The Rochester Sentinel 1981 Friday, January 2, 1981 Beth A. Bowen Indianapolis (AP) - Funeral services for Beth A. BOWEN, 62, wife of Indiana’s governor, will be Sunday in Bremen. The popular wife of Gov. Otis R. BOWEN had suffered a chronic bone marriw disease since 1977. She died Thursday. Mrs. Bowen had been hospitalized since Oct. 11, but left briefly Dec. 12, to make her last public appearance at a tribute to the Bowens. The governor is completing his second term in office, prohibited by statute from serving a third term. The governor and the Bowen’s four children were at her side when she died. One of her last wishes was granted just recently when she asked about the possibility of seeing her younges son, Rob, 28, sworn in as a Marshall County judge. Bowen researched the matter and found he could legally hold the swearing-in ceremony in his wife’s hospital room. For the past several weeks, the tovernor has been either at his wife’s bedside or at his official duties. “The last nine or 10 months have been heartbreaking,” he said a few days before his wife’s death. “We were together 42 years.” A veteran campaigner for her husband, a country doctor from Bremen, she was there through Otis Ray BOWEN’s 14 years in the Indiana House of Representatives. Often she was in the House gallery, listening and knitting as Bowen, the House speaker, ran things in the chamber below. “Growing up in a small Indiana town where I lived across from the courthouse and knew everyone, and being a doctor’s wife at Bremen were good training for the wife of a politician. You become accustomed to interrupted meals and unpredictable and late hours, and you develop an extra degree of empathy for people,” Mrs. Bowen once said. Born April 8, 1918 in Chicago to German Immigrant parents, Elizabeth Ann STEINMANN graduated from Crown Point High School in 1936. “I was the child of a poor widow and wore hand-me-downs and made-over clothes, but it didn’t hurt me a bit. It was during the Depression, and almost all the other kids were in the same boat. There wasn’t any money for college, so I went to business college,” she said. She attended Gary Business College for two years after high school, and it was during that time she met Bowen, then a pre-medical student. They were married Feb. 25, 1939. “I wanted to be a court reporter, but only secretarial jobs were open, so that is the work I did,” she said. She used her secretarial skills helping her husband in his later political career. After Bowen finished his medical studies, Mrs. Bowen followed him to Pennsylvania, California and Texas where he was stationed as a first lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps. She returned to Crown Point when Bowen was assigned to Okinawa. When Bowen was discharged from the service in 1946, they moved to Bremen, where they have lived and raised three sons, Rick, Tim and Rob [BOWEN], and a daughter, Judy [BOWEN]. Mrs. Bowen was at her husband’s side when he won the governorship in 1972 and again in 1976, when he became the first man this century to succeed himself in the state’s highest office. She was well-liked by the governor’s staff and many considered her a second mother. She was named mother of the year in 1978 by the Indiana Mothers Committee. Joseph R. Hartoin Joseph R. HARTOIN, 82, Nyona Lake, died at 4:55 p.m. Thursday in Woodlawn Hospital where he had been a patient three days. He had been ill since September and a patient at the Rochester Nursing Home. He was born March 26, 1898 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Christopher and Carrie DeHOLDER HARTOIN. He was a retired machinist. Surviving are the wife, the former Alice CLARK, a patient at the Three Rivers Nursing Home, Cincinnati, and a nephew, Milton HARTOIN, Nyona Lake. Commital rites will be performed by the Rev. Father Richard PUETZ at the Pisgah Cemetery, Lake Cicott, at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Friends may call at the Zimmerman Brothers Funeral Home in Fulton from 6 to 8 p.m. today and 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Saturday, January 3, 1981 Kenneth L. Weissert Kenneth L. WEISSERT, 57, of 5637 E. 15B Road, Tippecanoe, died at 6:50 a.m. Friday at his home following a heart attack. He was born in Marshall County March 16, 1923 to Louis W. and Edith HARTMAN WEISSERT and had lived in the Bourbon and Tippecanoe areas all his life. He was married to Kathryn REED on April 28, 1945. He was a dairy farmer and a member of the AMPI. Surviving are the mother, of Plymouth; the wife; two daughters, Mrs. Marvin (Linda) OVERMYER, Rochester, and