Oblander in BJ print after absence of 2 decades

Terry Oblander’s byline is in the Beacon Journal again after an absence of two decades. He was just hired by the Beacon Journal as a part-time stringer to write feature stories of Medina County.

His first is spread over a big chunk of the Community section front with photos and the headline

"Hard times claim old hardware store" about a Seville store closing after 70 years because or the difficult economy. Click on the headline to see the story. There are more photos on Ohio.com

Oblander was part of the Beacon Journal staff that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for its coverage of a threatened corporate takeover of Goodyear and has won several Ohio and regional journalism awards.

A 1965 graduate of Olmsted Falls and Cuyahoga Community College (1967), he attended Kent State University through 1969, worked for the Kent-Ravenna Record-Courier from 1969 to 1971 and at the Beacon Journal from 1971 to 1990 when he joined the Plain Dealer.

Oblander was among 27 PD staffers who were let go by a phone call from the editor on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 a few weeks before Christmas.

Oblander is a lover of words–especially words at play. That explains how he got started doing the pun-based Public Squares Puzzle for the Plain Dealer. He collects books about words and about baseball history and has a baseball card collection of Indians players. Dabbling in family history, he also became interested in Germans from Russia who migrated to the U.S. in the mid to late 1800s.

It’s nice to read him again.

Mark & Mark at it again

Former BJ TV critic Mark Dawidziak, who escaped to Cleveland with two dozen others in the recent decade, will be performing "Twain by Three" for the umpteenth time at the University of Akron's Wayne College in Orrville at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 1.

Mark, wife Sara Showman and Jason Davis will perform in the J. M. Smucker Room of Wayne College's new Student Life building at 1901 Smucker Road.

Click on the headline for previous posts on Wayne County's Big Read project that Dawidziak has been involved with.

St. Louis Guild OKS 6% pay cut

By a vote of 132 to 54, the St. Louis Newspaper Guild on Saturday  approved a 5½-year contract with the Post-Dispatch calling for a 6 per cent pay cut.

About 74 percent of the Guild's members cast votes. The Guild represents employees in the newsroom, advertising and building service at the Post.

The contract calls for a 6 percent wage cut, along with three unpaid, one-week furloughs over the next 2½ years. Wages would bounce back by 2.5 percent in each of the last three years of the contract if company revenue increases by at least 2 percent a year.

Some commission-based advertising sales representatives will receive an increase in their base pay to $575 a week from $400.

The contract includes a six-month moratorium on layoffs. The pact will also freeze pensions and eliminate retiree medical benefits for current employees.

"At the end of the day, the people didn't feel fighting the Post-Dispatch in this difficult economic time would have been a very prudent thing to do," said Jeff Gordon, Guild president.

Charles 'Chick' Lipford calling hours Tuesday

His wife. Martha, was retired from BJ accounting department

Charles "Chick" G. Lipford passed away on March 26, 2010.

Charles was born in Gastonia, North Carolina to the late Mack and Mary Lipford, and soon moved to Akron, Ohio. A graduate of South High, he proudly served in the U.S. Army in Korea. He spent the next 37 years working at Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. In 1955 he married Martha "Cookie" Kolton who was his life partner and best friend.

Preceded in death by his brother, Tom, and his sister, Alice Kark; he is survived by his wife, Martha; son, Mark (Pat); two grandchildren, Matthew and Christopher (Rachel); two great-grandchildren, Winston and James Lipford; sister, Wanda Smith; and many nieces, nephews, and good friends.

If the true measure of a man is the impact and positive change he leaves on those whose lives he touched, then Charles' life was and incredible success. He was a terrific husband, outstanding father, loving grandfather and great-grandfather. His family was his priority.

Calling hours will be on Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Dunn-Quigley Funeral Home (811 Grant St.). Mass of Christian Burial will be on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Catholic Church, (2425 Myersville Rd.), entombment, Holy Cross Cemetery.

Meet Ethel Myers: BJ society editor in 1930

[Updated 3/29/2010 to provide complete address.]

Ethel Myers, who was Beacon Journal Society editor back in 1930, probably would not have taken it kindly if you had asked her age.  She was 40.

Ethel, like you and I today,  was required by law to tell her census taker (Jessie Ellis in Enumeration District 77-144) her age and a little more.  That was 80 years ago.

In addition to being required by law, the census can be helpful.

