1 Herald Leader November 14, 1982 B11 Obituaries Father keeps watch over chapel he built to honor Viet vets By William E. Schmidt Associated Press EAGLE NEST, N.M. Back in May 1968, when word came that young David had been killed in Vietnam, Victor Westphall vowed, like so many bereaved parents in those bitter years, to do something that would honor and preserve the memory of his son. So, on a barren hillside deep in the fir-covered mountains of northern New Mexico, Westphall set out to build a monument, a memorial "not only for David, but for all the veterans of Vietnam." "I just couldn't imagine, back then, that these young men would be damn near forgotten by this nation," he said. 11 years the memorial has loomed over the Moreno Valley near here, two sweeping wings of concrete 28 feet high framing a small, stark chapel.
Inside, there is a simple white cross and, along a curving wall, 125 neatly framed photographs of other young men whose families were determined to remember their sons' Salyersville businessman Haskel Cheek dead at 60 SALYERSVILLE Haskel Cheek, a Magoffin County businessman and public official, died Friday night at Highland Regional Medical Center in Prestonsburg. He was 60. Cheek operated Cheek's Grocery store here for more than 30 years, was a retired pipefitter and served as a deputy sheriff in Magoffin County for the last 20 years. Although Cheek sold his grocery store four years ago, he continued to operate a wrecker service and a used car lot. Cheek was a member of a number of masonic organizations.
These included the Salyersville F. A.M., No. 769; Paintsville chapter; Paintsville council; and the Paintsville Comandry. He was also a member of the El Hasa Shrine Temple in Ashland. Surviving are his wife, Jean Adkins Cheek; one son, Talmage Douglas Cheek of Waterloo, and two daughters, Jurlenn Sue Martiniz of Riverside, and Nelda Rae Cheek of Salyersville.
The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Caudill Funeral Home and Memorial Chapel. Masonic rites will be held at 7:30 p.m. today at the funeral home. Visitation is at any time.
Grocer William Heathman dies at 71 NICHOLASVILLE William Edgar Heathman, a prominent Nicholasville grocer and church member, died yesterday at Central Baptist Hospital after a brief illness. He was 71. A resident of 700 North Main Street, Heathman owned Heathman Grocery. In addition, Heathman was a member of Nicholasville Baptist Church, where he was a longtime member and deacon. His former positions with the church include trustee and Sunday school superintendent, a position he held for more than 25 years.
Heathman also was a former member of the executive board of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. At the time of his death he was serving as a trustee of the Elkhorn Baptist Association and as a board member of the Nicholasville Cemetery Association. As a grocer, Heathman served as a director of Kentucky Food Stores Inc. He was a graduate of Nicholasville High School and the University of Kentucky, where he was a member of the Half-Century Club. Surviving are his wife, Irene Denny Heathman; two daughters, Billie Sue Heathman of Lexington and Mary Dalton Allen of Nicholasville; a brother, Robert Earl Heathman of Nicholasville; and two grandsons.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Nicholasville Baptist Church with visitation from 5 to 9 p.m. today and from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday at Betts and West Funeral Home. In Lexington Asa Lee Clem, 59, of 707 Maple Avenue, retired employee of the Veterans Administration Medical Center on Leestown Road, Navy veteran, and the husband of Dorothy Clem, died of cancer yesterday morning at his home.
Visitation is from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday at Whitehall Funeral Chapel. Paul Duncan Price, 63, of 1201 Crescent Avenue, owner and manager of Price Hardware, the husband of Josephine Blankenship Price, died yesterday at St. Joseph Hospital. Services will be at 10 a.m.
Monday at W.R. Milward Mortuary Southland. Visitation is from 3 to and 7 to 9 p.m. today. Karen Louise Smith, 21, of 1508 Yates Crescent, employee of Continental Inn, the wife of William Henry Smith died Thursday at St.
Joseph Hospital of injuries suffered in an automobile accident. Services will be 1 p.m. Monday at graveside in Lexington Cemetery. Visitation is after 11 a.m. Monday at Kerr Brothers Funeral Home.
In Kentucky BEATTYVILLE Flossie Banks, 73, of Route 1, the widow of Corsie Banks, died Friday at her home. Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Wide Creek Baptist Church. Visitation is after 3 p.m. today at Newnam Funeral Home.
BEATTYVILLE Conley Brandenburg, 83, of Route 1, retired farmer and oilfield worker, the husband of Margie Burns Brandenburg, died Friday at his home, apparently of a heart attack. Services will be at 2 p.m. today at Beattyville Baptist Church. Visitation is anytime at Newnam Funeral Home. CARLISLE Elizabeth Collins Fisher, 90, died yesterday morning at the Montgomery County Care Center in Mount Sterling.
