December 2, 2004

OBITUARIES

Olive Anita Sanders

Olive Anita Sanders of Springfield died Friday, Nov. 26, at Mercy Medical Center. She was 54.

Born May 10, 1950, in Dayton, she was the daughter of Everett T. and Lurline W. (Alexander) Bailey. She was raised in Yellow Springs. Mrs. Sanders was a member of Grace United Methodist Church, where she was instrumental in getting Interfaith Hospitality Network started.

She was preceded in death by a son, James “Jim Bob” Sanders; a brother, Richard Bailey; and her parents.

She is survived by her husband, George L. Sanders; children and their spouses, Shelly and Tom Stump, Wayne and Amanda Roth, all of Springfield, Nathan Roth of Urbana, Thomas Roth of Springfield, Lurline and James Danforth of North Ft. Myers, Fla.; 10 grandchildren, Elizabeth, Autumn, Cody, Shayanne, Thomas, Hayleigh, Thomas Jr., Jordan, Amanda and Adrienne; one great-grandson, Christian; siblings, John and Betty Bailey and Clara Bailey.

Funeral services were held Wednesday, Dec. 1, at Grace United Methodist Church. Memorial contributions may be made to Interfaith Hospitality Network or to Mrs. Sanders’s family. Jones-Kenney-Zechman Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Pearl Wegiel

Pearl (Smal) Wegiel of Hillsboro died Monday, Nov. 29, at Highland District Hospital in Hillsboro. She was 84.

Born Nov. 27, 1920, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, she was the daughter of Simeon (Sam) and Anastazia (Jessie Matwichuk) Smal. She moved to Fairborn in the 1960s and retired as a nursing assistant at Friends Care Community.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Matthew J. Wegiel, whom she married on April 28, 1944; a son, William J. Wegiel; sisters, Mary Reid and Minnie Hughes; and brother, Bill Smal.

She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Carol Lee and George Carmen of Fairborn; grandchildren and their spouses, Tina and Adam Brewer of Hillsboro, Barbara Leibherr of Fairborn and William and Amie Wegiel of New Carlisle; and great-grandchildren, Amy Lynn, Justin, Joe and Heather Brewer, Matthew Smith, Cody Leibherr, Abigail Cohnan, Craig and Jonathon Wegiel.

Visitation will be held Thursday, Dec. 2, 1–2 p.m., in the Burcham Funeral Home, 119 East Main Street in Fairborn. Funeral services will follow at 2 p.m., with the Rev. Robert Foresberg officiating. Interment will be in Byron Cemetery.

Mary Sue Smith

Mary Sue Smith of Fairborn died Sunday, Nov. 28, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center. She was 67.

Born April 8, 1937, in McAlester, Okla., she was the daughter of Will and Mary (Catron) Russell. Mary was an office manager and bookkeeper.

She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Raymond Russell.

She is survived by a daughter, Linda Watters of Fairborn; four sons and daughters-in-law, Dwayne and Sherri Pittman of Fairborn, Steve and Tonya Pride-Pittman of Beavercreek, Bill and Linda Pittman of Springfield and Nick and Brenda Smith of Yellow Springs; siblings, Joyce Williams of Fairborn, Willie and Ben Dotson of Hillsboro and Patsy Griego of Fairborn and Kenneth and Neva Russell of Fairborn; 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Friends may call in the Burcham Funeral Home, 119 East Main Street in Fairborn, Thursday, Dec. 2, 6–8 p.m. Services will be held there Friday, Dec. 3, at 10 a.m., with burial following in Byron Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the family in care of Burcham Funeral Home.

Ruby Juanita Nier

Ruby Juanita Nier of Cedarville died Tuesday, Nov. 23, at the Liberty Nursing Center in Xenia. She was 77.

Born in Peebles, Ohio, on Jan. 15, 1927, she was the daughter of John H. and M. Patricia (Blankenship) Mosteller.

She was employed for more than 20 years at Hooven and Allison Company in Xenia and later worked for 10 years at the National Cash Register Company in Dayton. She attended the Grace Baptist Church in Cedarville and was a resident of Cedarville for more than 50 years.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Charles J. Nier, on May 18, 1999; brothers, Oscar and Earl Mosteller; sisters, Myrtle Murphy, Catherine Shanks, Elsie Johnson and Edna Stanley.

She is survived by two children and their spouses, Danny and Linda Nier of Wilmington and Connie and Dwayne Tackett of Yellow Springs; five grandchildren, Bryan and Milka Nier of Columbus, Krista Nier of Mason, Brent Nier of Wilmington, Jeff and Rhonda Nier of Cedarville and Shasta and Nathan Tejeda of Henderson, Nev.; one great-grandson, Hunter Nier; and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral services were held Monday, Nov. 29, at the Ingling Williams Funeral Home in Cedarville, with the burial following in North Cemetery.

Correction

An obituary for Hazel M. Dabney submitted by a funeral home and published in the Nov. 25 News contained several errors and omissions. Ms. Dabney retired after 40 years of service as a library aide at Central State University. One of her nieces is Lenora Armstrong of Hampton, Va., not Lenara Armstrong of Hamilton, Va. Funeral services were held on Friday, Nov. 26, not Saturday, Nov. 27.