The Mount Pleasant City Council passed resolutions recognizing the public service of three Mount Pleasant Fire Fighters. During the regular Council meeting held Wednesday night Mayor Steve Brimhall read the resolutions and thanked Nicholas Ettinger for ten years of service and Kevin Elmore for 5 years of service. Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Beavers, who is retiring from the Department, was recognized for 45 years of dedicated public service.
Loraine Colman McKay
Loraine Colman McKay (Atkinson) (83) passed away on December 13, 2022. Loraine was
born on July 22, 1939, in Parkersburg, WV, to Theodore and Mary (Callihan) Atkinson. After Loraine graduated from Parkersburg High School in 1958, she served our country in the Women’s Auxiliary Corps. There she met Ronald J. Colman, and they were married on October 31, 1959. During their 30 years of marriage, they raised two daughters, Heidi Ann and Merry-Noel. After Ronald’s death, Loraine found love again and married Austin F. McKay on September 1, 1992. Austin brought to the family two daughters, Annie and Louisa.
Loraine’s first and last employment involved her love of books. When her children were old enough, she quit being a homemaker and became a supervisor for the U.S. Army Main Library in Heidelberg, Germany. Then, she served several years for the Civilian Payroll Division as the Payroll Supervisor for the Department of Defense and was rewarded for her service in 1991. Upon retirement, Loraine returned to her passion for reading and with a dream to share her love of books, she helped establish the St. Charles Public Library, St. Charles, Iowa in 2001. Loraine received the Governor’s Volunteer Award for reading The Des Moines Register to the blind and print handicapped for Iowa Radio Reading Information Service in 2007. She volunteered in the Project Connect Mentoring Program in 2010 and was recognized by the Internal Revenue Service for public service for helping prepare tax forms and provide tax counseling
for the elderly in 2013. Loraine also received the Quilt of Valor in 2019. She was the Head Librarian for her retirement community in Des Moines, Iowa, before moving to Fairfield, Iowa.
Loraine is predeceased by her father, Theodore M. Atkinson, and her mother, Mary L. Rhodes (Callihan); brothers, David Atkinson and Homer Rhodes; nephew Troy Rhodes and both her husbands: Ronald J. Colman and Austin F. McKay.
Loraine is survived by her daughters, Heidi (Mark) Unkrich, Merry-Noel (Martin) Chamberlain, Annie (James) Pelzman, Louisa (Frank) Buford DeJarnette; sisters, Sandy Kenny, Crystal (David) DeLong and Linda Welch; grandchildren, Royene (Phillip) Bozek, Eric (Amanda) Pelzman, Audrey (Ryan) Smith, Emily (Nick) Fraser, and Ashleah; great grandchildren, Kassidy, Phillip, Mallory, Jozlyn, Collette, Quinnlyn, Noelle, Jonas, Mirah, Alton; and great-great granddaughter, Aurora; plus, nieces, nephew, and several cousins.
A graveside service will be held at Iowa Veterans Cemetery, Van Meter, Iowa at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, December 19, 2022. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the St. Charles Public Library, 113 S. Lumber St., St. Charles, IA 50240.
“Anything that increases the intelligence level of a community is a benefit,” said Loraine McKay. “You sponsor interesting programs for children, for seniors, for everybody. If you don’t do well for the children in your community, you might as well close your town.”
Irvin E. Meier, Jr.
Irvin E. Meier, Jr., 71, of Wapello, passed away on Monday, December 12, 2022 at his home in Wapello. Friends may call after noon on Monday, December 19, 2022 at Snyder & Hollenbaugh Funeral & Cremation Services of Wapello, the family will be present from 4:30 until 7:00 p.m. Monday evening at the funeral home. Celebration of Life for Irv will be 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at the Wapello High School Gymnasium. For those attending please wear your blue FFA jacket or rodeo shirt in honor of Irv. Private family burial will be in Oakland Cemetery at a later date. Memorials will be used toward the Wapello FFA Program and the Wapello Pro Rodeo in memory of Irv. Condolences may be left for the family at www.sandhfuneralservice.com.