Abe Zaidan, retired BJ columnist who is still writing, needed to know a little about Ethel because of an undated clipping with her byline that  he dug up for a book he is writing.  After googling and delving much, Abe asked if there were any of our old blog viewers who might know something.  We were ready to put a request here, but decided why not just ask a librarian.

Joanne O'Dell in Special Collections at Akron-Summit County Public Library,  suggested we sort through the online Akron city directories while she checked the census.   

She reported back quickly that Ethel was listed as a lodger, age 40, who was age 26 at her first marriage.  She and her parents were all born in Ohio and she listed her occupation as society editor newspaper.and reported she could speak English.  Under marital status was the letter “M.”   

And sure enough we found her in the 1930 directory in Ward 8 on N. Highland Avenue near Edgerton Road.  She was listed in the alphabetical section as Mrs. Ethel B. Myers. society editor Beacon Journal.  The address on N. Highland Ave.  was two digits  but it was not possible to decipher and she was not listed in the street listing for Highland Avenue.

[Printed directory shows address was 30 N. Highland Ave.]

We do not know if she was a widow, or divorced or living apart. 

The librarian suggests we should still try to find her obituary.  Tomorrow is another day.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Week without pay

Memo to Fort Worth Star-Telegram employees
To: All Employees
From: Gary Wortel
Subject: Furlough Announcement
Date: March 22, 2010

Although we're seeing improvement in several advertising categories, the economic climate remains unstable and revenues continue to be negative year-over-year. Unfortunately, revenues have not grown enough to offset our expenses. Regrettably this necessitates further cost-saving strategies.
Effective April 05, 2010 well implement a one week unpaid furlough program. The furlough period will be from April 05, through July 4th, 2010. Shortly you will be receiving:

· A scheduling form to complete and return to your manager no later than April 5, 2010.

· Q & A to assist you in understanding how the program works It's imperative that we remain diligent in reducing expenses and continue to focus our efforts on growing ad revenue. I appreciate that everyone is working hard toward both of these efforts.

After receiving the furlough Q & A and the scheduling form, please feel free to contact anyone on the Human Resources team with questions.

[Source: Poynter online Jim Romensko]

$300 million newspaper sold for $20 million

DAYTONA BEACH -- A federal judge on Tuesday approved the sale of the News-Journal Corp. for $20 million, saying there was no evidence the newspaper would bring a higher price if the sale was delayed.

U.S. District Judge John Antoon II said at the end of a one-hour hearing that in spite of a ruling in 2006 that the newspaper was worth nearly $300 million, the sale to Halifax Media Acquisition LLC is "fair and reasonable and appropriate."

Attorneys for the News-Journal's parent company and the Davidson family repeatedly asked for a delay of the sale to allow the economy to improve. Antoon said that while he understood that argument, he was in "no position" to do so.

"This is the value today," the judge said.


Click on the headline to read the full story.

[Source Dayton Beach News-Journal]

Tom Moore: Now he's a railroader?

Would you believe, Tom Moore is a railroader?

Tom has his own blog similar to this--except he rarely writes anything. He is retired, you know.

However, he has been looking for a way to volunteer and -- 


Well, let him tell you.


Read all about it in a rare blog column

Chocolate lovers flock to Montague store

  Amanda and Joshua Montague: Chocolate lovers flock to their store

The daughter-in-law and son of retired Beacon Journal copy editor Charles Montague are making mouth-watering chocolates at Lilly Handmade Chocolates in Cleveland. One of their customers recently was Kelly Clarkson of American Idol fame.

Here are the lead graphs of a story in the entertainment section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Amanda Montague, who owns Lilly Handmade Chocolates in Cleveland's 'Tremont, neighborhood with her husband, Joshua, prides herself on giving customers exquisite service. They ship their mouthwatering wares anywhere in the United States.

So it was with bemused regret that she refused the request of a patron hoping for an overseas delivety

"Somebody asked if I could ship chocolates to Paris, and I said, Why?  I , know mine are awesome; but you're hard-pressed if you can't find good chocolate in Paris:'

 That's how good Lilly chocolates are.

In a city,where there is no shortage of fabUlous confections, word about the Montagues' avant-garde treats is getting around.

In May,  the Monagues  will celebrate the two-year anniversary of the store at 761 Starkweather Ave. in Cleveland.