She was a native of Scott County and was the widow of Warren R. Fisher the former publisher of the Carlisle Mercury weekly newspaper. Surviving are a son and a daughter. Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Monday in Carlisle Cemetery.
There will be no visitation. Mathers-Gaunce Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. CORBIN Millie Jane Begley, 90, of 103 14th Street, the widow of J.L. Begley, died Friday morning at Hillcrest Nursing Home. Services will be at 2 p.m.
today at Vankirk Funeral Home. CORBIN Victoria Duncan, 93, of 306 South Kentucky Street, the widow of C.K. Duncan, died yesterday morning at her home. Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Vankirk Funeral Home with graveside services at 3:30 p.m.
in Richmond Cemetery, Richmond. Visitation is after 5 p.m. today. Henry, 77, of 111 North Locust Street, a retired employee of the Elks Club, the husband of Lillie Mae Henry, died yesterday morning at Harrison Memorial Hospital. Services will be at 11 a.m.
Tuesday at Macedonia Baptist Church. Visitation is from 5 to 9 p.m. today at the church. Drake Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or the Cynthiana Hospice program.
DANVILLE Michael Duane McKee, 18, of Hustonville, the son of the late Ralph McKee and the late Etta Juanita McKee, died Friday of injuries suffered in an automobile accident on U.S. 27 in Lincoln County. He was a senior at Burgin High School and was an employee of Bello's Pizza. Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at West End Church of Christ.
Visitation is after 2 p.m. today at Stith Funeral Home. IRVINE Billie Joyce Neal Samples, 48, of 612 Broadway, former school bus driver, the wife of Harold Samples, died yesterday morning at her home after a long illness. Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at, Lewis Funeral Home.
Visitation is after 11 a.m. today. MARTIN Cussie Spurlock Barbe, 83, of Betsy Layne, the widow of Lacy Barbe, died Friday at Pikeville Methodist Hospital. Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Salisbury Regular Baptist Church, Printer.
Hall Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. MARTIN Amon Mature 25, formerly of Grethel, died Thursday in Ridgefield, Washington. Hall Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. MARTIN Levi Mitchell, 92, of Beaver, retired farmer and gas company construction worker, the husband of Mary Ann Mitchell, died yesterday at Our Lady of the Way Hospital in Martin. Services will be at 10 a.m.
Monday at Samaria Regular Baptist Church. Visitation is anytime at the church. Hall Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. MIDWAY Katherine L. Bolton, 65, of Zion Hill, the wife of William Bolton, died Thursday at her home.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Zion Hill Baptist Church. Visitation is from 6 to 9 p.m. today at Cunningham Funeral Home and after noon on Monday at the church. MILLERSBURG Glenn Graves, 65, of Trigg Street, retired CYNTHIANA Willie Mack sheet metal worker, World War II Army veteran, and the husband of Juanita Nickell Graves, died yesterday at Bourbon General Hospital.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Pruitt Funeral Home. Visitation is from 3 to 9 p.m. today. MOREHEAD John Murvel Black, 54, of Route 5, World War II veteran, the husband of Joyce Black, died Thursday at his home, apparently of a heart attack.
Services will be at 2 p.m. today at Lane-StuckyBack Funeral Home. MOUNT STERLING Marion Frances Frazier, 78, of Hope, disabled veteran, died yesterday at Mary Chiles Hospital. Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at 'Eastin-Richey and Taul Funeral Home.
Visitation is after 4 p.m. today. MOUNT VERNON Alvin Bowman, 51, of Route 4, laborer, the husband of Pauline Bowman, died yesterday at the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Medical Center in Lexington. Services will be at 2 p.m.
Monday at Dowell and Martin Funeral Home. Visitition is after 6 p.m. today. NICHOLASVILLE Eddie Washington, 86, of 709 East Chestnut Street, retired cook, World War I veteran, and the husband of Bertha Washington, died Thursday at the Veterans Administration Medical Center on Cooper Drive in Lexington. Services will be at 10 a.m.
Monday at graveside in Camp Nelson National Cemetery. Visitation is from 6 to 9 p.m., today at A.M.E. Methodist Church. Cunningham Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. PIKEVILLE J.
Marvin Ratliff, 72, truck driver, World War II Army veteran, and the husband of Lucille W. Ratliff, died Friday morning at his home. Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Justice Funeral Home. Visitation is at any time.