Irvin Eugene Meier, Jr. was born on November 22, 1951 in Algona, Iowa, the son of Irvin, Sr. and Adabelle (Grandgeorge) Meier. Irv was a 1970 graduate of Belmond High School where he was the valedictorian of his graduating class. While in high school he was actively involved in FFA and was a member of the wrestling team. Following high school, he went on to attend college at Iowa State University, where he received his B.S. in Agricultural Education. Irv then began his career of teaching at Dysart-Geneseo High School for 15 years from 1974 until 1989. While there, he also served as the Advisor of the Dysart-Geneseo FFA Chapter (which later became the LaPorte-Dysart FFA Chapter) from 1974-1992. In 1989, Irv briefly left his teaching career and became an agronomist at Tama-Benton Cooperative in Dysart. Returning to teaching in 1992, Irv accepted a position as the Agricultural Education Teacher and FFA Advisor at Wapello High School. Irv retired from teaching in 2013; although no one could say Irv ever really “officially” retired as he continued helping students obtain opportunities and achieve their full potential.
Irv had received the regional winner of the Sound Off Agriculture award, which is given to the top four young Ag teachers in the U.S. He had also received the honorary Iowa FFA degree and honorary American FFA degree and was inducted into the Iowa 4-H hall of fame. Irv worked countless hours on the Wapello Pro Rodeo, working with several judging teams and coached several state and national champions. In addition to his extensive history of accomplishments, Irv enjoyed time spent with his brothers, sisters and their families. He loved spending the holidays with them and playing cards.
Irv will be deeply missed by his siblings, Philippe (Annette) Meier of Boone, Marjorie Aldrich of Boone, Richard (Colleen) Meier of Clarion and Ada Martin of Clarion and nine nieces and one nephew.
He was preceded in death by his parents; nephew, Kelly Aldrich; brother-in-law, Dennis Aldrich and niece, Amanda Stracke.
Marjorie Wilson (final arrangements)
Marjorie Wilson, age 90, of Salem died Wednesday, December 14, 2022, at Park Place Elder Living.
Marj was born November 15, 1932, in Toledo, Iowa, the daughter of Floyd and Hazel (Gray) Pugh. She graduated from Toledo High School in 1950. On May 7, 1953, she married Carl Wilson, the couple had four children and later divorced. She then married Charles Newman, they later divorced. Marj worked as a telephone operator in Toledo and Mount Pleasant. She owned and operated restaurant bar establishments and managed the Mount Pleasant Country Club. Marj was a member of the Mount Hamill Sunshine Girls and enjoyed socializing around a cup of coffee. In her younger years you could find Marj playing basketball, softball, bowling or roller skating. She had a lifelong love of sports.
Marj is survived by her four children Debbie Wilson (Marvin) of Salem, IA, Greg (Teri) Wilson of Marshalltown, IA, Carla Wilson of Salem, IA, Ruth (Charlie) Allen of Fort Madison, IA; 7 grandchildren Michele (Pierre) Bensch of Hillsboro, IA, Melanie Anderson of Mount Pleasant, IA, Nathan Swift of Burlington, IA, Jamie (Stewart) Gardner of Emporia, KS, Jeff (Maggie) Wilson of Knoxville, IA, JJ Frary of Fort Madison, IA, Cali (Gracie) Wilson of Nashville, TN; 12 great grandchildren; 4 great great grandchildren; sister Marilyn Bain of Peoria, IL, brother Dick Pugh of Alden, IA, sister-in-law Connie Pugh of Toledo, IA, and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, brother Leonard Pugh, sister-in-law Bev Pugh, brother-in-law Ernie Bain, and a nephew Vince.
Funeral service will be held 2:00 pm Saturday, December 17, 2022, at the Olson-Powell Memorial Chapel. Rev Jeff McPheron will officiate. Burial will be in the Salem South Cemetery at a later date. Visitation will be held 10:00 am until service time, the family will greet friends from 1:00 – 2:00. A celebration will be held at The Underground following the service. A memorial fund has been established for the Salem Fire Department and Salem Playground. The Olson-Powell Memorial Chapel is caring for Marj and her family. www.powellfuneralhomes.com
Jefferson County Attorney Asked for Opinion Relating to Mount Pleasant Shooting
The Jefferson County Attorney’s office was asked to conduct a review of the facts and to determine whether any criminal charges are appropriate relating to the December 3, 2022 non-fatal officer involved shooting that occurred in Mount Pleasant. This request was made to avoid any appearance of conflict because of the close working relationship between the officers involved and the Henry County Attorney’s office. This does not indicate any actual conflict exists, and Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding said in a written statement that he is confident any reviewing agency would have come to the same conclusions that Henry County Deputy Carlos Lopez used appropriate force under the circumstances to eliminate a threat when he shot Samantha Shumaker in the arm, then acted swiftly to provide necessary aid to Shumaker. Moulding also said his review is limited to a determination of the facts surrounding the deputy’s discharge of his service weapon, and makes no determination regarding whether and which criminal charges might be appropriate for the other parties involved identified as Samantha Shumaker and Steven Lovell.