Click here to check out the botique

[Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sunday, March 21, 2010, page E2.  Photo by PD photographer Scott Shaw scanned from newspaper. ]

Dawidziak "enchanting" as Twain keynote speaker

Mark Dawidziak was "enchanting" in Wooster, according to a review of his discussion of humorist/author Mark Twain by the Wooster Daily Record's Linda Hall. Our Mark, former Beacon Journal and current Plain Dealer TV critic, lectured on Hannibal, Missouri's Mark -- and slipped into some Twain bits from time to time -- at the Wayne County Public Library in Wooster.

The keynote speech by Dawidziak was part of a communitywide "Big Read in Wayne County," designed to encourage reading county-wide.

Mark and wife Sara Showman will be doing The Largely Literary Theatre Company’s production of "Twain By Three" at 7 p.m. April 1 in the J. M. Smucker Room of the new Student Life building at Wayne College in Orrville, 1901 Smucker Road.

Click on the headline for the Wooster Daily Record story on Mark's lecture/performance.

Click on Big Read for the original story on the Wayne County project.

How health care bill affects retirees' Rx donut hole

The health care bill just passed will deal with the prescription donut hole, which retirees are quite familiar with. Once retirees get past a certain accumulated value of our prescriptions in a year, as determined by Aetna Medicare, we pay all the costs of certain brand-name drugs till we get out of the donut hole, which I never have.

That's one issue listed in CBS' summary of the bill that President Obama will sign into law.

Others include:

Closes the Medicare prescription drug "donut hole" by 2020. Seniors who hit the donut hole by 2010 will receive a $250 rebate.

Beginning in 2011, seniors in the gap will receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs.

Six months after enactment, insurance companies could no longer deny children coverage based on a preexisting condition.

Starting in 2014, insurance companies cannot deny coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions.

To read CBS' summary, go to

CBS summary

I have been reading the actual bill -- thousands of pages.

Here's what I found:

The issuer cannot vary the percentage increase in the premium for a risk group of enrollees in specific health insurance coverage without changing the premium for all enrollees in the same risk group at the same rate.

Nothing shall prevent the offering of excepted benefits so long as it is offered and priced separately from health insurance coverage.

A qualified health benefits plan may not impose any pre-existing condition exclusion.

The premium rate charged for an insured qualified health benefits plan may not vary except

By age so long as the ratio of the highest premium to the lowest premium is not more than 2 to 1.

By premium rating area.

By family enrollment as long as the ratio of the premium for family to individual enrollment is uniform.

If a qualified health benefits plan does not meet a specified medical loss ratio, then the insurer provide rebates to enrollees to meet the loss ratio.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Insurers can’t jack up rates to increase profits above the government’s acceptable ratio. Profits can’t be expanded to provide additional money for CEOs.

No annual or lifetime limit on covered health care items and services.

Covered:

Hospitalization.
Outpatient hospital and outpatient clinic
Services, including emergency department services.
Professional services of physicians and other health professionals.
Services, equipment and supplies in institutional settings, physician offices, patients’ homes or place of resdence.
Prescription drugs.
Rehabilitative and habilitative services.
Mental health and substance use disorder services.
Preventive services.
Vaccines recommended by Centers for Disease Control.
Maternity care.
Well baby and well child care and oral health, vision, and hearing services, equipment, and supplies for children under 21.

Any notifications of changes in health care plans shall provide adequate notice and be in plain English so that clients can understand them.

A health insurance issuer may rescind health insurance coverage only upon clear and convincing evidence of fraud and after adequate notice to the person involved.

Only if an insurer offers a basic plan for an area can it offer a premium plan for that area.
EDITOR’S NOTE: No “Cadillac” plan unless insurer also has a basic plan.

And no plan can have more than 10% cost-sharing than the plan above or below it.

Insurers shall accept all enrollments unless it is at capacity for any more enrollments.

September through November of each year, for not less than 30 days, will be open enrollment for those who want to join a plan.

A child born in the United States who is not otherwise covered shall be covered under Medicaid.

Public option insurers will be under the same rules as private insurers.

Public option premiums will vary, based on how the income compares to the federal poverty level, possibly adjusted for regional cost of living differences.

Employees may opt out of their employer’s insurance plan and choose a public option.

If an employer chooses not to provide insurance, then it must pay 8% of its employees’ salary into the public option plan. This will be adjusted downward for employers with a payroll of less than $400,000.
EDITOR’S NOTE: An attempt to answer the fear that costs would endanger small businesses.

No one can be forced into an insurance plan if it violates their religious beliefs.

