Laverta Ackerman

Laverta W. Ackerman, 82, of Lawrence, and formerly of Savonburg, passed away on Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, at Presbyterian Manor in Lawrence.

She was born on June 30, 1929, in Rogers, Ark., the daughter of Gullis Despain and Lennie Wyse Despain Hayes. She graduated from Richmond High School in Richmond, Calif.  

Laverta was united in marriage to Bob Ackerman on March 7, 1950, in Richmond, Calif., and began her life as a devoted military wife, mother, and volunteer, moving her family around the globe serving in many capacities including Wives Club President, Brownie, Girl Scout and Cub Scout leader, Sunday school teacher, PTA president, room mother, Red Cross volunteer, chaplain’s aide, thrift shop volunteer and youth center volunteer before retiring with Bob to Savonburg in 1973. He preceded her in death on Jan. 3, 1995. 

She was a clerk at the U.S. post office in Savonburg for many years. Laverta also worked for Kunkel Funeral Home and later for Feuerborn Funeral Home in Moran.

Laverta was an active member in many civic, fraternal and social organizations, including Order of the Eastern Star, Sunflower Chapter 147, Chanute; Daughters of the Nile, Azrim Temple No. 81, Pittsburg; and Red Hats Society. 

Laverta was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a brother, Jack Hayes; a daughter-in-law, Mary Ackerman; a sister-in-law, Joan Foote; a brother-in-law, Bill Foote; and a nephew, Wayne Foote.

She is survived by her son Ronald Ackerman and wife Jackie of Vian, Okla.; daughter Marcia Ackerman Devlin and husband Dan of Lawrence; three grandchildren, Sarah Ackerman-Hale and husband Andy of Spring Hill, Oliver Devlin and Laura Devlin of Lawrence; one great-granddaughter, Mary Kate Hale of Spring Hill; two sisters-in-law, Carol White and husband Wendill of Pinole, Calif., and Mary Hayes of Omaha, Neb.; four nephews and one niece, Dennis Foote, Marty Foote, John Hayes, David Hayes and Nicole Wilbur; and four grand-nieces and nephews, Jenny Hayes Maytum, Stevie Hayes, Matthew Wilbur and Jessica Wilbur.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Feuerborn Family Funeral Service, Moran. Interment will follow in the Mt. Moriah Cemetery, Savonburg. The family will greet friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to The American Heart Association or to The Diabetes Association or to Eastern Star, Sunflower Chapter 147 and may be sent in care of the funeral home, 344 N. Cedar, Moran, Kansas 66755. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.feuerbornfuneral.com

In bed with Iran just to win votes

Gas prices climbed to an average of $3.52 across the country, due to Iran’s decision to reduce its exports to Europe. Correction, due to President Barack Obama’s energy policies. And if you don’t see Obama as the culprit, just ask Speaker John Boehner, who called a closed-door meeting of his fellow Republicans last week and told them to take advantage of the gas pump anger raging across the land. 

Blame Obama, he told them; make the American people mad at their government.

Well, Boehner has a point. The United States has been a leader in the campaign to force Iran to abandon its enrichment of uranium, which could lead to adding that nation to the nuclear weapons club. The sanctions imposed by the NATO countries have hurt and Iran is retaliating by putting pressure on its oil customers.

So, yes, the president is among world leaders responsible for the current contraction in the world’s oil supply, which forced  prices up. How long they will stay high depends a great deal on how long Iran can afford the reduction in its national income. If the answer to that question is not very long, then the shipments to Europe will resume and the price of oil will drop. Another positive possibility is that the Saudis will step in and replace Iran’s oil in the European market. The Saudis also have a keen interest in preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons and triggering another Mideast war. 

 Should either of these solutions present themselves, Speaker Boehner would then congratulate the president for his perceptive energy policy and take back this week’s rude remarks. Right. And the sky will fill with flying pigs.

WHAT BOEHNER will accomplish with his decision to use U.S. policy toward Iran as a campaign issue is to encourage Tehran to stick with its retaliative reduction of oil exports in an effort to weaken the United States and its allies. Boehner, in effect, has decided to join forces with Iran in order to win votes for Republicans at home. It is, to be as kind as possible, a short-sighted decision.

Long term, oil will continue to grow more expensive and the only effective economies will lie in using more natural gas and electricity as fuel. Those solutions aren’t just around the corner, but the technology is proven and will be put to use as quickly as the market allows. In the meantime, those who feel pinched by the price of gas can move into smaller, more efficient cars and be grateful Republican and Democratic administrations alike have seen the need to require the car industry to retool itself to make fuel efficiency possible.