JusticeBaker Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. RUSSELL SPRINGS Willie I. Thomas, 73, of Windsor, retired carpenter, the husband of Dorothy Thomas, died Friday of injuries suffered in a tractor accident on his farm. Services will be at 1 p.m. CST Monday at Cedar Springs Baptist Church, Windsor.
Visitation is after 1 p.m. CST today at Rippetoe Funeral Home. SOMERSET William McKinley Cook, 85, of 2186 Rose Road, retired coal miner, died Friday at Lake Cumberland Medical Center after a short illness. Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Neeley's Creek Baptist Church.
Visitation is after 5 p.m. today at Somerset Undertaking Company. SOMERSET Rev. Andrew Guy, 82, of 129 Griffin Avenue, the husband of Evelyn Guy, died yesterday at Lake Cumberland Medical Center. He was a retired Baptist minister.
will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Funeral Home. VisitaServices, tion is after 5 p.m. today. part in a war that so many others chose to forget.
In scale, the Vietnam Veterans Peace and Brotherhood Chapel pales in comparison with the sleek new memorial unveiled this week in Washington, which bears the chiseled names of all 58,000 Vietnam War dead. But unlike the Washington memorial, the chapel here is the singleminded creation of one man, obsessed with the war and the death of his eldest son, a 28-year-old first lieutenant in the Marine Corps. Westphall, a retired building contractor who holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of New Mexico, built the chapel largely with his own hands, time and money. Even now, he lives here alone, except for Lady, a St.
Bernard, in a cramped, one-room cabin on the hillside beneath the memorial. His wife, Jeanne, lives separately, in their home in Springer, N.M., 65 miles away. "It is too difficult for her to come here, because of the memories," said Westphall, who is 69 years old and hobbles about with a cane because of arthritis. "But I have to be here," he went on. "It's a job that had to be done, as if some greater destiny, larger than all of us, has assigned it to me." He says the cost of building and operating the chapel over the last 11 years has been about $220,000.
The initial $30,000 investment came from the insurance the Westphalls received from the government after their son's death. Most of remaining funds have come from the Westphall family, in addition to about $60,000 contributed over the last six years by the Disabled American Veterans, the only outside group to take an official interest in the project. Westphall says veterans' organization took over the deed to the five-acre memorial site in September and will administer the chapel as a charitable foundation. Under the terms of the agreement, Westphall says, he will stay on as director. Last summer, in the tourist season, as many as a hundred people a day visited the memorial.
It is marked by a single sign along U.S. Route 64, though its graceful wings, which sometimes remind Westphall of an angel come to earth, are easily visible from the road. At night it is floodlit. In the day, the lyrics of popular songs from the 1960s and '70s, music strongly evocative of the Vietnam years, mixes with the mountain winds as it is broadcast from two speakers mounted in front of the chapel and connected to a tape deck inside. These days, Westphall is a bit melancholy about the attention being paid to the new memorial in Washington.
It is not a matter of sour grapes, he says, but over the years repeated efforts by Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R- N.M., to obtain some sort of formal federal acknowledgement of the chapel here were repeatedly rebuffed. "I think, in many ways, that the whole idea for the Washington memorial began right here, many years ago," Westphall said. "Back then, there was still open hostility to Vietnam.
I think what we did here helped a lot of Vietnam veterans to come out of the closet, because they knew that someone did care and did ber." He says his obsession memorial has grown out of held personal conviction that rememwith the Funeral Notices Information furnished by mortuaries. a longthe liv- Lawrence C. (Dick) Dickinson. Funeral services 1:30 p.m. Monday at the W.R.
Milward Mortuary-Southland by Rev. C. Hoge Hockensmith. Burial Blue Grass Memorial Gardens. Casket bearers will be Eddie Morehead, Timothy Mahoney, Alan Reed, John A.
Hammond, Larry D. Casey and Steve Jacoby. Friends may call from 3-5 and 7-9 p.m. today. There will be a masonic service 2:15 p.m.
Monday at the Cemetery. GRUNER Otto Gruner Jr. Services 2:00 p.m. Monday at Whitehall Funeral Chapel with Rev. Charles Pinkston officiating.
Burial Hillcrest Memorial Park. Visitation from 3-5 and 7-9 p.m. today. LISLE Mr. Ethel J.
Lisle. Funeral services 1:00 p.m, Monday at the Smith Smith Funeral Home Rev. A.B. Lee officiating. Burial Hillcrest Cemetery.