Employers can be taxed $100 a day for failing to cover employees as required by the law.

Those who earn $350,000 or more a year will be taxed on a sliding scale for payments intothe public option plan.

Click on the headline to read the actual bill yourself. It make take a while.

Whatever happened to Dick? Beacon Mag?

Former copy editor Dick McLinden, who retired in 1990, got a couple of unwanted gifts just before Christmas. McLinden, who still lives in North Canton, told us in a phone conversation that he had cataract surgery on both eyes and then suffered a heart attack and had to have a pacemaker installed.

Dick, who probably is better known for his work in the Sunday department on the Beacon magazine,  was working on the copy desk when computers first came to the BJ and had to learn three or four different systems as the newspaper grew into the technology.  By the time he retired he was tired of learning new computer systems so he never gets on one now. 

He did promise to send us some more information by U.S. mail--perhaps reminisce about those Beacon mag days and old friends.

Dick's wife died in 1999 just a year before they would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

We will be watching for the mailman to deliver more info from Dick.  We hope to lure him back to a computer just to catch up with some old BJ stuff.

Amanpour leaves CNN for 'This Week'

Christiane Amanpour announced Thursday she is leaving CNN to become anchor of "This Week" on ABC. Following is the text of an email she sent out Friday to everyone at CNN:

 

To My Family at CNN,

 

I am stunned and humbled by all your words and thoughts and good wishes. I have been bobbing on a tide of poignancy, enveloped in the amazing outpouring of love and affection from my friends and family at the place I call home.

 

For nearly 27 years it has not just been a privilege but an unparalleled pleasure…a great, rollicking, earth-shaking, world-shaping adventure…to be part of CNN, which is not just a company but an institution that has changed the very way we live. From the beginning the excitement was overwhelming as Ted Turner strode around declaring “I WAS CABLE BEFORE CABLE WAS COOL.”

 

And then boldly exhorted the establishment arrayed against him to “Lead Follow or get out of the way”. He led, we followed and the rest had to get out of the way!

 

From being shut out of the first White House stake-outs 30 years ago to the barely met payrolls, CNN and all of us, the army of true believers, did what no-one ever imagined one organization could do, pioneering, transformative, indispensible to this day.

 

From the very first day I walked into the newsroom at Techwood, September 1983, I have been proud to climb the ladder CNN put in front of me, every hard-won step of the way. Not just proud, but thrilled to bits. I feel truly fortunate to belong to the most supportive, amazing, dedicated and inspiring people from the leadership to my colleagues in every corner of the company.

 

I never get tired of recalling the heart-stopping events we have all covered and brought to the world, from the Wall coming down, to the first Gulf War. To Bosnia where I became myself as a reporter, where I learned how to use my voice, where I learned what it means to have someone’s back and for them to have yours; where we risked our lives…and sometimes our sanity…forged the closest of bonds and never never wavered from the mission: to report the truth, no matter how difficult and dangerous; to be the eyes and ears of our viewers in the United States and around the world, to tell people’s stories and be a constructive and positive force in society, a force that tries to make a difference.

 

That’s what CNN is, that is what I am so proud to have been part of, proud to have helped shape. And happy to have had so much fun all along the way.

 

That’s the mission I have been trying to continue with my phenomenal team at our eponymously named program here. So why am I leaving? In my heart I am not. This has been the most difficult of decisions. I am simply taking the next challenging and difficult but exciting step. I believe more than anything that knowledge and familiarity with important international news and events abroad are fundamental to Americans today. This rare chance to take international news to a broader base here in the United States is one that I felt I could not turn down. I will take everything I have learned, and loved, here at CNN and put it into action!

 

And the network I love will have you, your hard work, your heart, your vision and your faith. Keep doing CNN’s important work, without which the world would most definitely be a poorer place. Never forget who you are. Never forget what CNN is. Never forget how we all together changed the world.

 

From the bottom of my heart I thank you all, and I say only “au revoir”, not goodbye

Christiane

St. Louis Post-Dispatch offer: 6% pay cut

The  St. Louis Post-Dispatch  presented its unionized newsroom staff its “last, best and final offer” Tuesday as managers and employees strain to reach a new labor agreement.

St. Louis Newspaper Guild members, which include reporters, photographers and some other Post-Dispatch staff, are likely to vote on the offer March 27, according to the Guild’s Web site.
The offer calls for a one-time 6 percent wage reduction plus a week-long, unpaid furlough each of the first three years, according to the Guild.