Mrs. Tim (Pam) BEAM, Cincinnati, Ohio; a son, Michael [WEISSERT], at home; a grandchild; two step-grandchildren; three sisters, Martha Jane WISELEY, Tippecanoe; Mrs. Jack (Rosalee) RACOLTA and Ruth NEIDIGH, both of Bourbon. Services will be at the Deaton Funeral Home in Bourbon at 2 p.m. Sunday with the Rev. C. E. McCLARNON officiating. Burial will be in the Maple Grove Cemetery at Argos. Friends may call after 2 p.m. today and on Sunday until fime of services. Memorials may be given to the Marshall County Heart Fund. Monday, January 5, 1981 Celia E. Byrer Celia Btta BYRER, 90, Fort Wayne, died Friday in Fort Wayne. Miss Byrer was born May 2, 1890 in Talma to Jeremiah and Mary BYRER. She moved to Fort Waynd from Talma. Surviving are nieces and nephews. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. today at the C. M. Sloan and Sons Funeral Home in Fort Wayne. Burial will be in the Mentone Cemetery. Alice R. Barker Alice Rose BARKER, 65, of 430 W. Second St., died at 1:55 p.m. Saturday in Woodlawn Hospital where she had been a patient over a month following a year’s illness. Mrs. Barker was born Sept. 14, 1915 at North Vernon to Mr. and Mrs. John BENSMAN. She had lived here since 1936, moving from Plymouth. She was married May 2, 1937 in Rochester to Raymond BARKER, who survives. She had been employed at Topps Manufacturing Co., and the Rochester High School cafeteria for 10 years. She was a member of the Rochester St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Surviving is the husband. Two daughters, two sons, and two grandchildren preceded. Services were held at 10 a.m. today in the St. Joseph Catholic Church with Father Richard PUETZ officiating. Burial was in the Citizen’s Cemetery. Tuesday, January 6, 1981 [no obits] Wednesday, January 7, 1981 Pauline O’Dell Word has been received here of the death Dec. 15, of Pauline MORGAN O’DELL, 74, Mishawaka, a native of Rochester. She was born in this city Sept. 21, 1906 and moved to Mishawaka in 1926. Her marriage was in Rochester July 24, 1926, to Edward O’DELL, who survives. Also surviving are a daughter, Mrs. Kenneth (Sherry) HUNERYAGEN, Elkhart; a son, Morgan [O’DELL], San Bernardino, Cal.; five grandchildren, and two brothers, Charles and Donald MORGAN, both of Rochester. Thursday, January 8, 1981 Roy A. Yeazel Roy A. YEAZEL, 75, of 17585 Michigan Road, Argos, died at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday at Plymouth Parkview Hospital following a year’s illness. Mr. Yeazel was born Oct. 4, 1905 in Plymouth to Milo and Cora GREEN YEAZEL. He had lived at Argos eight years, moving from North Liberty. He retired in 1970 from the Bendix Corp. He was married June 29, 1943 in South Bend to Thelma MAZE, who survives. Surviving with the wife are a sister, Mrs. Phyllis JONES, Dubuque, Iowa, and two brothers, Robert [YEAZEL], Culver, and James [YEAZEL], Plymouth. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Grossman Funeral Home, Argos, with the Rev. Richard LEWKE officiating. Burial will be in the New Oak Hill Cemetery in Plymouth. Friends may call from 2-9 p.m. Friday and until the time of service Saturday. The North Liberty Masonic Lodge will conduct memorial services at 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the building fund of the Argos United Methodist Church. Arthur Burnett Arthur BURNETT, 86, Akron, died at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at his home. He was born Dec. 25, 1894 in Alabama. He was married to Ella TATE in 1954; she survives. he was retired from the Peru Sawmill. Surviving with the wife are two daughters, Jean SMITH and Annette BURNETT, both of Akron, and four grandchildren. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Sheetz Funeral Home at Akron. Burial will be in the Akron Cemetery. Friends may call after 2 p.m. Friday. Friday, January 9, 1981 Rev. Claude M. Fawns Rev. Claude M. “Preach” FAWNS, of Akron, died at 5:45 a.m. today in the LPN Healthcare Center in Newark, Ohio. He had been ill for several years. Rev. Fawns was born to Samuel and Jennie GILKISON FAWNS. He had lived in Akron since 1950, moving from Syracuse. He was married in 1917 to Ray THOMAS. He entered the ministry in 1919 after graduating from Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky. He did graduate work at Northwestern University in Illinois. He pastored at the following churches: West Middleton and Beamer in Kokomo, Albany, Markle, Gas City, Fortville, Geneva, Syracuse and Akron United Methodist Church, retiring in 1957. He was a member of the Akron United Methodist Church and the Akron Masonic Lodge.