Departures - 2024
We publish departures based on the year listed in the obituary. If no year is listed then we publish them when they are received.
Eve Josephine Bonadonna (nee Molinari) was born in Mineola, NY to Josephine (mother) and Robert (Father) on 29 January 1961. She lived in Franklin Square, NY, attended Monroe Street and Washington Street Grade School, H. F. Carey High School and graduated in the class 1979. She earned an Associate Degree in Mathematics at Nassau Community College in 1983. While in school, she excelled in mathematics, played French Horn in the Junior High and Senior High Bands and Orchestra, and Huntington Community Band. Eve also was an outstanding student athlete earning Junior Varsity and Varsity letters playing softball, tennis, badminton, and volleyball. Fiercely competitive, she was also a terror at the ping pong table. Eve met the love of her life, Michael Bonadonna, in her senior year of high school, maintained a long-distance relationship until they were married on 18 June 1983. A devoted wife and homemaker, Eve stood by her husband throughout his military career spanning seven states and three countries over 23 years. Her patriotism and support of military community earned her life-long friends and a place in the hearts of everyone she met. Eve and Michael settled in their forever home in Bowie, MD in 2003 where Eve turned a humble abode into a beautiful home filled with music and art. Her annual Christmas photo-newsletter chronicled their lives together and was eagerly anticipated by many dozens of friends and family. She is credited with co-writing over 50 songs with Michael recorded and published under the stage-name "DC SpaceDog" including two songs written for her , "Eve's Song" and "Love Eternally" . Eve passed peacefully at home on 12 November 2024 and was predeceased by Paul (brother) and is survived by her mother, Josephine, Bruce (brother), Judy (sister), and Lynn (sister).Visitation will occur at the Joseph Weber Funeral Home in Lake Ronkonkoma, NY on 16 an 17 November. She will be buried in the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury NY on 18 November.
Keith Charles Ross, COL USAF (Ret.) July 12, 1942 - September 12, 2024 VISITATION: Monday, September 30, 2024, from 5 to 7 p.m., at the West Center Chapel. FUNERAL SERVICE: Tuesday, October 1st at 10:30 a.m., at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 925 S. 84th St., GRAVESIDE SERVICE: Tuesday, October 1st at 2:30 p.m., at Omaha National Cemetery with Military Honors.To view live broadcasts of the Funeral and Graveside Services, please visit www.heafeyheafey.com and click the "Live Cast" button at the top of the home page.
David Dwight Cramblet, age 65, a beloved long-term resident of Crestview, Florida, peacefully departed this earthly realm on July 8, 2024, after a life beautifully lived in service to his family, country, and faith in Christ. Born in Muskegon, Michigan, David was distinguished by his 42 years of dedicated service in the United States Air Force and the Department of Defense. He was cherished as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, and friend. David is survived by his loving wife of 47 years, Lori. He leaves behind his children, Matthew (Keisha) Cramblet, Jared (Kelby) Cramblet, and Kristin (James) Fuller, and his adored grandchildren, Easton Fuller, Ainsley Cramblet, and Ocean Cramblet. He is also survived by his parents, David S. Cramblet and Lois Cramblet, and his sisters, Debbie (Mark) Gordon and Dawn (William) Owens. In honor of David's impactful life, a celebration service will be held on Tuesday, July 16th at 11:00 am with the visitation starting at 10:30 at Emmanuel Baptist Church, located at 3252 E James Lee Blvd. We will gather to celebrate his enduring legacy and the profound influence he had on all who knew him. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to a college fund for his cherished grandchildren. Donations can be sent to Jared Cramblet via Paypal (@jcramjam) or Venmo (@Jared-Cramblet), with the note Cramblet Grandchildren College Fund. David s life was a testament to dedication, love, and faith, and he will be deeply missed by all who were fortunate enough to know him. Arrangements are entrusted to Whitehurst Powell Funeral Home in Crestview. Guest book and condolences are available online at www.whitehurstpowellfuneralhome.com
Marlyn Randall Miller, 80, of Belleville, IL, passed away on Wednesday, May 29, 2024 at HSHS St. Elizabeths Hospital in O Fallon, IL. Marlyn was born June 14, 1943 in Williamsport, PA to Robert E. and Helene (Blatchley) Miller. They preceded him in death. Marlyn is survived by his loving wife, Chin Suk (Oh) Miller of Belleville, IL; children Randy, Cindy, Andrew & Aaron. He retired from the United States Air Force after 26 years of service and Boeing formerly know McDonald Douglas after 26 years. He was a man of many accomplishments; he wore man hats and filled many different types of shoes. His hobbies where forecasting the weather, spending time in the garden, exercising and being there for his wife and kids. Cremation rites have been accorded under the direction of Lake View Funeral Home, Fairview Heights, IL. A graveside service will be held on Friday, June 14, 2024 at 10:30 AM at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, MO. Memorial donations may be made to Chin Suk Miller and mailed to Lake View Funeral Home, 5000 N. Illinois St. Fairview Heights, IL 62208.