 

— Emerson Lynn, jr.

Top Aces

The Allen County Aces, a 15-and-under traveling volleyball team, won the OZ Slam Fest in Osawatomie Feb. 12. The Aces go to the MOJO Tournament in Wichita on March 4. Members of the team are (left to right) coach Lori Moore, Kyra Moore, Torrie Lewis, Emery Driskell, Kenyon Hastings, Addison Haar, Breanna Kline, Emma Piazza, Alex Burris and coach Kris Moore; in front, manager Piper Moore.


IHS After Prom’s Sloppy Joe supper Thursday

Iola High’s After Prom committee will serve Sloppy Joes Thursday night during the final home IHS regular-season basketball games.

Starting at 5:30 p.m. in the IHS commons area for $5 you get a sandwich, chips and cookies.

Money raised go towards the 2012 After Prom activities in April.

LaRee Thexton

L. LaRee Thexton of Colony, whose death on Friday and memorial services, visitation and memorials were published in Saturday’s Register, was born on July 19, 1919, in Le Roy, the daughter of Henry Ray and Lula (Griffith) Newlan.
LaRee was united in marriage to John Thomas Thexton on July 21,1937, at Welda. This union was blessed with five children. They were married for 58 years.
She was an Avon representative for 20 years. LaRee was active in Myra Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and held offices of star points, conductress, associate matron, worthy matron and district aide.
LaRee was a loving wife and she raised her family to be self-sufficient, respectful of elders and to love God and family. She made every child, grandchild and great-grandchild feel like the most important person when she was with them.
She was preceded in death by her husband, J.T. (Tom) Thexton; a brother, Lester Newlan; sister, Alice Loewe; and great-grandson, Christian Schott.
LaRee is survived by her five children, Carol Wells and her husband, Calvin, Cape Girardeau, Mo., Richard and his wife, Brenda, Stella, Mo., Karen Holt and her husband, Dean, Midwest City, Okla., Harold and his wife, Marilyn, Colony, and Thomas and his wife, Angie, Hereford, Ariz.; 13 grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren; two nieces and one nephew.

Mildred Rombach

Mildred D. Rombach, 93, of Iola died Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, at Tara Gardens in Iola.
Mildred was born Oct. 5, 1918, at Piqua, the daughter of Joseph E. and Frances (Bux) Kress. She grew up on the family farm west of Piqua.
On Nov. 15, 1939, Mildred married George C. Rombach at Piqua. They made their home in Humboldt a short time before moving to Iola. She worked for the honey factory and dress factory in Iola during her younger years. George preceded her in death on Feb. 23, 1999.
Mildred was a member of St. John’s Catholic Church and Altar Society in Iola. She enjoyed word searches.
She is survived by her daughter, Mary A. Smith, Kansas City, Mo.; two grandchildren, Scott Smith and wife Maggie of Andover, Kan., and Stasia Ohmie and husband Brian, Fort Worth, Texas; two great-grandchildren, Nora and Brady Smith.
She was preceded in death by her son-in-law, David Eugene Smith, and three sisters, Loretta Burke, Janice Heckman and Georgiana Hallam.
Visitation will be this evening from 6 to 7 o’clock at the Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Chapel in Iola. The parish rosary will be recited at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. John’s Catholic Church in Iola, followed by celebration of Mass at 10:30 a.m. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery, Iola.
Memorials gifts are suggested to Allen County Hospice, Allen County Animal Rescue Facility (ACARF) or St. John’s Catholic Church and may be left at Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel of Iola, which is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences for the family may be left at www.iolafuneral.com.

