Stories from Monday, June 21, 2004

BLOOMFIELD - Patty Ann Thomason, 52, died June 18, 2004, at Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter. Born Sept. 3, 1951, in Lilbourn, daughter of Wilda Horn Menley of Dexter and the late Harry Jack Lamb, she was a member of the Dexter Church of Christ...

SIKESTON - Floyd Allan Davidson, 45, died at 8:24 p.m. June 17, 2004, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Jan. 30, 1959, in Sikeston, son of Shirley J. Davidson Miller of Sikeston and the late James A. Davidson, he was employed by Southwestern Bell Telephone Company for 26 years. He was a member of Tanner Street Church of God, played on the church softball and basketball teams and was also a participant in the bowling league at the Sikeston Bowling Center...

CHARLESTON -- Mahala "Christine" McMillen, 77, died at 11:33 a.m. June 19, 2004, at her home in Charleston. Born July 30, 1926, in Biggers, Ark., daughter of the late David Leroy and Nola Cordelia Belcher Hill, she had lived in Mississippi County most of her life, where she attended the Church of God of Prophecy in Charleston...

DEXTER - Lenora Smith, 85, died June 19, 2004, at the Missouri Southern Healthcare Facility in Dexter. Born July 8, 1918, in Hornersville to the late Luther and Bessie Eaker Gooch, she had lived in Essex most of her life moving to Dexter 17 years ago. ...

BERNIE - Diana Lynn Durham McGowan, 47, died June 18, 2004 at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born at Dexter on Feb. 8, 1957, to Donald and Marlin Hillyard Durham of Bernie, she was a clerk at Arvinmeritor in Dexter. A member of the First Assembly of God Church at Malden, she was a substitute Sunday school teacher...

SIKESTON - William P. Arnold, 76, died June 20, 2004, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. Nunnelee Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements which are incomplete.

DES ARC -- Sally A. Smith, 55, died June 20, 2004, at the Poplar Bluff Regional Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter.

CANALOU -- Robert Earl "Bobby" Wrather, 59, died at 8:30 a.m. June 20, 2004, at his home on the farm he loved near Canalou. Born March 24, 1945, in Sikeston, son of Billie Sue Wrather Sharp of Canalou and the late Earlin "Dude" Wrather. A 1964 graduate of Lilbourn High School, he was a retired farmer and construction worker. He was a member of the First Christian Church in Matthews and a member of the Eagles Lodge Aerie 3319 of Sikeston...

DEXTER - William H. Lawson died June 19, 2004, at the Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Center in Dexter. Born in Paducah, Ky., to the late John William Lawson and Lillie Davis Lawson, he was a mbmer of the First Assembly of God Church in Dexter. He was a 40-year member of Gideon's International where he was past president of the Dexter Camp and a past president of the Dexter Kiwanis Club...

DEXTER -- Ross B. James, 85, died June 20, 2004, at the Crowley Ridge Care Center in Dexter. Arrangements are incomplete at Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter.

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- An area pool team, the Young Guns, earned a spot in the American Poolplayers Association National Tournament. After completing 16 weeks of league play and taking the playoff championship title in their local league, the Young Guns qualified through the single-elimination APA Area-Wide Tournament, held at the A. C. Brase Arena in Cape Girardeau on the weekend of June 4-6...

BENTON - Our low-crime community has not experienced many cases of identity theft, according to Captain Brenda Schiwitz of the Scott County Sheriff's Department. "We don't really have a lot of active cases that we're working on in Scott County. We're not in a high crime area but we have had two, both stolen credit card numbers," she said...

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Sharks swim team finished second in the four-team Scott City Swim Meet on Saturday, with two swimmers having record-setting days. Scott City won the meet with 846 points. Sikeston had 739. Ste. Genevieve (383) and Farmington (154) rounded out the field...

SIKESTON -- Results of Friday's Sikeston Area Youth Baseball action were as follows. In a bit of an oddity, all the scoring came in bunches of four. Morlan scored four runs in each of the first four innings, while Kirby's added four in its final at-bat of the four-inning game...

Sondra Armour, left, a member of the Family Readiness Group of the 1140th Engineer Battalion, Charlie Company, sells a yellow fabric ribbon to Ginger Stricklin Saturday morning. The proceeds will be used to support Charlie Company soldiers during their overseas deployment to Iraq...

PARMA - One person is in custody in connection with a stabbing. New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens said a Lilbourn resident is being held in the New Madrid County Jail in connection with a stabbing Sunday afternoon at a residence on Locust Street. The name is being withheld pending the filing of formal charges today in Division II of New Madrid County Circuit Court...

SIKESTON - South Kingshighway will be closed from Malone Avenue to South Street from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, weather permitting, while the Sikeston Street Department crew repairs a water leak under the roadway. The south bound lane of this section of South Kingshighway may be closed on Friday morning as well...

CHARLESTON - Riley "Junior" Brown may not have ever received a formal education but he has had plenty of experiences to make up for that. "Life and experience," is what Brown refers to as his education. Brown grew up in Peafield Sewer, east of Wyatt. "I grew up a couple hundred feet from the levee," he said...

SIKESTON - On Wednesday evening, June 7, in St. Mary's Chapel of the Washington Cathedral, Washington, D.C., Miss Mary Louise Montgomery, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M.E. Montgomery of Sikeston, became the bride of Ensign Allen Starrett Waters, U.S. Navy, of Malden...

What has happened to the City of Sikeston with the good old Christian people? When you were sick or anything, they would call to see how you were doing. Is there no more people around like that anymore who are really down to earth Christian people? Which one is the most ridiculous: Kerry or Holden? I wonder if Kerry can tell us where the 20 million jobs are. ...

Re: Response to In God We Trust letter Good letter from Michael Jensen. Maybe he should start a letter that could be circulated around with e-mail, stating names and comments in regards to this. Then send it to the state representative to go to court with in the next session. I loved the part about "the boneheads." Keep up the good work, Michael...