Monument to Vietnam vets

Dedication scheduled for May 17, 2009 @ 2pm

Memorial park in Clinton, to be dedicated in May, will have granite wall with names of Ohio's fallen

By Bill Lilley
Beacon Journal staff writer

Published on Friday, Jan 09, 2009

Amber’s Last Journey

 

Thanks to the generosity of friends and strangers, child soon will be at peace in her own grave

 By RHONDA ROSNER
 staff writer
     Colorful balloons, usual a cheerful staple at a preschooler’s party, bobbed forlornly against a bleak winter sky at a gravesite in Holmesville.  Stirred by the cold breeze, the balloons, placed to commemorate what would have been Amber Gordon’s 4^th birthday, floated silently over a headstone that marks her grave, but does not bear her name.
     Her maternal grandmother, Patricia Rollins, could not hold back the tears on Feb. 24 as she placed the balloons and a bouquet of plastic flowers at the Prairie Township burial site her granddaughter shares with a relative neither of them ever knew.
      The headstone on the gravesite was placed there for Amber’s great-grandmother, Ila Tharp, who died in 1991.  The casket of the child, who dies on June 19, was placed above Tharp’s in a shallow grave.
    The child who had little in life, was not given her own identity in death by her father, Thomas Gordon, who could not afford a separate plot or marker for her, according to her grandmother.
    “When you go there, you know she’s there, but it’s like putting flowers on a stranger’s grave.  When I visit, I don’t know if I want to cry or scream,” said Rollins.  Her only consolation is the situation is temporary.
    Rollins, of Millersburg, said she intended to buy a plot for Amber with her federal income tax return.  Unexpectedly, donors, most of them anonymous, have volunteered to cover the cost of exhumation and relocation of the remains to another section of Prairie Township Cemetery .  The total would be more than $500, including the cost of the site and relocation, she said.
     A headstone would be at least $500 more, she said.  The donations were inspired by publicity surrounding Amber’s death at the hands of her father’s live-in girlfriend, she said.
    Beth Bowles was sentenced April 6 to three years in prison for the child’s death.  She received the minimum prison term for involuntary manslaughter for elbowing the toddler in the stomach in a fit of rage after she tripped over toys scattered on the floor of their Wooster home.  The injury resulted in the child’s death three days later.
    Enough funding has been provided to cover the costs of relocating the gravesite, according to Barbara Freeman of Summit Memorials Inc.  To prevent money being left over, contributions are no longer being accepted, she said.
    Barberton and other Akron-area schools held fund-raisers to benefit the cause.  Donations from Wayne County , Akron, Kent, Atwater, Norton, Stow and an Akron nursing home have been forwarded to Prairie Township Cemetery caretaker Leonard Campbell to cover the cost of moving the casket to a separate hilltop site, she said.
     Total cost of the project has not been determined because a price has not yet been set for the headstone that will have Amber’s likeness etched into the dark granite, Freeman said.  The headstone, that will be set at the new gravesite sometime this summer, is being provided by an anonymous donor, according to Freeman.  All donors have been asked to submit a personal sentiment that will be carved on the back of the stone, “not only for Amber, for all children,” she said.
    Donors will receive a photo and be informed of the location of the headstone, according to Freeman.  Ken Noon, owner of Summit Memorials, will make the stone available at cost she said. 
    Relocation involves two grave openings and closings, but the caretaker said he is only charging for one.  Cost of interring a baby’s casket is $75; relocation would usually be $150, he said.
    Steve Byler, who will pour the foundation for the stone after the grave size is determined, said he will work at reduced cost, according to Campbell .
    Rollins said, “birthdays and holidays will still be rough,” but healing can begin after her granddaughter is laid to rest in her own site.  “At least, we can do this for Amber now.  At last, she’ll be at peace.  She’s still my baby.  She’s still in my heart,” she said.

