November 2, 2006

OBITUARIES

Fenn Laursen

Fenn Laursen, longtime resident of Yellow Springs, died Saturday, Oct. 14, in Greene Memorial Hospital in Xenia, at the age of 81, with his sons at his side.

He was born in Odense, Denmark, on April 1, 1925, as the youngest of five children to Otto Laursen and Ane Marie (Sorensen) Laursen. The family ran a successful dairy export business.

During World War II Fenn served in the “Holger Danske” Danish Resistance movement, as did his future wife, Alice Henny Geermann. Following the war he completed his studies at the University of Copenhagen, earning advanced degrees in chemical engineering while studying under such professors as Niels and Harald Bohr. He was also elected president of the Student Union. Fenn and Alice were married in 1948, and in 1950 they emigrated to the United States.

Fenn and Alice settled in Wilmington, Del., where Fenn worked for E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. In his more than 30 years with DuPont, Fenn held numerous positions of increasing responsibility, including senior management roles at the Jackson Laboratory and the Chambers Works manufacturing facility, before becoming director of the Dyes and Chemicals Division, the largest operating division of the company at the time.

When Fenn retired in the mid 1980’s, he and Alice moved to San Clemente, Calif., where they enjoyed the California coastal lifestyle for several years. Following Alice’s death in 1995, Fenn moved to Yellow Springs to be with his son Paul and Paul’s children. Over the years that he lived in Yellow Spings, Fenn could often be found eating lunch at the Winds and spending time at the Yellow Springs Senior Center.

Fenn was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers; one sister; and by his beloved wife, Alice.

He is survived by his two sons, Eric Laursen of Vienna, Va., and Paul Laursen of Blue Hill, Maine, and by his five grandchildren, Alan, Chloe, Justin, Katy and Kristen.

A small family service will be held later in the year in Wilmington, Del. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Yellow Springs Senior Center in the memory of Fenn Laursen.

Ina Mason

Ina Mason of Fairborn died Thursday, Oct. 26. She was 74.

Ina was born April 4, 1932, in Sandy Hook, Ky., the daughter of the late E.J. and Effie Adkins. She loved gardening, her yard work and shopping.

Ina was preceded in death in 2004 by her husband, Clyde; brother and sister-in-law, Randolph and Sally Adkins; brothers-in-law, Dave Mason, Perry Mason and sister-in-law, Bessie Rigsby.

Survivors include her brother and sister-in-law, Jessie and Fern Adins of Sandy Hook, Ky.; sister-in-law, Virginia Mason of Fairborn; brothers-in-law and their wives, Landon and Olive Mason of Fairborn, Josh and Dora Mason of Yellow Springs; sister-in-law Nancy and Calvin Gilliam of Sandy Hook, Ky. Ina was a second mother to several nieces and nephews, a great-niece and many great-nephews. Each one had a special place in her heart.

Funeral services were conducted on Monday, Oct. 30, from the Burcham Funeral Home, Fairborn with burial following in Byron Cemetery. The family requests contributions be made in Ina’s memory to Heartland Hospice.

Memorial service to be held for Joseph Maloney

Memorial services for Joseph Maloney will be held at 2 p.m., on Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Unitarian Universal Fellowship meetinghouse, on US 68 South.

Thomas J. Mendenhall

Thomas J. Mendenhall of Xenia died Sunday, Oct. 22, at Friends Care Center in Yellow Springs. He was 87.

He was born March 12, 1919, in Xenia, the son of Thomas “Dick” and Della -Stafford Mendenhall. He was a lifelong Xenian, owner of Mendenhall and Mendenhall concrete contractors, a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving in World War II, and a lifetime member of the Xenia Elks Lodge #668.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Juanita J. (Bruce) Mendenhall, Dec. 16, 1985, four brothers and two sisters.

He is survived by two daughters and sons-in-law, Darlene and Bruce Doll of Huber Heights, and Melody and David Mullikin of Xenia; a son and daughter-in-law, Stephen and Ruth Mendenhall of Wilmington; five grandchildren, David, Gary, and Michael Doll, and Kylie and Kyndall Mullikin; five great grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Services were held Wednesday, Oct. 25, at the Neeld Funeral Home, Xenia, with burial in Woodland Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Hospice of Dayton, 324 Wilmington Avenue, Dayton, OH 45420.

Andrew Peters

Andy Peters died Wednesday morning, Oct. 26, in Venice, Fla. He was 82.

Born Nov. 23, 1923, and raised in Longmeadow, Mass., Andy served in the Army in Europe in World War II. In 1947 he married Pauline Benoit, from Springfield, Mass. He found his way to Yellow Springs by using the G.I. Bill and the work/study program to attend and graduate in 1950 from Antioch College, while supporting a young family. They took up residence here, first in married students housing, then on Stafford Street, and finally in the home they built on Fairfield Pike.