Visitation from 6-9 p.m. today at the Funeral Home. PRICE Paul D. Price, 63, husband of Mrs. Josephine Blankenship Price, of 1201 Crescent Avenue, died Saturday.
He was the owner and manager of Price Hardware. He was born in Jessamine County, a son of the late Con- SOMERSET Coy Mason Rogers, 64, of Lebanon, formerly of Pulaski County, retired masonry contractor, World War II veteran, the husband of Kathleen Rogers, died Thursday at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, Ind. Services will be at 2 p.m. today at Pulaski Funeral Home. Visitation is at any time.
VERSAILLES Harvey Payne Beckham, 67, of 204 Berry Avenue, the husband of Josephine M. Beckyesterday at his home, apparently of a heart attack. DuellClark Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. WEST LIBERTY Charles D. Roberts, 64, of Garden City, formerly Hazel Green, retired bus driver, died of a heart attack Friday at Garden City Osteopathic Hospital.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Herald and Stewart Funeral Home. Visitation is after 2 p.m. today. WILLIAMSTOWN Mae Fritz Brock, 71, of Route 1, Corinth, the wife of Crit W.
Brock, died Friday at Ridgeview Geriatrics Center in Covington. Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Elliston-Stanley Funeral Home. Visitation is from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday.
Elsewhere LONDON Chesney Allen, 88, the last surviving member of the Crazy Gang comedy team, died yesterday at King Edward VII Hospital in Midhurst where he had been admitted for a chest infection. Allen left a law office job in 1910 to go on the stage and formed a team with Bud Flanagan during World War I. In 1924 they organized the Crazy Gang, which included Teddy Knox, Charlie Naughton, Jimmy Nervo, Jimmy Gold and Eddie Gray. EUCLID, Ohio David J. Fitzmaurice, 69, president of the 000-member International Union of.
Electrical workers, has died. A resident of Cleveland, Fitzmaurice died Friday night at Euclid General Hospital. He had undergone an operation involving cancer in the intestinal tract. Fitzmaurice, also a vice president of the AFL-CIO, had headed the IUE since 1976. He led its negotiating teams in national contract talks this year with General Motors General Electric and Westinghouse.
Highway officials getting ready for winter From Page B1 third priority. Motorists, state officials say, should plan to use the top priority roads whenever possible in bad winter weather. Hempel said the Urban County Government will give first priority to major arterial streets and roads such as Limestone, Tates Creek Pike and Richmond Road. When it snows, those streets will be salted "curb to curb," he said, although in most other places local crews will concentrate only on keeping hills and intersections clear. State policy, Roberts said, calls for crews to begin applying salt when there is about one and a half inches of snow on the ground.
Plowing begins, DICKINSON he said, once the snow reaches a depth of two inches. Hempel, though, said some areas of Lexington, such as streets with hills or viaducts, must be treated in even a light snow because only a half-inch of white stuff is enough to make them hazardous. Other places won't need plowing until the snow gets much deeper, he added. There are two situations, he said, which can cause real nightmares for street crews and police officers. "One is where you get ice under the snow, which makes it really bad," he said.
"It's hard to do anything about. As long as it's just snow, we can move "The other is when you get a hard snow at about 3:30 in the afternoon, rad and Hunter Hisle Price, was a member of Centenary United Methodist Church, Methodist Men's Club, and a veteran of WWII. Other survivors are one daughter, Mrs. Judy Price Logan, Lexington; two sons, James D. Price, Huntsville, Alabama; Richard P.
Price, Lexington; also five grandchildren, Tracy and Damon Logan, Kimberly and David Price, and Paul Allyn Price. Funeral services 10 a.m. Monday at the W.R. Milward Mortuary-Southland by Rev. Sewell Woodward Jr.
and Rev. Charles W. Bertrand. Burial Bluegrass Memorial Gardens. Friends may call today from 3-5 and 7-9 p.m.
Contributions may be made to the Methodist Childrens Home, P.O. Drawer Versailles, KY. 40383. SHROPSHIRE Charles S. Shropshire.
Services 10:00 a.m. Monday at the W.R. Milward Mortuary-Broadway, Friends may call from 2-5 and 7-9 p.m. today. State BOLTON Mrs.
Katherine L. Bolton. Funeral services Monday 2 p.m. at the Zion Hill Baptist Church with Dr. G.
Coleman officiating. Burial Highland Cemetery. Visitation from 6-9 p.m. today at the Cunningham Funeral Home and after 12 noon Monday at the Church. HEATHMAN William Edgar Heathman, 71, hus- just as everybody is heading home from work.
