June 1, 2006

OBITUARIES

Bill Preis

Old Bill Preis died at home — after a few feeble battles — on Tuesday, May 30. He was 93.

He was born lucky, in Far Rockaway, Long Island, N.Y., on March 8, 1913, to Julius Preis and Miriam Plaut Preis. He had two sisters, Marion, born Sept. 28, 1898, and Evelyn, born March 25, 1903.

Bill was brought up in New York City on 86th Street — first at 225 West 86th Street (The Belnord) and later at 25 East 86th Street. After graduating from Franklin School at 18 West 89th Street, he managed to get a BA in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1933.

During the 1930s Bill worked in New York City with his sister, Marion, who owned a gift and antique business. Bill enjoyed meeting and talking with people so it was a good fit.

On Feb. 14, 1940, Bill married Elinor J. Bloomingdale of Scarsdale, N.Y. After eight years and the birth of two sons, Mike and Pat, the family moved to Yellow Springs.

Bill enjoyed traveling the world but not as a tourist. He sought out opportunities to learn about other cultures by staying in private homes and getting to know people. He also hosted international visitors in his home. In the 1960s Bill helped to establish local affiliates of the Experiment in International Living in New Zealand and Australia.

In 1970 Bill’s marriage to Elinor was dissolved by mutual consent in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

On May 10, 1975, Bill married Barbara Hogg of New Zealand. Reverend Ralph Templin officiated at the wedding, which took place in Rockford Meeting House in Yellow Springs. Bill and Barbara have since been known as B’n’B — the beautiful (by nature) and the old B. B’n’B enjoyed 31 years of happily traveling through life together.

Bill was one of the early contributors who helped to establish Friends Care Community. Subsequently, he has helped to provide financial support to Friends Care.

Bill is survived by his loving wife, Barbara of Yellow Springs; two sons and a daughter-in-law, Mike of Illinois and Pat and Betsy of Girdwood, Alaska; and two grandsons, Andrew of Tacoma, Wash., and Tom of Baltimore.

The Old B requested that his body serve some useful purpose and asked that it be delivered to Wright State Medical School where the secrets of his body and lucky life might be discovered.

William H. Strautman

William H. Strautman of Fairborn died Sunday, May 28, at Friends Care Community. He was 84.

He was born April 7, 1922, in Cincinnati, the son of William E. and Mary Ann Gerdsen Strautman. He received a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 1949, following an interruption in his college education to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II. After four and a half years of traveling to take night courses at Miami University, he received a master’s degree in business administration in 1964.

William joined Southwestern Portland Cement Company in Fairborn as a chemist in 1949. Before retiring in 1988, he served as Fairborn plant engineer, supervisor, division manager, executive vice president, senior vice president and vice president for development and general manager.

He was a member of the Fairborn City Schools Board of Education from 1957 to 1973. At the Fairborn First Presbyterian Church, he served as an elder, taught Sunday school and served as chairman of the building committee. From 1957 to ’75, he was a member of the Fairborn Planning Commission. He also served on the board of directors of Greene Memorial Hospital; Greene County Progress Council; I-675 Location Task Force; Governor’s Committee to name Wright State; First Frontier Board, producers of Blue Jacket; and the Wright State University Foundation.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Gloria; four children and their spouses, William D. and Ann of San Antonio, Nancy and John Scevola of Aloha, Ore., Barbara and Bruce Mistarz of Gainesville, Ga., and Carol and Michael Sohn of Kennewick, Wash.; eight grandchildren; a great-granddaughter; and a sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Leonard Klusman of Winter Park, Fla.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, June 4, at 2 p.m., in the First Presbyterian Church, 1130 Highview Drive in Fairborn. The family will receive friends immediately following the service at the church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Tecumseh Council of the Boy Scouts of America, 326 South Thompson Avenue, Springfield 45506, or the First Presbyterian Church of Fairborn. Arrangements are in care of Belton-Stroup Funeral Home in Fairborn.

Raymond Bailey Smith

Raymond Bailey Smith of Yellow Springs died Thursday, May 25, at the Veterans Administration Hospice Unit in Dayton. He was 81.

He was born Dec. 23, 1924, in Dayton. He was a graduate of Central State University. Mr. Smith was retired from YSI Incorporated and also taught at the Greene County Joint Vocational School in Xenia. He was a member and elder emeritus of First United Christian Church in Xenia. He was a veteran of World War II and a member of the Disabled American Veterans, H.F. Cartwright Chapter, Past Worshipful Master and member of Cedar Grove Lodge No. 17 in Greenfield.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Harriette J. Smith; parents, Rev. Leslie Smith and D’Etta Smith; brothers, William, Joe Clifford, Leslie Jr. and Paul; and a son, Edward Eugene Smith.

He is survived by a stepdaughter and her husband, Laurel and Houston Love of Lorain; a daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Brian Trammel of Huber Heights; 11 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; two brothers-in-law, Hartford T. Jennings and his wife, Sharon, of Columbia, Md., and Larry L. Jennings of Columbus; and special friend, Jeanette O’Neal of Xenia.

Services were held Tuesday, May 30, at the First United Christian Church in Xenia. Graveside military services and internment were held at Cherry Grove Cemetery in Xenia. Porter-Qualls Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Roger Lee Smart Sr.

