Stories from Wednesday, December 26, 2001

Nicholas Beard of Sikeston braved the cold to play a game of backyard football this week. Temperatures are forecast to be in the 20s with a chance of flurries for the remainder of the week and into the weekend.

SIKESTON - Perry Jolliff, 66, died Dec. 20, 2001, at his home. Born Feb. 12, 1935, at Rover, son of the late Aaron George and Nora Hamilton Jolliff, he was a member of Fellowship Baptist Church for 35 years and was superintendent at International Shoe Factory until its closing. He owned and operated Jolliff Aviation...

Here's a prediction that arrives before the new year. If the city of Sikeston does not address a drift in population toward poverty and government assistance, the years ahead for our small community will be marked by continued decline in workforce, retail base and standard of living...

SIKESTON - The California Citrus Juice Co. has opened a bottling plant on Highway 60. Manager is Carl Lemarr, who has moved his family here from Springfield. --- SIKESTON - Lee Austin Bowman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Bowman and a star in Sikeston High School football and basketball, has been awarded his freshman numeral in football at Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va...

Why is this one business man thinking just young people? Why isn't he going after the retired or semi-retired? Or how about the man with a family who has never been in trouble before. Why is he just looking for young people? Does he just want throw-away work, or what? Let's start looking at some of these older people who are trying to get back into the workforce. That's where the mainstay of Sikeston would be if these people would think about it...

SIKESTON - Dr. Edwin Smith set out to prove that anything desired badly enough can be achieved. And he was right. Those who've seen his photographic essay, "Grass-Roots Sculptors in Missouri," say his work is an inspiration to all. "These artists are phenomena of a particular economic and social situation," remarked Linda Melkersman, a board member of Sikeston Missouri Arts Inc. ...

NEW MADRID - A statewide system to improve the well-being of Missouri's children and families will include statistics from New Madrid County. The New Madrid County Human Resource Council will produce the first of what will become an annual report card in January...

SIKESTON - Shirley Ann Lawrence, 45, died Dec. 24, 2001, at her home. Born June 7, 1956, in Moscow, Tenn., daughter of the late Willie and Dora Flower Lawrence, she was a graduate of Sikeston High School. She was employed by Jay's Krispy Fried Chicken for many years and a member of Cornerstone Baptist Church...

CHARLESTON - Col. Herbert Marshall Stone, 82, died at 12:40 p.m. Dec. 24, 2001, at the Charleston Manor. Born Sept. 10, 1919, near Charleston, son of the late Frank and Lyde Dunlap Stone, he lived in Charleston most of his life, where he was a member of the First Baptist Church...

SIKESTON - Anna Golightly Laseter, 78, died at 11:10 p.m. Dec. 24, 2001, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Arrangements are incomplete at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel.

WHITEWATER - Ernest Homer Poole Jr., 66, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Dec. 25, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City.

DEXTER - Anna Voss, 76, died Dec. 25, 2001, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Arrangements are incomplete at Rainey Funeral Home in Dexter.

HOWARDVILLE - Willie B. "Sonny" Perry, 68, died Dec. 21, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Jan. 2, 1933, in Memphis, Tenn., son of the late Joe and Quincy Warr Perry, he lived in Louisville, Ky, where he was raised by his aunt, Cora Williams. A U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War, he retired in 1993 from Noranda Aluminum, after 24 years of service and was of the Baptist belief...

SIKESTON - Gladys Elizabeth Marshall, 81, died at 1:35 p.m. Dec. 23, 2001, at Hunter Acres Caring Center. Born Jan. 19, 1920, in Charleston, daughter of the late William Earl and Beatrice Holley Trousdale Sr., she owned and operated the One-Hour Wardrobe Cleaners in Sikeston for many years. A former member and past worthy matron of the Order of the Eastern Star chapter in Greenville, she was of the Baptist belief...

ALLENVILLE - Hazel P. Walker, 79, died at 12:18 p.m. Dec. 24, 2001, at the Chaffee Nursing Center. Born Jan. 15, 1922, in Aberdeen, Ohio, daughter of the late Elza and Myrtie Denton Pott, she retired as a machine operator for the Florsheim Shoe Company in Cape Girardeau...

DEXTER -- The last few years, Dexter's Chris Carr has played in the shadows while teammates Shawn Guethle, Scott Mattingly, Brett Hale and Shannon Wright have stood in the spotlight and grabbed all the headlines for 21-5, 24-2 and 24-4 seasons. But all those guys are gone now, and it's Carr's turn to carry the torch...