With all that traffic, it's hard to get the salt spreaders out on the road." In addition, he said the unpredictability of Kentucky's winter weather makes life more difficult for street crews here than in Minnesota, for example. "I talked to an official from International Falls, once who said that they drive on ice all winter long there," Hempel said. "The people up there get used to it and prepare for it. "The problem in Kentucky is that you have this freeze-and-thaw situation. It's very unpredictable.
You get snow at night and then it melts the next day. But then it freezes right back again the next night." As a result, Hempel said his band of Mrs. Irene Denny Heathman, of 700 North Main St. Nichollasville, died at 11:20 a.m. Saturday at the Central Baptist Hospital after a brief illness.
Mr. Heathman was a member and Deacon of the Nicholasville Baptist Church, and formerly served his church as a trustee and a Sunday School superintendent for 35 years. He was presently serving as a trustee of the Elkhorn Baptist Association, former member of the Executive Board of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, the owner of the Heathman Grocery Store, former director of Kentucky Food Stores member of the Board of the Nicholasville Cemetery Association, a graduate of the Nicholasville High School and University of Kentucky, member of the Half Century Club of U.K., and a charter member of the Nicholasville Lions Club. He was a son of the late Robert Finis and Edna, Earl Green Heathman. Additional survivors are two daughters, Ms.
Billie Sue Heathman, Lexington; Mrs. Mary Dalton, Allen, Nicholasville; son-in-law, Jerry Ray Allen; brother, Robert Earl Heathman; two grandsons, Joseph Heath Allen and Jerry Ray Allen all of Nicholasville. Services 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Nicholasville Baptist Church with the Rev. Tom Miller officiating.
Burial Maple Grove Cemetery. Bearers will be: Glendon Sanders, Roy Vahle, Tom Haydon, Leo Wild, B.F. Adams, Joe Webb, Howard Downing, and Brien Risk. Honorary bearers: Dr. Harold Polk, Dick Carr, Vernon (Buddy) crews "run into some unbelievable He recalled a woman who became so scared one icy day that she simply stopped her car in the middie of Tates Creek Road "and sat there too afraid to drive." Man convicted in slaying of wardens is released Nevada trapper convicted of voluntary manslaughter ing of two Idaho game been released from jail bond.
Claude Dallas, who Friday, will remain free the tentative sentencing District Judge Edward (AP) A last month in the slaywardens has on $100,000 was released until Dec. 1, date set by Lodge. ing must do what they can "to encourage humankind to preserve rather than destroy." "In this world, humanitarianism and brotherhood too often get short shrift," he said. Over the years, as news of Westphall's memorial spread, he has received letters and photographs from other families who lost their sons in Southeast Asia. Even now, he has more photographs than he has room for in the chapel.
He has also heard from the survivors, young men who came home from Vietnam to a country that no longer wanted to hear about the war. Last month a veteran from Seattle sent him the flag that once flew over Khe Sanh, a besieged hilltop in the northern highlands where Marines held out against constant bombardment. "The flag is for all the people that went and did the best they could and have now melted back into the crowd," wrote the veteran, who asked to remain anonymous. "For all of us, thank you." HUCKLE A smile comes naturally to readers of the comics daily in LEXINGTON HERALD Hager, Roy D. Hulett, Harlan Veal Jerome Ogden, J.C.
VanHook, and the Deacons of the Nicholasville Baptist Church. Betts-West Funeral Home in charge of arrangements. Friends may call from 5-9 p.m. today and 3-9 p.m. Monday.
TURNER James Hargis Turner, of 1035 College Avenue, husband of Bess Treadway Turner, died at the Hazard Appalachian Hospital at 8 a.m. Saturday. He was a former school teacher, county treasurer for 27 years, member of the Breathitt Lodge AM, passed patron, passed deputy of the Eastern Star, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. Survived by one brother, Walter Turner, Ohio; one sister, Mrs. F.M.
Deaton, Lexington; several half sisters, nieces and nephews. Services Monday 2 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church with Rev. Dick Harrison and Rev. Troy Eslinger officiating.
Burial Jackson Cemetery. Visitation after 6 p.m. today at the Watts Spencer Funeral Home. WASHINGTON Eddie Washington. Graveside services Monday 10 a.m.
at the Camp Nelson National Cemetery with Rev. J.T. Ballew Jr. officiating. Visitation at the A.M.E.
Methodist Church Nicholasville, from 6-9 p.m. today. Cunningham Funeral Home in charge of arrangements..