Charles L. Travers, age 79 of Maryville, IL, passed away on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO. He was born February 18, 1945 in East Falmouth, MA to the late Fred Travers, Sr. and Hazel (nee Leite) Travers. He honorably served in the United States Air Force for 24 years, and retired as a post weather analyst at Scott Air Force Base. He was an avid Boston Red Sox baseball and Boston Bruins hockey fan. He was a member of Mother of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Maryville and involved in the Mens Booster Club. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his beloved daughter, Angela Marie Travers, who passed away December 5, 2020; an infant brother, Fred; a brother, Fred Travers, Jr.; and three sisters: Daphne Bigcraft, Pat Clark, and Loretta Pingelski. Surviving are his loving wife, Lorraine (nee Kugel) Travers, whom he married September 19, 1970; a son, Charles (Brandy) Travers Jr. of Alexandria, VA; a daughter, Stephanie (Carl) Travers of Gilbert, AZ; a grandson, Rhys; two sisters: Brenda (George) Cabral and Geraldine (Rich) Castleberry both of East Falmouth, MA: nieces and nephews. Memorial visitation will be 4 - 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 at Barry Wilson Funeral Home in Maryville. Memorial mass will be at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at Mother of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Maryville with Father Rob Johnson celebrant. Memorials are suggested to Disabled American Veterans or mass intentions to Mother of Perpetual Help and will be received at the visitation or can be mailed to Barry Wilson Funeral Home, 2800 N. Center Street, Maryville, IL 62062.
Claudia L. Borchers, 78, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Apr 13, 2024 at the Madrid IA Nursing Home. Claudia was born Claudia Lynn Hamilton on Jul 18, 1945 to Claudia L. and Lewellyn (Nessmith) Hamilton in Statesboro GA. She was always called Lynn. Most of her early years were spent in Texas and Oklahoma before moving to Savannah GA where she graduated from Jenkins High School in 1963. Lynn married Robert Borchers on Mar 9, 1963 in Savannah GA. Her husband was in the Air Force and for the next 28 years, they lived in 13 different states until his retirement in 1991. Lynn and Bob traveled extensively in their time together visiting nearly all our 50 states and numerous foreign countries. Lynn attended college and had several interesting jobs including managing a health club and working 10 yrs for civil service. Lynn enjoyed doing crafts and was an avid quilter. Lynn was preceded in death by her parents. Lynn is survived by her husband of 61 yrs, Bob; daughter, Kelly J. Martin (Doug), Arlington Heights IL; son, Scott C. Borchers (Karen), OFallon IL; sister, Judy Thompson, Tybee Island GA; sister, Elizabeth A. Stanley, Trenton MI; 4 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, May 12, 2024 at 2 PM at St. John's Lutheran Church (104 S. Market Street Madrid, Iowa). Lynns ashes will reside at St. Peter Lutheran Cemetery in Denver, IA. Memorials may be sent to the Iowa Chapter of the ALS Association, 3636 Westtown Parkway, West Des Moines IA 50266, infoia@als.org or Suncrest Hospice,5959 Village View Dr, Suite100, West Des Moines IA 50266.