 

Donors paying for girl’s grave

Wooster 3-year-old killed in June will get new burial plot
By CRAIG WEBB
Beacon Journal staff writer

 

Homesville: The very smile that captured the hearts and consciences of countless Akron-area residents will grace a memorial marker being designed for Amber Gordon. 
    Donors have covered more than $2000 in expenses to buy a burial plot and grave marker for the Wooster 3-year-old who was killed in June by her father’s live-in girlfriend.  
    Barbara Freeman, an employee at Summit Memorials in Barberton , started a fu nd-raising effort after an anonymous donor called the business and offered to pay for the tombstone.  The man had read a March article in the Akron Beacon Journal that noted that the toddler was buried in Holmes County in the same cemetery plot with a paternal great-grandmother she never knew. 
     Freeman said other donors stepped forward to further offset the costs to buy a private plot and cover the expenses to have the little girl’s coffin moved to the new grave within the next two months. 
    A memorial marker is now being designed that will feature an etched picture of Amber and a scene depicting a guardian angel helping a little girl to cross a bridge.  The back of the memorial will have messages and remembrances penned by donors. 
    The message from Akron’s Firestone Park Elementary School , which raised more than $800, will say, “Every child is precious.  None will be forgotten.”
     Roseann Walton, a third-grade teacher at the school, said it warmed her heart to watch students carry in their pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters to contribute to the cause.  “We didn’t know this little girl,” Walton said, “but it was the right thing to do.” 
    The unusual burial arrangements were made by Amber’s father, Thomas Gordon, who couldn’t afford to buy the girl her own grave and marker.  His girlfriend, Beth Bowles, was sentenced to three years in prison for inflicting the fatal blow after becoming enraged over some toys in the couple’s Wooster apartment. 
    Amber’s paternal grandmother, Patsy Gordon, said it was nice to see hope when there was such despair.
    Patsy Gordon said she lost two children last June – first her granddaughter Amber then her adopted son, Thomas, who stood by and defended Bowles to the end. 
    “You think this world can be so cruel, then something like this happens,” Patsy Gordon said.

 

Requiem for Rocco

K-9 member of sheriff’s department to be honored

By DENISE SULLIVAN
staff writer

MEDINA- The Medina County sheriff’s staff will have a memorial service to 2:30 p.m. Sunday to honor one of their K-9 members who passes away last week. 
    Rocco, a German shepherd who worked with the department form 1997 until 2002, will be recognized in speeches by a chaplain and Sheriff Neil Hassinger, Deputy Neil Kohler said.       
    Kohler, who currently works with Casey, a 3-year old German shepherd, referred to Rocco as “the legend of the county.
    “If Rocco got out of the car, there was a reason for people to worry,” he said.  Sgt. Jim Cartwright, Rocco’s partner, said Kohler was referring to the fact Rocco holds the record for the best racking percentage.  “Rocco’s claim to fame was that he loved to track,” Cartwright said.  “We always ended up knee deep in the swamps.”
    Rocco was euthanized after his legs gave out, Cartwright said.  “He just couldn’t stand anymore,” he said.  Rocco was between 11 and 13 years old.  His exact age is unknown because he was imported from Germany , Cartwright said.  “Cartwright took Rocco for one last ride in his squad car,” Kohler related.  “Rocco even growled once when the vet came in.
    The memorial was initially supposed to be a surprise, although word got out quickly, Cartwright said.  “I’m very flattered that (Kohler) thought the whole thing up,” he said.  “I wasn’t supposed to know, but it leaked out.
    A memorial stone that will be placed near the sheriff’s office was donated by Summit Memorials in Akron .  Other departments from Medina and surrounding counties have been invited to attend the ceremony.  The public is welcome.
    “It’s really an honor,” Cartwright said.  “He was my buddy.”

