Stories from Monday, July 1, 2002

ORAN -- Anna Mae Pobst, 78, died at 9:50 a.m. June 29, 2002, at her home. Born Jan. 16, 1924, at Oran, daughter of the late Robert Patrick and Ada Jane Welsh Harris, she was a cake decorator at Schnuck's bakery in Kirkwood until retiring in 1989 and was a member of the Oran First Baptist Church...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- June Aleta Moore, 87, died June 30, 2002, at Ratliff Care Center in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City where services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday.

SIKESTON - Johanna Hopper, 82, died at 10:30 p.m. June 21, 2002, at Miner Nursing Center. Born April 5, 1920, at Ihlauszen, Germany, daughter of the late August John and Roschen Melvien Sudeu, she was a riverboat cook. On Jan. 28, 1954, at Frankfurt, Germany, she married Haden Calvin Hopper who preceded her in death on Aug. 25, 1971...

PORTAGEVILLE - Ernest Lewis, 52, died July 1, 2002. Arrangements are incomplete at DeLisle Funeral Home.

SIKESTON -- Phillip Crider, 49, died June 30, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born April 18, 1953, at Poplar Bluff, son of the late Lynn B. and Judith Ann Bryan Crider Sr., he had worked for the Sikeston Community Sheltered Workshop. Survivors include: two brothers, Lynn B. Crider of Stockbridge, Ga., and Steve Crider of East Prairie; and one sister, Sherry Wilder of Sikeston...

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Virginia Louise Babb, 67, formerly of Charleston, died at 12:20 p.m. June 29, 2002, at the Lutheran Home. Born Oct. 6, 1934, at Charleston, daughter of Dorothy L. Blackburn Deck of Glenn Allen and the late William Andrew Weakley, she had lived in Mississippi County most of her life where she attended the General Baptist Church in Bertrand. She was employed as an LPN at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston for 25 years before retiring in 2001...

LAGRANGE, Ky. -- Stella Elizabeth Ruffin, 88, formerly of Sikeston, Mo., died June 30, 2002, at her home. The former Stella Elizabeth Cates and a native of Formosa, Ark., she attended the Taylorsville Road Church of Christ and was a retired homemaker...

SIKESTON -- James E. Clark, 75, died at 3 a.m. June 30, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born Dec. 5, 1926, at McKenzie, Tenn., son of the late Joe Kelly and Lois Inez Parker Clark, he was a member of the Smith Avenue Church of God. He worked for Mt. ...

CHAFFEE - Donald Chester Miller, 91, died June 30, 2002, in Glen Allen. Born Aug. 24, 1910, in Anna, Ill., son of the late Tony and Lillian Sprague Miller, he retired in 1973 as a locomotive engineer for the Frisco Railroad Company in Chaffee. He was a member of the First Christian Church in Chaffee and a member of the Chaffee Masonic Lodge 615...

SIKESTON -- Jonathan Kyle Spence, 16, died June 29, 2002, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Born March 12, 1986, at Sikeston, son of Brenda Spence of Sikeston, he was a member of Miner Baptist Church. A junior at Sikeston Public Schools, he was a member of the varsity golf team, the wrestling team his freshman year, the math club and Student Council. He also served as treasurer of the Spanish club...

DEXTER -- Mary Jo Smith, 67, died June 28, 2002, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Born May 6, 1935, in Gray Ridge, daughter of the late Manual and Daisy Rusche Welch, she was a member of the Sweet Prospect General Baptist Church in Dexter and also attended the Word of God Church in Dexter. She retired as a telephone operator with Southwestern Bell...

CHARLESTON - Richard Thompson "Dick" Reed, 78, died at 11:40 a.m. June 29, 2002. Born Nov. 10, 1923, at Poplar Bluff, son of the late Buel and Rose Birkhead Reed, he lived in Mississippi County most of his life where he was president and C.E.O. of the First Bank of East Prairie for 30 years. ...

PORTAGEVILLE - The body of a fisherman was recovered early today from the Mississippi River. Authorities reported the body of a man was found at 6:38 a.m. today in the river by rescue workers who were beginning their third day of searching. The name of the victim had not yet been released by the New Madrid County Sheriff's Department at press time today...

SIKESTON - A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Merlin Crowe Tuesday at Sikeston General Hospital. BELL CITY - Bell City High School cheerleaders recently attended the second session of cheerleading camp at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. The group, which received two excellent and three superior ratings, learned tumbling, gymnastics, jumps, cheers and chants. ...

One month ago, Sikeston Senior High School graduated its seniors. Thinking I was one of the lucky ones, I received an invitation announcement of a graduating senior, only to find out I could not attend the graduation ceremony. So I went to the store, purchased a beautiful graduation card and enclosed money as a gift for this senior's accomplishments. ...

NEW HAMBURG -- When Dean Heuring of New Hamburg left for work in his 1998 Grand Jeep Cherokee Saturday morning, the last thing he thought he would need at the end of the day was a ride home. Around 11 a.m. Saturday, Heuring discovered his vehicle was missing from his work parking lot on South Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. After making a few phone calls to friends and family, in hopes they borrowed his vehicle, Heuring decided it was time to call the police...

NEW MADRID -- If life is a card game, then Betsy White is holding the ACES. Thanks to ACES, a comprehensive career planning and assistance program for students identified as interested in pursuing a career in primary health care, White knows a lot more about what her future holds...

SIKESTON - A Sikeston teen and a St. Louis man sustained fatal injuries in separate accidents over the weekend. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the first accident occurred at 6:20 p.m. Saturday on Highway 62, one mile east of Miner, when an eastbound mo-ped driven by 16-year-old Jonathan Spence was weaving through traffic and traveled into the path of an eastbound vehicle driven by Walter Hedrick, 86 of Sikeston...

Enough is enough! I am writing this letter to educate the drivers of our city of Sikeston as well as Scott County, the Sikeston Police Department, the driver's education instructors at Sikeston High School and driving instructors of private driving schools in our city and county about the Missouri law concerning blind pedestrians...

PARMA - Todd and Susan Ludwig are the parents of their third daughter, born at 10:41 a.m. June 5, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Sierrea Kimberly Ludwig weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces and was 19 1/2-inches long. Mrs. Ludwig is the daughter of Tammy Elaine Martin and the late Terry Wayne Martin Sr. and stepdaughter of B.J. Thacker...

The Sikeston Sharks' Ben F. Marshall won first place in the boys 15-18 butterfly Saturday at the Sikeston swim meet. Hundreds of swimmers from around the area competed in the event. Complete results can be found in Tuesday's edition.

SIKESTON -- Noffel-Feuerhan took fourth place in the Musial League of Sikeston Area Youth Baseball this year, finishing with a record of 5-9. The squad got off to a slow start, but finished strong, winning four of its last six games. "Our goal was to end the season a lot better than we started, and that's how we did it," said Noffel head coach Ron Priday. "We started playing better as a team at the end."...