Andy worked from 1950 to 1956 at the Miami Deposit Bank, and then Hardy Trolander and David Case asked him to join them at Yellow Springs Instrument, a fledgling enterprise that had just moved from the Antioch College Science Building’s business incubator. Andy became secretary-treasurer on the YSI board, ran the accounting department and established their data processing in the earliest days of business computers. He retired from YSI after 25 years in 1981 and he and his wife moved to Venice, Fla.

Andy was an enthusiastic outdoorsman and ardent conservationist. He studied geology at Wright State, and in the 1960s began a regular series of canoe trips with village friends Leo Hughes, Ernie -Hoffman, Ernie Engle, Tom Charlton, Duane Cady and Paul Cooper to Algonquin Park in Ontario. He also went on Sierra Club wilderness trips to Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and British Columbia. The 1970s continued with excursions to Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico and more trips to his favorite state, Utah.

From 1973 to 1990 Andy captained chartered sailboats ranging from 27 to 38 feet in the waters of Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, Cape Cod and Sarasota Bay. He was accompanied and assisted by crews consisting of Gordy Cowperthwaite, Paul Cooper, Joe Maloney, John Powers, Charlie Clauser, and George Dewey, who were all glad that Andy was captain.

During his retirement he spent summers as a volunteer working for the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and The Nature Conservancy. Andy conducted botanical surveys, assisted park visitors, and led environmental education journeys at Grand Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon, Green River, Colorado River and the Dixie National Forest in Utah.

In Florida Andy spent his days as a volunteer at nearby Oscar Scherer State Recreation Area, a 462-acre park, where he combed the area to identify and catalogue plants and he also conducted guided canoe tours.

He leaves behind his wife of 59 years, Pauline, of Venice, Fla.; son and daughter-in-law, Jim and Laura of Newport, Ky.; daughter, Pat of Yellow Springs; brother, Bill Peters of Albuquerque, N.M., and sister Jean Butterworth, of Marblehead, Mass.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Friends of Oscar Scherer Park Inc., 1843 South Tamiami Trail, Osprey, FL 34229.

Echo Ernestine Guest

Echo Ernestine (Cordell) Guest, of Wailuku, Hawaii, formerly of Yellow Springs, died Oct. 25. She was 89.

Echo was born June 27, 1917, in Yellow Springs, the second of 12 children. After high school graduation she attended nursing college in Portsmouth, Ohio, where she met and married her husband of 52 years. Echo traveled extensively during her many years of life.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Elvin, daughter-in-law, Joan, and granddaughter Corrie.

She is survived by her loving family, which includes two sons and a daughter-in-law, Robbie Guest and John and Ellen Guest; and granddaughter, Rebecca Guest.

After retiring to California she did volunteer work with the special needs children and was a Special Olympics coordinator. Following the death of her husband, she and her family moved to Hawaii where she resided until her death.

Funeral arrangements are being completed by Jackson Lytle Williams Funeral Home, Yellow Springs.

Juhl-Bagge Kristensen

Juhl-Bagge Kristensen passed away on Oct. 25, in Phoenix, Ariz., of heart failure. He was 76.

Juhl was born Dec. 28, 1929, in Skalstrup, Jutland, Denmark, one of the six children of Marius and Hilda Bagge Kristensen. In Denmark he completed a four-year teacher education program for teaching in the free schools (schools outside the state system). He spent a year in Great Britain, part of which was at a college near Birmingham and the rest in London.

Since arriving in Yellow Springs in 1959, Juhl earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education from Central State University and a doctorate in social foundations of education from the State University of New York at Buffalo, N.Y., with some of the courses taken at Stanford University. He taught elementary school children at the fifth and sixth grade levels for several years. He was an associate professor in teacher education for 15 years at Wilberforce University before retiring in 1991.

Juhl authored two books: My Boyhood Kingdom, and Don’t Leave Quality Education Behind; The Common School of Horace Mann That Died in Its Infancy Can Be Revived.

He is survived by his wife, Shirley, and three sons and their families: Stuart and Cindy, Rick and Christine, Jens -Christian and Kira; by grandchildren Aaryn, Amanda, Emily, Hannah, Shay Lee, Forest Glaser and his wife Amy, and Heather -Kronewetter, her husband Brendon, and their children Frankie and Turner. In Denmark, he is survived by two sisters, a sister-in-law, a brother-in-law and many nieces and nephews and their families; in Bolivia by a sister-in-law and her husband and in Australia, their son and daughter and their families; and by nieces and nephews in America.

As a young man Juhl longed to come to America. He was proud to be an American citizen.

Services were held on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at the Jackson Lytle Williams Funeral Home in Yellow Springs with burial following in Glen Forest Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Community Children’s Center, P.O. Box 42, Yellow Springs, OH 45387.