Elizabeth Beeler, 95, of Oak Ridge, went to be with Jesus on Oct. 25, 2013.
She was born to parents George Arthur and Osie Kleeper Altom in Talbott, Tenn.
Elizabeth was a member of Royce Baptist Church and a former member of Marble City Baptist Church in Knoxville. Beth was an avid gardener and loved working in her yard and caring for her beautiful flowers, as well as receiving much pleasure caring for her neighbors. [Read more…]
Mark Wayne Murdock
Mark Wayne Murdock, age 56, of Oak Ridge, passed away on Oct. 28, 2013.
He was born to parents Lindy Massey and Viola Mavis Hughes Murdock on Dec. 18, 1956, in Phoenix, Ariz.
Mark was owner of Kitchen Karma and a patented inventor who was an all-around good Samaritan, having had a true missionary spirit.
He was preceded in death by his son Lindy and his brother-in-law Spank Smallwood. [Read more…]
Alva Louis “Al” Fischer
Alva Louis “Al” Fischer, 90, of Oak Ridge entered into eternal life on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013.
Al, known to family and friends as “Pop,” was born Jan. 30, 1923, the son of Fritz and Hazel Fischer and the younger brother of Fred and Shirley. He grew up in the Ft. Sanders area of Knoxville, graduated from Knoxville High School in 1941, and married the love of his life, Dorothy Kidd, in 1942.
He attended the University of Tennessee prior to joining the U. S. Army during World War II, serving in Germany, France, and England. In 1945, Al and Dot settled in Oak Ridge where they raised their five sons. Al worked at Union Carbide for 40 years in Special Materials Procurement, and after his retirement joined Dot in operating Jackson Square Antique Shoppe.
He was a longtime deacon and Sunday School teacher at Central Baptist Church and was in recent years the senior member of High Places Community Church, where he was cherished by the entire congregation. He was a Vols fan, enjoyed fishing and classic movies, supported a foster child and many other charities, and was the beloved patriarch of a large family. [Read more…]
Robert Harold Gilliam
Robert H. Gilliam, 83, died peacefully on Oct. 17, 2013.
Born in Dickson, Tenn., Bob moved to Oak Ridge as a teenager. After graduating from Oak Ridge High School, he went on to earn a DDS from the University of Tennessee, after which he completed a post-doctoral program in periodontics at Tufts University.
Bob spent his entire 30-year professional career in the U.S. Air Force’s Dental Corps. His assignments took him from the Philippines to Germany and various other foreign and domestic bases in between. After retiring with the rank of colonel, Bob returned with his family to Oak Ridge, where he remained until his death. In retirement, Bob took to reading, and, in his final years, his daughters tried in vain to keep him supplied with enough books to occupy his ever-curious mind. [Read more…]
Mary Jo Ellis
Mary Jo Newman Ellis, 84, of Lenoir City, passed peacefully to her heavenly reward on Oct. 26, 2013.
She was born Aug. 7, 1929, in Soddy, Tenn., to the Rev. C.M. and Hazel Newman. She was the oldest of four children. The family moved to Lenoir City in 1941, when the Rev. Newman took the pastorate of the Sixth Ave Church of God. He pastored until 1950.
Mary Jo married the love of her life W. L. “Leroy” Ellis in 1947. They enjoyed 66 years together.
Mary Jo’s passion was for her church and her family. She retired after 20 years with Walmart of Lenoir City. [Read more…]
Hubert Owens
Long-time Oak Ridger and World War II Veteran
Hubert Owens, age 91, son of George L. and Lula Owens, passed away on Oct. 19, 2013.
Mr. Owens was born in Crenshaw County, Ala., on Nov. 14, 1921. He was a former employee of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Technical Information Branch, where he worked for 30 years until his retirement on Feb. 28, 1983.
Mr. Owens served in the U.S. Navy 40 months at the Pearl Harbor Submarine Base, and with Admiral Bull Halsey’s Third Fleet in the first Naval bombardment of the Japanese mainland on the USS Chicago, a Baltimore Class heavy cruiser, during World War II.