Col William D. Klein (USAF, Ret.) died on January 13, 2024. Bills 80th birthday was celebrated by family and friends last November and his and Robins 57th anniversary was January 7 this year. He was born November 3, 1943, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Bill and Audrey (Cronkhite) Klein. He lived there with his parents until 1953, when they moved to Albuquerque. Bill graduated from New Mexico Military Institute in 1961. He received his Bachelors Degree in Mathematics in 1965 from New Mexico Tech. In October, 1966, Bill went to Air Force Officer Training school where he was commissioned as a First Lieutenant on January 4, 1967. He married Robin Kay Melton on Jan 7, 1967. The AF sent him to school at University of Michigan the summer of 1967 and he received his Masters Degree in Meteorology in May, 1968. In June 1968, 2 weeks after he left for RAF Bentwaters, Bill and Robins first child was born. Their twins were born in England on his birthday in 1969. In 1971, Bill was assigned to MIT where he completed his PhD in Meteorology. He spent the rest of his 26 years in the AF as a meteorologist. He attended Squadron Officers School, Air Command and Staff School as well as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Bill retired in 1992 with the rank of Colonel. Bill was an avid photographer and an expert photo processor. His work has been shown in the Albuquerque area at various venues. He was also an avid consumer of chocolate. He didn like coffee, but it was a great foil for getting more chocolate in his mouth so he drank plenty of it laced with a ridiculous amount of chocolate creamer. Bill is survived by his wife, Robin; his children, Karel Klein Ruy (David), Bill Klein (Kelly) and Marje Klein and 8 grandchildren, Jared Kerney, Nicole Fleming, Forest Florini, Molly Klein, Cutter Florini, Will Klein, Dashiell Ruy and Ellery Ruy. He is also survived by his brother Jim Klein, and sisters Linda Caldarelli, Dot Bodiroga and Patty Poole. A memorial service will be held at the Alegria Community Center in Bernalillo at 10:00 a.m. on February 4, 2024 . In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to the Friends of Bosque del Apache. That was his favorite spot for wildlife photography. Donations in his memory may be sent to may be sent to PO Box 340, San Antonio, NM 87832.
Melvin Edward Clark, 88, of State College passed away on Monday, January 29, 2024 at Mount Nittany Medical Center due to complications from long illnesses. Melvin was born the first of four children to Samuel Clark and Anna (Reed) Clark on February 18, 1935 in Lincoln County, Nebraska in his grandparents farm home. He graduated from Arnold High School, Arnold, NE as class salutatorian and enlisted in the U.S. Army the Fall after graduation, after the corn was picked. He became a Signal Corps Lineman, and served in Germany. After he was released from active Army service he attended college in Kearney, NE intending to become an engineer, but decided by the end of one semester he did not really enjoy making mechanical drawings and blueprints, and changed his major to physics and mathematics. However, after one year of college he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and worked in weather for the remainder of his military service. He was a Weather Observer (now known as Apprentice Weather Forecaster), then was an instructor in the Weather Observer training program, where he also continued his college studies in his free time at the University of Illinois. He applied for and received a scholarship from the Air Force to continue his studies in meteorology at Pennsylvania State University. At Penn State he began international folk dancing and Bavarian folk dancing in his spare time. This was where he met Carolyn Jeanne Smith, and they were married on Dec. 8, 1962. After receiving his bachelors degree in meteorology from Penn State he was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Air Force, and served as a weather detachment weather forecaster and chief forecaster. He continued his graduate studies in meteorology at New York University, was appointed an advanced weather officer and assigned to the USAFE Forecast Center in Germany. During his time at the USAFE Forecast Center, he served as the Forecaster Team Chief, then Chief of Quality Control, and Chief Forecaster before his final Air Force assignment as Supervisor of the enlisted weather forecaster course. After he retired from military service, the family moved to Pennsylvania, where Mel attended Penn State and earned a teaching certificate in secondary education to teach physics, mathematics, earth science subjects he subsequently taught in high schools. Mel also taught two semesters of chemistry when there was no one else available. He earned his Masters in Earth Science, but became interested in the philosophical, historical, and sociological foundations of education, continuing on to earn his Ph.D. in Educational Theory and Policy; he also taught this subject at various Penn State campuses in the 1980s and 1990s. Mel continued his interest in folk dancing, serving as an officer in various dance clubs. His folk-dance hobby became his raison d'tre after he was fully retired from teaching. He has been a member of many different dance groups: international folk dance, contra dance, Scottish Country Dance, English Country Dance, ballroom couple dance, Irish set dance, and Bavarian/Tyrolean dance. He also amassed an extensive set of instructions, music, and videos of those different dance types. He was predeceased by his parents and by his sister (Lennie). He is survived by his wife, Carolyn of State College; his sons, Morgan (Batja) of New Jersey, Alex of State College; brothers George Clark (Mary) and Harold Clark (Sharon) of Missouri; numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. Visitation will be held from 12pm 2pm on Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at Koch Funeral Home, 2401 S. Atherton St., State College. Funeral service will immediately follow at 2:00 pm with Reverend Evelyn Wald officiating. Burial will be on Thursday, February 8, 2024 at 11 a.m. in the Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Melvin Clark, please visit Tribute Store.