Roger Lee Smart Sr. of Jamestown died at Hospice of Dayton on Tuesday, May 30, after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 69.

He was born on Aug. 23, 1936, in Beavercreek. He served in the U.S. Navy in 1954. He retired from Morris Bean & Company after 36 years of service.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Darius Samuel and Nettie Irene Harlow Smart; four sisters, Cheryl Smart, Dorothy Holliday, Alice Hull and Janet Stevick Cox; and a brother, Dallas Smart.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Janice Evelyn (Lansing) Smart; children and their spouses, Vickie and Ronnie Saxton of Bowersville, Tammy and Kenny Reeder of Port William, Roger and Jean Smart Jr. of Xenia and Karen and John Loy of Cedarville; 14 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and siblings and their spouses, Harold Smart of Phoneton, Sam and Mary Smart of Eaton, Clarence and Sherri Smart of Xenia, Warren and Sharon Smart of Brookville, Robert and Carol Smart of Wilmington, Joe and Marsha Smart of Jamestown, Wanda Miller and Linda Hill of Las Vegas, and Connie Harvey of Xenia.

Funeral services will be held Friday, June 2, at 2 p.m., at McColaugh Funeral Home, 826 North Detroit Street in Xenia, with burial following at Valley View Memorial Gardens. Friends may call at the funeral home on Thursday, June 1, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Carlos Maurice Jenkins

Carlos Maurice Jenkins died Friday, May 19, at Greene Oaks in Xenia. He was 87.

He was born July 31, 1918. A longtime resident of Decatur and Russellville, Ohio, he most recently resided with his daughter and son-in-law, Diana and Mark Partee of Yellow Springs.

A World War II veteran and a 60-year member of the American Legion, he was also active in the Masons, Scottish Rite and Shriners. Most of his 39 years as an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture were spent as the CEO of the Brown Co. ASCS office in Georgetown. He was also the Byrd Township clerk for 25 years.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 33 years, Mary Eileen Gillespie, who died in 1979.

In addition to Diana and Mark Partee, he is survived by his younger daughter, Debbie Freedy of Sarasota, Fla.; longtime companion, Jean Huff of Decatur; granddaughter and her spouse, Angela Thomas Jones and Greg Jones of Kettering; and grandsons and their partners, Adam Truitt and Alison Wales of Corvallis, Ore., Justin Truitt and Laura Carpenter of Boulder, Colo., and Jonathan Freedy of Sarasota.

Memorials may be made to the Decatur School Preservation Committee, c/o Mary Ann Karambellas, 11595 U.S. Route 62, Winchester, Ohio 45697.

Charlotte Conner

Charlotte Ann Conner of Midland died Tuesday, May 23, at Bethesda North Hospital in Montgomery. She was 67.

She was born Oct. 8, 1938 in Fairfax, Ohio, the daughter of James McClellan and Rosa Stump Baker.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Coit Conner, on July 26, 2003; her parents; a sister, Norma Jean Baker; and two brothers, John Frederick Baker and Norman Frank Baker.

She is survived by her children and their spouses, Tammie Kessinger of Midland, Steve and Marsha Conner of Jamestown, Allan and Gail Conner of Washington Court House, Susan Williams of Yellow Springs, and Timothy and Becky Conner of New Vienna; a sister, Mary Ilene Carter of West Union; a brother, Robert James Baker of Plymouth, Ind.; 12 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Graveside funeral services were held Friday, May 26, at the Westboro IOOF Cemetery.

Richard Coleman

Richard Coleman of Yellow Springs died on Wednesday, May 24. He was 81.

He was born July 31, 1924, in Harlan, Ky., the son of John and Faye Coleman. He was a member of St. John Missionary Baptist Church, where he served faithfully on the Deacon Board for many years.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Loeda Jane Warmack Coleman; and a brother, Horace Coleman.

He is survived by a special friend, Carrie M. Johnson; two sisters-in-law, Susan Tillman and Joan Crockett; four half brothers; and a number of nieces, nephews and other relatives.

Graveside services were held Tuesday, May 30, in Ferncliff Cemetery. The Robert C. Henry Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Donald Linkhart

Donald Marion Linkhart of Xenia died Wednesday, May 24, at Greene Memorial Hospital. He was 76.

He was born Sept. 3, 1929, in Yellow Springs, the son of Clark W. and Mary Margaret Smith Linkhart. He graduated from Xenia High School in 1947. He was a lifelong farmer in Greene County, avid outdoorsman, woodcraftsman and contractor. He was a veteran of the Ohio National Guard, Xenia Masonic Lodge No. 49, F.&A.M., and the Scottish Rite.

He is survived by his wife, Norma J. (Sammons) Linkhart; children and their spouses, David K. and Karen Linkhart of Xenia, Luwanna L. Linkhart of Xenia, and Donetta and Jose Calderon of Germany; four grandchildren, Lindsay Linkhart, Mariah Linkhart, Brynn Castle and Alayna Castle; and a brother and sister-in-law, Keith S. and Mary Linkhart of Xenia.

Services were held Wednesday, May 31, at the Neeld Funeral Home in Xenia, with burial in Woodland Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Masonic Lodge No. 49, F.&A.M., or to Hospice of Dayton.