Cuba is stirring; the US can help its people prosper

A real estate boom of sorts is lifting spirits in Cuba but is falling far short of meeting the housing needs of its 11 million people. Last November Raul Castro, president, allowed the legislature to pass legislation that made it possible for Cubans to buy and sell houses for the first time in 50 years. The dramatic change also made contractors legal.
Here is an example of what those changes mean to the Cuban people, most of whom live on $20 or less a month: Carmen Martinez is a 41-year-old single mom who lives in a house that would have been torn down as a public nuisance in Iola or most any other U.S. community years ago. Its roof collapsed 15 years ago. The bathroom has no plumbing. The kitchen consists of a sink with no taps and two oil drums full of water.
Martinez has made a deal with a contractor. He agreed to fix up her house if she will let him build an apartment for himself as a second story.
“It was as if a ray of light had come down from the sky,” she exclaimed as she expressed her delight to a New York Times reporter.
Before Castro’s liberalization of the law she had no hope of improving her dwelling. She would have lived in it until the rest fell down. Now she might get in out of the rain. She plans to add a bedroom for her teenage son.
Cubans who know, estimate their country needs somewhere between 600,000 and 1,200,000 additional dwellings — apartments or houses — to meet the need. Right now there are 100,000 applicants on the waiting list for government hostels.
The current “boom” is being fueled primarily with outside money. Cubans with relatives in the U.S. or some other country have access to the money it takes to buy the over-priced houses on the market are buying, but there is a limit to that source of capital. Foreigners are still not allowed to own Cuban real estate. The number of rich uncles willing to donate $100,000 to $1,000,000 to the Cuban nephew is small.

A SOLUTION, however, exists. What Cuba needs is money. The logical way to lift its economy and create a land worth living in is for Cuba and the United States to reconcile so that Cuba can once again sell sugar and other crops to the U.S. and profit from the dollars that American tourists would spend every winter enjoying Cuba’s tropical weather and beautiful beaches.
Our nation should take the lead. We have no strategic reason to continue a Cold War policy, which lost its relevance when the USSR collapsed more than 20 years ago. We have much to gain by dropping all of the trade and travel barriers that have played such a heavy role in Cuba’s poverty and by treating our island neighbor — well, as a neighbor, because it’s the right thing to do.
It is, of course, true that much of Cuba’s misery is self-inflicted. Cubans won’t be able to create satisfying lives for themselves until they shake off the shackles of a totalitarian government that remains determined to dictate every aspect of their lives.
It is the opinion of many, however, the most direct route to that new day lies in opening Cuba to the U.S. and the rest of the world so the people there can learn by direct contact a much better way exists to run a society than the one which Fidel Castro forced upon them with his perpetual revolution.
The power to start that democratic revolution lies in Washington, D.C.

— Emerson Lynn, jr.

L. LaRee Thexton

L. LaRee Thexton, 92, of Colony died Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, at Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, Mo.

Memorial services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Feuerborn Family Funeral Service Chapel in Colony. Inurnment will follow at Welda Cemetery. 

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home in Colony. 

Memorials to Colony Community Church, Colony Fire Department or Colony Lions Club may be left at the funeral home. Condolences to the family may be left at www.feuerbornfuneral.com. 

Cindy Churning

Cindy Cooper Churning lost her hard battle with cancer on Wednesday, Jan., 25 2012. 

Cindy was born on June 14, 1958, to Carl and Bessie (Malony) Cooper in Iola. 

Cindy requested that there be no services. She also requested that her body be donated to science in hope that someday they can find a way to cure cancer.

Lupe Alcantar

Guadalupe “Lupe” Alcantar, 80, Moran, formerly of Bronson, died Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012, at Moran Manor Nursing Home. 

She was born Oct. 5, 1931, in Waco, Texas, the daughter of Salbador Alcantar and Inasia Galvan Alcantar. Following the death of both parents at an early age, she was raised by her mother’s sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Serrano. Lupe lived most of her life in Iola. 

Her partner in life was Bud Garrett. She worked for Iola Deluxe Cleaners, Sonic and H. L. Miller & Son dress factory in Iola. Before entering the nursing home, she lived for 15 years with her daughter’s family in Bronson. She enjoyed crocheting and going dancing. She loved spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren. She was a member of St. John’s Catholic Church in Iola.

Survivors include her daughter, Josephine Marlow and her husband, Joe, Bronson; one sister, Natalia Serrano, Kansas City; two grandchildren, Jeff Marlow, Bronson, and Jenni Ashworth and her husband, John, Bronson; four great-grandchildren, Jessika Marlow, Danielle Rains, Jeffrey Ashworth and Jessa Ashworth; and several nieces and nephews. 

Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by two sisters, Channa Tovar and Alberta Chavez, three brothers, Thaco Serrano, Paul Serrano and infant Isador Serrano; and her aunt and uncle. 

There was cremation. Hospice Chaplain Jeff Owen will conduct memorial services at 7 p.m. Monday at  Cheney Witt Bronson Chapel. Private family burial will take place at a later date in the Moran Cemetery.

Memorials to the Moran Manor Activity Fund may be sent in care of the Cheney Witt Bronson Chapel, P.O. Box 93, Bronson, KS 66716. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guest book at cheneywitt.com.