OBITUARIES

Carolion

Yellow Springs resident Carolion died peacefully in her home on Wednesday, Nov. 18. She was 62.

Born Caroline Elizabeth Welton April 24, 1947 in Cambridge, Mass., she was the second of four children by Jean and Theodore Welton. Carolion spent her childhood in Oak Ridge, Tenn. where she developed her skills as a young musician and her love for animals and nature. In 1969 she graduated from Miami University with a degree in music theory and composition.

After college she lived in Columbus, Minneapolis and Granite Falls, Minn., where in 1976 she and husband Paul Van Ausdal adopted three children from Inchon, South Korea, and had a fourth child a year later. The family moved to Yellow Springs in 1979. Carolion resided on Spillan Road until 1996, when she moved to Oregon, then to Texas and California. In 2004 she moved back to Yellow Springs and worked at the Yellow Springs Library until August of this year.

Carolion was a musician and music teacher, playwright and director, writer and storyteller, gardener, healer, animal communicator, reverend, reference librarian, wife, mother and dear friend. She studied shamanic practice at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, Calif. and taught at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, N.Y., where she founded the Devic Garden and yearly Peace Pow Wow.

She is preceded in death by her mother, and is survived by her father, Ted Welton of Crossville, Tenn., two sons, Ben Van Ausdal of Fairborn and Max Van Ausdal, stationed at RAF Lakenheath UK, two daughers, Jessie Van Ausdal of Littleton, Colo. and Corrie Van Ausdal of Kansas City, Kan., eight grandchildren, Katie, Conrad, Emmie, Caleb, Aryn, Gabe, Alex and Tiger, former husband Paul Van Ausdal, two brothers, Will Welton of Seattle, Wash., John Welton of San Diego, Calif., one sister, Mary Lou Dillon of Knoxville, Tenn., and numerous in-laws, nieces, nephews and cousins.

A memorial service will be held Friday, Nov. 27 at the Glen Helen Building at 405 Corry Street in Yellow Springs. In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the Dayton Peace Museum, the Friends Music Camp Scholarship Fund, Glen Helen or Hospice of Springfield.

Deborah Benning

Longtime village resident and Village Council Clerk Deborah Benning died in the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 24, at the Miami Valley Hospital, where she had been hospitalized.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Dec. 5 at the John Bryan Community Center (time pending; check back here for updates).

Donna Leonard

Donna Jean Leonard died on May 8, 2009, after a three-year illness, at the age of 67. She was preceded in death by her parents Donald “Jim” and Edith Leonard of Omaha. Donna graduated from Antioch College and thereafter held a number of jobs on campus, serving as director of student housing in the 1970s.

Donna is survived by her cousins Debra Sosa and Debra’s husband Florencio of Bellevue, Neb., and Robert Leonard and Tina Skelton. She is also survived by her dearest friend of over 30 years, Gladys Wessels of Yellow Springs, and an old friend, Dee Krieg of Seattle, the three of them among the original survivors of one of the longest-lasting penny poker groups in town, at which times Donna would wipe out the assembled. Dee remembers Donna as a TV weather junkie, a slot machine aficionada and as a lover of July Fourths, when she would delight in firing up black snakes and blasting rockets into the ether while everyone ducked. She loved her long-lived cats, Dill and Katie, along with poetry and mysteries.

The last few years she was beguiled by the poet Mary Oliver and in April, one month before she died, she wrote, “I picked up The Winged Seed by Lee Young Lee yesterday, after re-reading Carrie Brown’s The Hat Box Baby. Finally I’m able to stay alert enough to truly read. Ça va!”

Contributions in Donna’s memory may be made to the Yellow Springs Community Library Association, or to the cat rescuers of Greene County’s Tenth Life.

Kenneth Harris

On Nov. 8, Kenneth Harris, 59, of Athens, Ga., died with his family by his side. Mr. Harris was born April 5, 1950, to Ople and Albert Harris. He was the third of nine children.

Mr. Harris was a naval veteran leaving his service of 20 years with the rank of senior chief petty officer aboard the USS Kansas City. He was an active member of the VFW in Athens, Ga.

Mr. Harris died early Sunday morning on Nov. 8 in the home of his sister in Athens, Ga. He was preceded in death by both parents; a sister, Cheryl Starks, and two brothers, Keith and Tim. He leaves to celebrate his life and cherish his memory his wife of 26 years, Christine Harris; a son, Kenneth Harris Jr., a daughter, Jeanette Harris and a granddaughter, Xhanea, all of Sacramento, Calif. He is also survived by his sisters, Trudy Lawrence of Chicago, Ill., Patricia Harris of Durham, N.C., Cynthia (Cindy) Harris of Yellow Springs, Esther (Bonnie) Harris of Athens, Ga., and a brother, Ron Harris of Dayton, as well as a number of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

The family of the late Kenneth Harris acknowledges with deep appreciation all the expressions of kindness shown to them during this time. A memorial will be held on Nov. 28 in Athens, Ga. with his family present. Personal acknowledgements may be extended at the following address: Southern Care Hospice, 5095 Jefferson Rd., Suite 110, Athens, GA 30307.

Memorial Services

Jim Kitzmiller

A service in memory of Jim Kitzmiller will be held on Sunday, Dec. 6, from 2–4 p.m. at Clifton Reserve Lodge on South River Road.

Joan Brucker

A celebration of the life of Joan Wagner Brucker will be held on Saturday, Nov. 28, at 2 p.m. at Rockford Chapel, 515 President Street.