 

 

Foot soldiers to be honored

Dedication on Monday for granite monument at national cemetery

By JIM CARNEY
Beacon Journal staff writer

     For Ray Bethel, the memories of being a foot soldier in Korea fade in time.  That’s why the poem he wrote is so important.  It appears on a granite monument that will be dedicated at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery on Monday – Veteran’s Day. 
     “It gets harder to remember,” said the 71-year-old Bethel, a retired teacher, school administrator and football coach from Chillicothe .  Bethel belongs to a Columbus Combat Infantrymen’s Association that joined with the Akron chapter of the same organization to raise $1400 for the monument which honors combat soldiers. 
    The monument will be dedicated Monday at a 2 p.m. ceremony.  On it are Bethel ’s Words:

            “We were boys and we were young

We became men on that hill we overran

Some of us lived, many of us died

For a moment with us abide

And join in prayer with me

To honor those of the combat infantry.”
    Also engraved on the monument are the combat infantrymen’s patch of a rifle inside a wreath and a picture of an inverted rifle with a helmet on the butt.  The inscription at the bottom of the monument reads: “Freedom has a price the protected will never know.
    The Combat Infantrymen’s Association was formed in 1985 and now has its national headquarters in Asheville, N.C.  Walt McDonald, a 55-year old disabled Vietnam veteran who heads the Akron chapter, said there are nearly 90 members of his group, which meets the third Sunday every other month at VFW Post 3383 on Waterloo Road.
     “The camaraderie of the infantry is something else,” McDonald said.  Member Ted George, a 70-year-old Korean War veteran from Westfield Center , said the infantry is the smallest Army branch, “but they sustain the majority of the casualties.
     Another member, 76-year-old Andy Wells, of Springfield Township , who fought in the Philippines in World War II, said he emotional just seeing the monument.
    “You are 18 years old again,” he said, “and you are somewhere you never thought you would be, and you lose friends, and you hear taps.  It break me up.”
    Bethel said he never expected his poem to be placed on the monument.  “It overwhelms me,” he said.  The worst part of being in combat, Bethel said, was “the anticipation of not knowing was will happen.”  He described the monument as an opportunity “for all of us who were in the infantry and were in war to honor our fellows who did not make it back and were hurt pretty bad.”
     Over the years, he often thought he would visit the families of his friends who died in combat.  But time passed and that didn’t happen.  Now he hopes the monument and his words will reach anyone who comes to the cemetery. 
    “I hope this is a contribution to those who died,” he said.  “It comes from all of us.”

 

Akron school pays tribute to student

Hatton Elementary unveils granite marker, spruce tree in memory of boy who died
By REGINALD FIELDS
Beacon Journal staff writer

 

            Akron’s Hatton Elementary School meant a lot to 10-year-old Sammy Cullen.  Yesterday the school – teachers, students and parents – let the boy’s family know he meant more to them.

         

            “Sammy loved Hatton.  It’s his school and it always will be his school,” said Hatton special education teacher Kathy Berlin, who taught Sammy for four years. 
    Sammy died unexpectedly in June, a day after having a 10^th surgery during his young life to correct his club feet.  To this day, his family doesn’t know what caused his death, which happened a week after school had let out for summer vacation. 
    But the students returned to school in late August with Sammy in mind.  Through a penny drive, they raised $470.  Yesterday, Sammy’s classmates planted a 7-foot spruce tree and unveiled a monument outside the school remembering their friend. 
    Sammy’s mom, dad, sister and other family and friends stood nearby at the somber, funeral-like ceremony.  They gathered in a semicircle around the tree.  The tree, the monument, the gathering all meant a lot to Sammy’s family, especially his mom, Karen Cullen. 
    “This means Sammy will live on forever,’ she said. 
    Hatton Principal Paul Green remembered Sammy as a well-liked child.  “He was an all-around good kid,” Green said.  “Everyone liked him.  The fifth-graders on down would help him get around because he couldn’t run or things like that.  But that kind of help is unusual.” 
    The money raised was supposed to be used to purchase the tree and granite marker, those items ended up being donated, according to school volunteer Charlotte Friend. 
    The school has another idea about how to use the money. Friend said the Hatton Parent-Teacher Association will buy books on diversity and dedicate a corner in the school library to Sammy. 
    “Because Sammy was a special education student, we thought it would be good to teach kids that it’s OK if people are different because of a handicap or race or whatever,” Friend said. 
    Sammy would like that, his family believes.  Sammy liked a lot of things and a lot of people.  He was remembered yesterday as someone who would get off the bus each morning, hug people and say, “I like you.” 
    Sammy’s legacy for me is to look beyond the setbacks and struggles,” said Berlin , his teacher.  “To say ‘I like you’ and ask to be liked in return was Sammy’s trademark.” 
    And judging from the school’s outpouring, many people did like Sammy.