Iowa High School Girls Basketball Rankings (3rd Week): Top Dogs Remain but New Faces Enter the Top 15
Girls High School Basketball- The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union has released their fourth rankings of the season–including the preseason–today and while the top teams remain the same there are a lot of new teams entering the top 15. Starting with Class 1A, the top 9 teams remain unchanged with Algona Bishop Garrigan keeping the top spot in the rankings. Montezuma, formerly ranked 10th, and Clarksville, formerly ranked 15th, fell out of the top 15 with North Mahaska and Riceville claiming the 14th and 15th spots, respectively. Burlington Notre Dame and Winfield-Mt. Union still touting undefeated records move another spot up in the rankings to 12th and 13th, respectively.
Class 2A kept the same order for the top three teams in Dike-New Hartford, Central Lyon, and Sibley-Ocheyedan; however, Underwood fell from 4th to 9th with every team within that range getting to move up a spot in the rankings. Two teams fell out in Ridge View and Beckman Catholic with South Hamilton taking over the 15th spot. Mediapolis fell from 11th to 14th after their loss to West Burlington, 60-53, on December 9th, which left room for the Falcons to soar over the Bulldogs to the 13th ranked spot.
A top three team fell in Class 3A as Estherville Lincoln Central and West Marshall remain on top of the rankings, respectively. Center Point-Urbana fell four spots from 3rd to 7th with a 5-3 record. Beyond that movement, Class 3A remained stable from 8th to 14th in the rankings with West Lyon replacing Spirit Lake at 15th.
Cedar Rapids Xavier is still the top dog in Class 4A, but Dallas Center-Grimes and North Polk got to move up a spot to 2nd and 3rd, respectively, after Ballard fell to Carlisle 57-48 two days ago. Due to the big win, Carlisle jumped from 11th to 8th. North Scott experienced the largest fall after going 1-2 this past week as they are no longer ranked after being 8th in last week’s rankings. ADM was ranked 13th last week but fell out of the top 15. Central DeWitt was one of the teams that defeated North Scott this past week and found themselves in 12th this week. Waverly-Shell Rock also went from unranked to jumping Gilbert and Marion to be ranked 13th this week.
Lastly, Class 5A had its top 4 spots go unchanged with Waterloo West keeping the top spot. Waukee Northwest fell from 5th to 9th while Ankeny moved up three spots from 10th to 7th. Linn-Marr was replaced by Sioux City East for the final spot in the Top 15th as the Black Raiders currently tout a 5-0 record.
Street Committee Meeting
The Mount Pleasant City Council Street Committee met Wednesday. The committee discussed two upcoming street projects. The city engineer, Jim Warner, said preliminary planning is well underway and he anticipates bid letting in January for reconstruction on Aldrin and Henry Streets. Since these will involve major work, residents along both streets have already been notified. City Administrator Brent Schleisman said the city is planning for the projects to be the most cost effective with least amount of inconvenience for the residents. How the work will proceed and how access will be handled was discussed but not in depth at this point.
Warner said crews are making good progress on Bluegrass Road on the east edge of Mount Pleasant.
And the committee continued to discuss doing an asphalt overlay on several streets. A decision on which streets will be done still needs to be made and will depend on the condition of the base under the current street surfaces.
Single Vehicle Crash Report
On December 13th, 2022, at approximately 8:02 a.m., the Henry County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a single vehicle collision in the 2500-grid of 130th Street, outside of Winfield. An investigation into the single vehicle collision determined Lilian Freeman, 16 of Winfield, was driving a 2011 Toyota Camry west bound on 130th Street. While driving the vehicle lost control and struck the bridge guardrail. The vehicle then entered the north ditch and came to a stop after striking a tree. The Henry County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Winfield Fire Department and the Henry County Health Center Ambulance.
***A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.****