The plan would also eliminate retiree medical benefits and life insurance, freeze current employees’ pensions, and limit the company’s 401(k) retirement fund match to $75.

In exchange, the newspaper would agree not to lay off any Guild employees for at least six months from the ratification of the contract.

The Post-Dispatch, which is owned by Lee Enterprises Inc. of Davenport, Iowa, wants a contract signed by April 1.
[Source: St. Louis Business Journal]

Briggs named chair of Knight board

Robert Briggs started his four-year term Tuesday as chairman of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's Board of Trustees. He succeeded W. Gerald Austen, M.D., who has been a foundation trustee since 1987 and served as chairman the past 14 years.

Briggs became a Knight Foundation trustee in 2002 and served as vice chairman from 2005 until his appointment as chairman-elect in March 2009. He is president of the GAR Foundation in Akron and chairman emeritus and former CEO of the law firm Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs.

[Source: Akron Beacon Journal business briefs, Wednesday, March 17, 2010]

Briefs from Guild Reporter

Briefs in the January/March issue of The Guild Reporter

About the Canton Repository
A new two-year contract was ratified Dec. 8 by members of The Canton Repository unit of the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild. Wages at the GateHouse-owned newspaper were frozen for 2009, with potential raises in 2010 and 2011 based on targeted increases in The Repository's gross revenue. Changes in the design of the health care plan will lower premium costs somewhat for both employees and the employer, but also will result in increased costs for doctor's office and emergency room visits and prescription drugs.

Aboout McClatchy Co.
The McClatchy Co. is making money, thanks to deep cutbacks and layoffs and a marginally improved economy. But it also kicked off contract negotiations at the Sacramento Bee by putting forward what it calls a "tough proposal" to further cut costs: a reduction in maximum severance pay from 40 weeks to 26, unlimited use of part-time and freelance workers, and the ability to assign Bee employees to do work for other McClatchy newspapers and web sites. Guild negotiators, meanwhile, are trying to roll back a 6% pay cut that was Imposed in the spring, and to restore the company's contributions to employee 401(k) plans.

State of Media? Just read the boldface

The Project for Excellence in Journalism has just released its annual  "State of the News Media" report.

You can find it on our website in the News Index section.

You also can to the journalism.org website or just skio to the major findings section of the report.

Or just see major trends of the report

Or the key findings of the report

For the third consecutive year, the report shows only digital and cable news saw audiences grow among the key sectors that deliver news. In cable in 2009, those gains were largely captured by one network, Fox, though during the day, a breaking-news time, CNN also gained viewers.

What’s more, the data continue to suggest a clear pattern in how Americans gravitate for news: people are increasingly “on demand” consumers, seeking platforms where they can get the news they want when they want it from a variety of sources rather than have to come at appointed times and to one news organization.

BJ Alums has pulled one section from the report, adding  boldface which suggests our view of the state of affairs -- that there is a lot more opinon and a lot less reporting and 72 per cent of Americans feel the news is biased.

* The notion that the news media are shrinking is mistaken. Reportorial journalism is getting smaller, but the commentary and discussion aspect of media, which adds analysis, passion and agenda shaping, is growing — in cable, radio, social media, blogs and elsewhere. For all the robust activity there, however, the numbers still suggest that these new media are largely filled with debate dependent on the shrinking base of reporting that began in the old media. Our ongoing analysis of more than a million blogs and social media sites, for instance, finds that 80% of the links are to U.S. legacy media. The only old media sector with growing audience numbers is cable, a place where the lion’s share of resources are spent on opinionated hosts. One result may be the rising numbers in polling data that show 72% of Americans feel now most news sources are biased in their coverage and 70% feel overwhelmed rather than informed by the amount of news and information they see. Quantitatively, argument rather than expanding information is the growing share of media people are exposed to today."

BJ retiree Maxine Lozier dies in Columbus

Maxine (Johnson) Lozier was a retired Beacon Journal communications supervisor. Her husband, Ted, died April 13, 2008  in Louisville, KY,  after a long illness with COPD and other health issues. Ted was a retired advertising executive with Hilary Advertising Services. 

Maxine Jane Lozier, 87, of Columbus, passed away Wednesday, March 10, 2010 in Kobacker House.

She was born on April 18, 1922 in Akron, a daughter of the late Dwight M. and Ruth A. (Denaple) Williams.