John Edward Klag, 84 of North Las Vegas NV, passed away on 9 January 2024. Jack is survived by his loving wife Ruth, three children Kenneth, Steven, and Lisa and two grandsons, Jacob and Darrell. Jack was born 10 Dec 1939 to Wilbur and Edith Klag in Queens NY. After graduating Chaminade High School, Jack went on to study at St. Michaels College and was commissioned in the United States Air Force. Jack and Ruth met in first grade and married during his Senior year in college and would spend the next 30 years living the life of a military family. Stationed at multiple locations, including Fort Meade, Maryland; Mannheim, Germany; Glasgow, Montana; Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and concluded with a final assignment at the Pentagon. Jack dedicated himself to the field of Meteorology, serving as a Weatherman from 1961 to 1985 across various roles within the Air Force. During this time, he led a team of over three thousand personnel, delivering precise weather forecasts to the Air Force on a global scale. In 1985, Jack transitioned to a new role as Deputy Commander at the Command and Control Systems Office, Tinker Air Force Base, focusing on the development of computer software policies. Later, he assumed the position of Chief of Staff at the Standard Systems Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, overseeing the implementation of newly introduced Computer Systems Communications Systems Acquisition. Jack's distinguished military career culminated in his retirement in 1991 as a Full Colonel, serving as the Vice Commander of the 7th Communications Group at the Pentagon. Throughout his service, he received prestigious awards, including the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service, and Air Force Commendation. Following his retirement from the Air Force, Jack and Ruth returned to Colorado Springs, where Jack continued to make significant contributions to the field of Computer Science. From 1992 to 1997, he served as a professor and Undergraduate Academic Counselor for Computer Science and Management Information Systems at Colorado Technical University. During the period of 1997 to 2000, in addition to his role as an Adjunct Professor, Jack served as a Project Coordinator and Manager for various companies, addressing the Y2K concern. He developed budgets, plans, and mitigations to ensure uninterrupted services during this critical time. In 2000, Jack assumed the role of Dean of Computer Science, Information Technology, and Visual Communications at Colorado Technical University. During this period, he earned his Doctorate in Computer Science. Jack played a crucial role in developing adaptable curriculums to keep pace with evolving technologies, managed a team of full-time adjunct professors to maintain teaching quality, and served as the Director of Education during vacant periods. Throughout Jacks career his focus was always on the people that worked for him. He believed that if we were not enjoying our job then something needed to change. He was known for telling it like it is in a way that was genuine and always productive. Jack inherited a passion for golf from his father, and he began playing the sport in his early 30s, enjoying it for the next 50 years He got his first hole in one at the age of 77! Jack was a coach for Little League, a swim official, and a sponsor of Air Force Academy Cadets, Amy and Andrea. Jack and Ruth retired to the desert in 2008. He continued golfing and was active in many clubs until his death. A funeral mass for John will be held Tuesday, February 21, 2024 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 2575 W. El Campo Grande, North Las Vegas, NV 89031. Following the funeral mass will be a committal service from 1:20 PM to 2:00 PM at Southern Nevada Veteran's Memorial Cemetery, 1900 Veteran's Memorial Drive, Boulder City, NV 89005.