Stories from Monday, December 23, 2002

Once a Chinese philosopher said, "If you can't stand the thorns, don't play with the roses." Maybe he knew what he was talking about. Seniors Stephanie and Amy Rose are two of the six seniors on Dexter's Lady Bearcat basketball squad this season, but these two have something just a little bit more special...

SIKESTON - Lloyd Wilburn, 98, died at 7:43 a.m. Dec. 23, 2002, at the Clearview Nursing Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel.

LILBOURN - Ila Gail Presnell, 65, died Dec. 21, 2002, at her home. Born Nov. 7, 1937, in Lepanto, Ark., daughter of Mamie Joyce Holt Carter of Lilbourn and the late Milton Carter, she was a member of the Church of God and had worked at Stover Furniture and Clothing in New Madrid...

ST. LOUIS - Opal Marion, formerly of Portageville, died Dec. 22, 2002, in St. Louis. Arrangements are incomplete at DeLisle Funeral Home in Portageville.

DEXTER - Pallbearers at services conducted Saturday at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home for Charles Fate Cantrell, 61, who died Dec. 17, 2002, were: James Cantrell, Wayne Cantrell, Bobby Cantrell, Charles E. Cantrell, Jasper Cantrell and Brandon Cantrell...

SIKESTON - Jewell Alfreda Watson, 90, died at 4:10 a.m. Dec. 22, 2002, at the Clearview Nursing Center. Born May 20, 1912, in Sikeston, daughter of the late Adam and Molly Fowler Ferguson, she had been employed by the International Shoe Company in Sikeston. A member of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program for many years, she was also a member of Murray Lane Baptist Church...

SIKESTON - Evelyn Taylor, 82, died Dec. 20, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. Born Aug. 22, 1920, in Charleston, daughter of the late Luther Roy and Alpha Elizabeth Baker, she was a member of Fellowship Baptist Church. On May 4, 1938, she married Clay Taylor who survives of the home...

CHAFFEE - Loretta Harrell, 87, died at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 21, 2002, at the Chaffee Nursing Center. Born Oct. 16, 1915, in Painton, daughter of the late Joseph and Philomine Glastetter Brucker, she was a member of St. Ambrose Catholic Church and the Daughters of St. Ambrose in Chaffee...

EAST PRAIRIE - Margaret Jo Barnes, 69, died at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 22, 2002, at her home. Born Jan. 24, 1933, in East Prairie, daughter of the late Luther and Edith Tanner Bailey, she lived in East Prairie most of her life, where she was a member of the First Church of God. She had been employed by the Manufacturing Company for many years and was currently working in the East Prairie High School cafeteria...

NAYLOR - Ruby Lancaster, 89, died Dec. 21, 2002, at the Mark Twain Caring Center in Poplar Bluff. Born Nov. 9, 1913, in Alcorn County, Miss., daughter of the late Claude A. and Mary Alice Wingo Downs, she was a member of the First Baptist Church in Lilbourn...

WARDELL - Pemiscot County law enforcement officers took two men into custody after a brief chase on foot. A Pemiscot County deputy was patrolling County Road 216 near Wardell when he noticed a vehicle parked in the Rowe Cemetery. As deputies attempted to make contact with the occupants of the vehicle, two men fled the scene on foot...

SIKESTON - Beginning Jan. 2, Parks and Recreation Director Jiggs Moore will have a new home in the Clinton Building. Located at 501 Campanella Drive in the south end of the Recreation Complex, the Clinton Building is Sikeston's new community services building, which has been in use since July 1...

MINER - The credit card allegedly used fraudulently by two Georgia women is the property of a man reported murdered in the Atlanta, Ga., area, a Scott County Sheriff's Department official confirmed. The women were arrested Friday morning at a motel in Miner after authorities received a tip...

SIKESTON - There's always that one Christmas that stands out above the rest, a special memory that will last a lifetime. For Lena Matthews, it was the year she received a doll and a doll baby buggy. The youngest of seven children, Matthews said the family didn't have a Christmas tree. It was the steps to the house she still lives in, that were symbolic...

I'd like to say something else about the late night flashing red and yellow lights at opposing intersections in Sikeston. This isn't very recommended practice, is it? It seems like all flashing red or all flashing yellow signals would be better so the driver would know what kind of signal the driver on the road next to him has...

SIKESTON - Dick Tongate, Bob McCord, Joe Allen and James Martin, students at Westminster College, Fulton, are spending the holidays with their families in Sikeston. DEXTER - Millions of starlings and blackbirds are giving Dexter citizens economic growth and health problems. The problem is so acute that a Stoddard County group has asked the Conservation Commission for help...