Parents’ prayers answered by gravestone for little Keith
Far too short life still leaves mark

Infant’s parents felt blessed by a tiny hand gripping finger
By BOB DYER
Beacon Journal staff writer

 
    By modern standards, it wasn’t much of a life.  The average life expectancy for an American male is 74, Keith William Watson III died at 58 days.
    What parents wouldn’t feel cheated?  Yet the parents of Keith Watson feel blessed. 
    Two years after his death, they rave about their relationship with their son – even though it consisted mainly of gripping one of their fingers with his tiny hand.  They trot out his baby pictures and smile – even though he spent his entire life on a respirator. 
    All the pictures taken after Keith turned 5 – days – show a gigantic seam down the front of his little body where the surgeons went in to try to repair his defective heart.  The pictures show a fuzzy bunny with a green bow next to the plastic tubes. 
    “He had a great life,” said his father, Keith Watson II.  What is going on here?  Such is the power of faith. 
    The faith of this couple from Franklin Township in southern Summit County didn’t move mountains.  But it did carve granite.
     This is a story about a handful of people who came together by happenstance and soon interacted in a way that just might make your day.  Keith Watson III was born with a rare condition known as HLHS, in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped.  About 80 percent of the time, it can be cured through a series of three operations.  But Keith’s body could only stand one surgery and it surrendered on Sept. 1, 2000.

 No money for marker 
    At the time, money was tight.  It was so tight that the Watsons couldn’t afford to buy a marker for their son’s grave at Manchester Cemetery , just down the street from their house. 
     They started saving for one, but money got even tighter in May when Keith II was laid off by an Akron electronics company.  That didn’t mean Keith III was forgotten.  No even close.  His mother, Christina, would stop by the cemetery several times a week to tend his unmarked grave.  She would do some housekeeping and do some praying. 
    She’d pay for strength.  She’d pray for her family.  Sometimes, she’d pray that, someday, she and her husband would be able to give their child a suitable marker. 
    One weekday this summer was typical.  Chris was pulling weeds around her son’s plot and watering a little flower.  But on this particular day, a man named Ken Freeman was nearby, laying a foundation for a monument at another grave. 
    Out of the corner of his eye, Freeman watched in amazement as this unknown woman lavished care on an unmarked grave.  The image was burned into his brain.  And when he went home that night, he told his wife, Barbara, that he hoped something could be done. 
    Barbara Freeman knew exactly what to do.  She works for Summit Memorials, an Akron company that makes gravestones.  The next day, she asked the company’s owner, Ken Noon, whether he would donate a stone.  He quickly agreed. 
    But first, they had to find out the woman’s identity.  A fellow at the cemetery didn’t know, but he contacted the funeral home, and they put things together.  Word was sent to the Watsons that a headstone was theirs for the asking.

 Couple used to giving 
    The Watsons were thrilled, but a bit sheepish.  After all, they weren’t accustomed to taking things from strangers.  They were more accustomed to giving.  Chris spent two years as a missionary in Japan.  Armed with an education from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, she went abroad to teach English and the Bible.  Chris and Keith serve in the youth ministry at Calvary Bible Church.  But this was literally an answer to their prayers. 
    When they arrived at Summit Memorial, they were expecting a little marker.  Instead they were shown a large black-granite stone.  They provided their son’s name and dates.  When asked if there was anything else, they brought out a poem.  When pushed more, they mentioned how their son used to grip their finger. 
    Chris Watson wanted to show them a photo of her son, so she pulled out a copy of a small program that was handed out at the memorial service.  On the cover was a detailed drawing of a fuzzy bunny with a green bow, just like the one Keith had in the hospital.  The bunny was sitting up with one paw raised, waving goodbye.  A tear was falling from his left eye.  That, too, was added to the stone.
    Barbara Freeman plays down the company’s monetary sacrifice, saying an identical monument sold to someone off the street would cost less than $1000.  But to the Watsons, the gesture felt exactly like a gift from above. 
    “They gave us the best of everything – their attention, their materials, their craft,” said Keith II.

