December 15, 2005

OBITUARIES

Betty Wagner

Betty Wagner of Yellow Springs died peacefully in her home on Sunday, Dec. 11, after succumbing to a brief illness with cancer. She was 84.

Born Elizabeth Janet Lavell, she lived in Cincinnati and graduated form the University of Cincinnati in 1944. While working as the executive secretary and librarian for the Applied Science Research Laboratory at the University of Cincinnati, Betty met and married Paul Wagner in 1947.

Early in their 58-year marriage, Betty and Paul lived for two years in Puerto Rico, where their first child was born. After returning from Puerto Rico, they settled and remained in Yellow Springs, raising a family of three children. Betty was an accomplished and creative homemaker. She shared her artistic creativity with her children and many of their friends and with her community.

She worked part-time for many years in the Department of Growth and Genetics at the Fels Research Institute, where she co-wrote several papers with Dr. Stanley Garn.

Betty was an active member of the Yellow Springs Friends Meeting since the early 1950s, serving as clerk of the meeting for two years and on the hospitality committee for many years. She radiated love, peace, simplicity and grace throughout her life. Betty was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and community member, longtime boater, talented artist and beautiful dancer.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Bob and Edna Lavell; two sisters and a brother-in-law, Patty Lavell and Jackie and Bill Fey; and two brothers, Bob and Bill Lavell.

She is survived by her husband; children and spouses, Gordon (Pop) Wagner and Thea Johansen of St. Paul, Minn., Garry (Bodie) and Marty Wagner of Nevada City, Calif., and Suzanne and Tim Morand of Cincinnati; a grandchild, Jackson Wagner; three sisters, Peggy Issack, Joan O’Connor and Carol Proudfit; brothers- and sisters-in-law, Tom Issack, Jack O’Connor, Mary Lavell, Joan Lavell, and Richard and Evelyn Wagner; and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service, in care of the Yellow Springs Friends Meeting, will be held Saturday, Jan. 7, at the Glen Helen Building. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hospice of Dayton, 324 Wilmington Avenue, Dayton 45420.

J. Peter Jensen

J. Peter Jensen of Yellow Springs died Wednesday, Dec. 7, at the Cleveland Clinic of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). He was 53.

He was born Feb. 6, 1952, in Iowa City, Iowa, the oldest child of Dave and Martie Jensen. Soon afterward, they moved to Yellow Springs, where Peter grew up in the Vale.

He graduated from Yellow Springs High School in 1969 and from Wright State in 1974. He received a master’s degree in agronomy from the University of Georgia and in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech. He worked as a software engineer for several companies and was robotics engineer at Motoman in West Carrollton at the onset of the disease.

He enjoyed knitting, folk dancing, gardening, bicycling, long-distance running, plumbing projects, music and bright colors. After being immobilized by the disease, he played Scrabble, read extensively on a wide range of topics and spent time in his greenhouse with the birds and tropical plants. His calm and positive attitude rippled throughout his circle of family and friends.

Peter was preceded in death by his father.

He is survived by his mother; stepmother, Marian Jensen; his wife, Kitty Holyoke Jensen; children, Lila Rose and Thomas Kumar Jensen; siblings and their families, Winnie Jensen and Tom and Nicholas Church, Joel, Kathy and Risa Jensen, Raven, Mike and Eric Stephenson and Michael Jensen, Ian Axilrod, and Bjorn Jensen; and many other relatives and friends.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, Dec. 31, at 1 p.m., in the Glen Helen Building. Memorial contributions may be made to the Cleveland Clinic/ALS Research, c/o Dr. Eric Pioro, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland 44195; Hospice of Dayton, 324 Wilmington Avenue, Dayton 45420; or Sowelo, Inc., P.O. Box 450, Yellow Springs.