Mr. Owens formerly worked for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company as an agent when he and his newlywed bride, Reba Inez Owens, first came to Oak Ridge in December 1948. Later, in 1949, he became manager of the Reserve Life Insurance Company of Dallas, Texas, in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
Betty Sue Dunning
Betty Sue Dunning, 84, of Oak Ridge, passed peacefully on Oct. 18 after a long illness.
She was born Sept. 15, 1929, in Dardanelle, Ark., to the late John Cary (J.C.) and Rosa Lee Bowman, the seventh of nine children. The family was engaged in farming, and later moved to Wyatt, Mo., where she graduated from Diehlstadt High School in 1947.
She is a graduate of the St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing in Cairo, Ill., and spent a long career working as a registered nurse, most recently at Oak Ridge Hospital of the Methodist Church (now Methodist Medical Center) and Ridgeview Psychiatric Hospital in Oak Ridge.
On April 26, 1952, she married the love of her life, the late Donald E. Dunning, of Cairo, Ill. They enjoyed 58 years of marriage together, until his passing in 2010. The couple lived in Paducah, Ky., and in Cairo, Ill., before moving to Oak Ridge in 1960 with their three young children. [Read more…]
Arminta M. Robinson
Arminta M. Robinson, age 98, of Oak Ridge went home to be with the Lord on Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, at the Brakebill Nursing Home.
Ms. Robinson was born Jan. 15, 1915, in Kingston to the late Robert Christian and Alyce Kelsay Ladd. She left her East Tennessee home and went to work at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M. Upon her retirement from Sandia National Laboratory, she returned to her beloved East Tennessee and moved to Oak Ridge in 1978.
She was a dedicated member of Kern Memorial United Methodist Church and an active member of the community and touched so many lives with her deep concern for others and her wonderful positive spirit. [Read more…]
Ferdinand “Fred” Mignogna, age 79, a resident of Oliver Springs, passed away Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, at Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge.
Mr. Mignogna was born Oct. 1, 1934, in Lawrence, N.Y. He continued living in New York until his move to Oliver Springs in 1993.
Fred was a retired auto mechanic and he attended St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Oak Ridge. He was a U.S. Army Veteran who served during the Korean Conflict.
He enjoyed watching baseball, football, and NASCAR. [Read more…]
Virgle O. Reeder, age 75, a resident of Harriman, passed away Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, at Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge.
Mr. Reeder was born Oct. 23, 1937, in the New River Community of Anderson County. During his early childhood, the family moved to Oliver Springs. He later lived in Hazel Park and Madison Heights Michigan before moving back home to Tennessee in 1969.
He retired as a utility engineer at the Y-12 federal plant in Oak Ridge.
Virgil was an outdoorsman who enjoyed flower gardening, feeding and watching hummingbirds, and watching NASCAR. [Read more…]
Helen Faye Roberson, age 84, of Oak Ridge, passed away Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, at the Methodist Medical Center.
She was born Dec. 12, 1928, in Blackey, Ky., the daughter of John Preston Adams and Hassie Fields Adams.
Mrs. Roberson retired from the Oak Ridge school system, where she worked in the school cafeteria. She was a long-time member of Robertsville Baptist Church where, in earlier years, she was active in the Mothers Day Out program and involved in the childcare programs. She was also an avid animal lover.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by husband Kenneth Emanuel Roberson on Nov. 1, 1981, and by three brothers. [Read more…]
Walter F. Ohnesorge Jr., age 83, of Oak Ridge, died Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013, at Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville.
He was born Aug. 12, 1930, in Corder, Mo., the son of Walter F. Ohnesorge Sr. and Florence Mary Seuser Ohnesorge.
An avid naturalist, reader, hiker, fisherman, jazz enthusiast, and ham radio operator, Walt attended radio school after high school and worked for the railroad in Missouri as a telegrapher at a rural station and in surrounding states. After serving in the army during the Korean War, he graduated from William Jewell College and then studied health physics at Vanderbilt University, before beginning a 30-plus year career in that field at Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
He married Mary E. “Pat” Maloy in 1961, and they raised their two daughters in the Karns Community outside Knoxville, until Pat’s death in 1988. [Read more…]