Maxine attended St. Timothy Catholic Church. She had volunteered with many different Hospice organizations and was also a volunteer at the Stan Hywet Hall. Maxine retired in 1987 from the Akron Beacon Journal after 42 years of service.

She is survived by her daughter, Connie (David) Huret of Columbus and Pam Simpkins of Holland, Mich.; step sons, Christopher Lozier of Illinois and Mark (Georgette) Lozier of New York; a step daughter, Martha (Glenn) Voss of Pennsylvania; six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Theodore Lozier in 2007.

A Memorial Service will be held at a later date. The family is being served by the Halteman-Fett & Dyer Funeral Home, Lancaster. In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Organization or your local Hospice Organization.

[Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, Sunday, March 14, 2010, page B6, col .4]

Newspapers Must Be Kept Alive as Print Editions

Printed newspapers are dying left and right, being replaced by online news and broadcast news. Yet there are reasons to keep print media alive. You may be happy getting your news online, but for some citizens the loss of the printed page will have a profoundly life-altering impact.


The Onion News Network presents its best argument for keeping print media breathing. Listen as a panelist describes life without thousands of old newspapers.


How Will The End Of Print Journalism Affect Old Loons Who Hoard Newspapers?

Ex-Knight reporter Mary Swartz dies

Mary Elizabeth Swartz, age 87, passed away at the Hospice Care Center on March 7th, 2010, with her daughter and son at her side. Mary died as she lived, embracing the adversities of her life with a positive attitude and a gracious smile.

Mary was born on July 25, 1922 in Newark, Ohio to parents, William Peter Hutchinson and Cecilia

Elizabeth Adam. She was raised and educated in Akron, receiving BA, BS, and MS degrees from the University of Akron. As an undergraduate, she was editor of the campus Buchtelite newspaper, and as a graduate, the editor of the Alumnus Magazine.

For several years, Mary was a reporter for Knight Newspapers; first at the Akron Beacon Journal and later at the Miami Herald while her husband was stationed at the nearby Blimp Navel Station during World War II. Later, she taught in the Akron Public Schools for 23 years before retiring in 1981.

Mary and Jack, her late husband of 57 years who died September 12, 2000, traveled extensively in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Orient. They also enjoyed theater productions here and in Cleveland, Toronto, New York, and London. They were Coach House Theater patrons.

Mary was a very active member of the Akron Woman's City Club and the College Club of Akron, having served on the Boards of each and as editor of the College Club bulletin. She was also a member of the Sorin Society at the University of Notre Dame. She was an avid tennis and bridge player.

Preceded in death by her parents and brothers, William, of Aurora, Colorado, and James of Las Vegas, Nevada, Mary is survived by her very loving and caring daughter, Jean-Anne Belfonti; and her son, Fred Swartz, both of Akron; also four Swartz grandchildren, Mark (Lisa) of Charlotte, N.C., Amanda Utz (Charlie) of Atlanta, Ga., Gregg, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and Katie of Chicago, Ill. In addition, survivors include sister, Jean Hutchinson of Jensen Beach, Fla.; brother, Joe (Marilyn) of St. George, Utah; and sister-in-law, Gerry Schlegel of Akron. There are also several cousins, nieces, and nephews scattered throughout the U.S.

Mary's kind and loving demeanor, beautiful smile, and always positive outlook on life will be sorely missed but will live in our hearts forever.

At Mary's request, there will be no calling hours. Cremation has taken place.

Mary always enjoyed her brand of homespun poetry, and this is her "goodbye":

Now I lay me down to rest;
God has put me to His test.
The gates of Heaven won't swing wide;
ecause I've had sins I couldn't hide.
Come what may I hope to meet friends,

Who have already met their own ends.
Perhaps we can share a good book,
Or have a hand of bridge; take a look.
Whatever - I've had a good run;
And looking forward to what's to come!

A memorial service to honor Mary's life will be held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 1905 Portage Trail, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223 on March 15th, 2010 at 10:30 A.M. Also, there will be a luncheon at the Woman's City Club, 732 W. Exchange St., Akron 44302 immediately following the memorial service. All friends are encouraged to stop by for a short repast.

The family wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you for all the compassion and loving care given by the nurses and staff of the Hospice Care Center.

In lieu of flowers, memorials and donations may be made to both the Hospice Care Center, 3358 Ridgewood Rd., Akron, OH 44333, as well as Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.
[Beacon Journal, Akron, OH,Saturday, March 13, 2010, page 5, col.5]