a few years in Pittsburgh, Jim took a job with Remington Rand in New York City. Remington Rand sent him to school to learn about the new field of computer technology. After several years working in the city, Jim moved his family to Port Jefferson, N.Y., and went to work for Brookhaven National Laboratory as a computer programmer and operator. He remained at Brookhaven for the rest of his career, eventually becoming a manager of the laboratory’s administrative data processing center.

At age 45, Jim was diagnosed with retinitus pigmentosa, an incurable eye disease that over the years gradually robbed him of much of his sight. He never complained about his increasing visual impairment. He continued to work and was an active member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society until his dimming eyesight made it difficult for him to continue ministering to the poor and disadvantaged. In 1988, Jim retired on disability and left New York. In retirement he and Lucy split their time between homes in Springfield and Palm City, Fla. While in Ohio, James and Lucy regularly visited Yellow Springs and rejoined the parish of St. Paul Catholic Church. Eleven years later, they moved to Virginia to be near their son.

Jim was an honest, hard working and kind individual. A devout Catholic, he lived his life according to his religious beliefs and the small-town values he learned growing up in Yellow Springs.

He is survived by his wife of nearly 54 years, Lucy; his son, Andrew, of Alexandria, Va.; and his brother, Albert Morgan Jr., of Springfield.

He will be buried in St. Paul Cemetery in Yellow Springs near the graves of his mother and stepfather, Albert Morgan.

Memorial service for Bev Viemeister

A memorial service for Beverly Lipsett Viemeister will be held Saturday, March 12, 2 p.m., in the Glen Helen Building. A reception will follow.

Bev died on Monday, Feb. 21, at the age of 78. She asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Yellow Springs Community Foundation.