Faith Endures 
    The Watsons said their faith never wavered during their son’s struggle.  From the moment they heard about the potential problem, when she was 20 weeks pregnant, they knew things were out of their hands. 
    Right after an ultrasound detected the condition, said Keith, “we sat alone.  We cried.  And then we started to pray.  We just realized that God wasn’t worried, and God wasn’t surprised at what was happening.  If we believe that, and we believe God loves and cares for us, then we didn’t have to be worried or surprised.” 
    Mind you, it wasn’t easy.  It was horrible.  They spent eight solid weeks by Keith’s bedside at the Cleveland Clinic, leaving only long enough to grab a few hours of sleep at the nearby Ronald McDonald House. 
    Still, said his dad, “we saw a lot of good things happen because of Keith’s life.  A lot of people were touched by how he lived and how our family and friends took care of us through that.  We think the whole ordeal was a great witness for Christ.”

Another Son 
    There’s another Watson on scene now: Seth William Watson, born 385 days after the death of his brother.  His parents say his name means “the Lord has replaced” or “the Lord has appointed.” 
    Seth bops around the living room of the family’s small Cape Cod, dancing and jabbering like a bright, healthy 15-month-old.  He picks up a toy, and Frosty the Snowman plays.  He picks up another, and Big Bird talks. 
    The fuzzy bunny with the green bow is Seth’s now.  It’s a very special critter.  But Seth is generous enough to offer it up for a visitor’s inspection. 
    His brother’s headstone was put in place in October.  It stands toward the rear of the cemetery, facing west, and is visible from a long way off.  Near it are markers for three Manchester infants who died after only one or two days of life. 
    As the centuries pass, the little hand and the crying bunny that were sandblasted by a caring craftsman will gradually vanish, sandblasted by the winds of time. 
    But for now, the world will know that Keith Watson III was here, and that Keith Watson III was loved.  Not that there was ever any doubt.

 

Memorial honors former coach

Legendary Garfield football coach Babe Flossie died last June.  Family, school, players pay tribute

By STEVE KING

Beacon Journal staff writer

 
    

Babe Flossie is a legend at Garfield High, and his family and the community made sure his legacy lives on.

    A monument weighing close to a ton was recently dedicated to Flossie, the Rams’ longtime football coach who died last June of a heart attack.
    Flossie’s hard work and dedication influenced the many people he mentored.

    “He was truly a unique individual,” said former Garfield football coach Bill McGee, who played under Flossie for two years and coached with him for 10. “His personality as a coach and a person is what made him so remarkable.”
    The ceremony, attended by about 100 of Flossie’s friends and family members was held at the school.

    Flossie’s memorial list the record of 185-67, with 10 ties, complied during the 24 years as head coach of the Rams.
    A golf outing and other donations helped raise money to purchase the black marble monument.  Officials declined to reveal the cost of the monument.
    “This is basically a tribute to him and what he’s done for everyone throughout his entire life,” said his son – and longtime area coach – Tim Flossie.
    Babe Flossie is one of two coaches to be named Akron Touchdown Club’s Summit County Coach of the Year three times.
    Flossie started a tradition at Garfield that included sending many players to the Big Ten, and later, the NFL.  His players included Larry Poole ( Kent State and Cleveland Browns), Jim Lash and Steve Craig (both of Northwestern and Minnesota Vikings) and Dave Brown ( Michigan and Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks).
    Flossie created a dynasty that included 17 City Series championships appearances, 13 title and three unbeaten seasons.
    “The Babe Flossie legacy will live on forever,” Tim Flossie said “He will never forgotten.  This is just something that was owed to him.”