Thursday, November 8, 2007 The Plain Dealer Breaking news: cleveland.com Metro Obituaries Cuyahoga's voters generous to schools as only one tax fails JENNIFER Plain Dealer Reporter Cuyahoga County voters were in a generous mood Tuesday as all but one school district Richmond Heights had its tax issue approved. Increases passed in Chagrin Falls, Cleveland Heights-University Heights and Strongsville. Renewals passed in BrecksvilleBroadview Heights, Brooklyn, Independence, Maple Heights and Solon. Across the region, voters had their say on 34 issues. All five asking for construction money failed, as did three seeking income tax money.
Cloverleaf voters in Medina County were the only ones to reject a renewal issue, which would not raise taxes. Oberlin voters in Lorain County passed a replacement measure, which will bring a slight hike in property taxes, but rejected an income tax increase. The replacement won by 16 votes and the income tax failed by 14 votes. Because provisional and absentee ballots have yet to be counted, it is unclear whether a recount will be necessary. A recount is required when the vote difference is one-half of percent.
Oberlin's official totals won't be known until Nov. 27 when the Lorain County Board of Elections certifies the election, said Deputy Director Marilyn Jacobeik. After two previous failures at the polls, the Strongsville district finally got an increase approved. Voters had narrowly rejected a 6.5-mill tax levy in August, which led the district to make several cuts, including busing. That will now be restored starting Nov.
26, said spokesman Scott Ross. He said a notice will go out to parents soon. "Today was a step forward for Strongsville and education," Ross said. In Richmond Heights, the mood was somber. Voters overwhelmingly rejected 8.5-mill and 3.0-mill tax increases.
Superintendent Walter Calinger said a $50,000 deficit is forecast for the end of the year and an additional $550,000 for next school year. Cuts in busing, athletics and teaching positions are possible for next school year. "We don't have a choice," he said. Issues also failed in Aurora, Barberton, Keystone, Ledgemont, Madison, Newbury, Nordonia Hills, North Ridgeville, and Tallmadge. They passed in Amherst, Columbia, Fairport, Highland, Mentor, Painesville, Stow-Munroe Falls, Streetsboro and Twinsburg.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: 216-999-4327 Schools ex-exec wins Shaker board seat ANGELA TOWNSEND Plain Dealer Reporter The former chief information officer for Cleveland public schools, who was caught up in a student attendance controversy, is returning to local education circles. Peter Robertson officially landed one of two uncontested seats on the Shaker Heights school board Tuesday. Robertson, 41, has lived in Shaker Heights for the past 12 years. His two children are enrolled in district schools. In August, the Shaker Heights Citizens Committee endorsed Robertson and incumbent board ELECTION FROM BI Election wasn't kind to mayors National research on voting patterns shows that when the economy is poor, voters take out their frustration on incumbents, said Jason MacDonald, assistant professor of political science a at Kent State University.
"To some degree you have to feel sorry for local mayors," MacDonald said. "Their cities are facing macroeconomic problems that are beyond their control. In many cases, mayors do nothing about the state of the economy as their constituents experience it. But voters, nonetheless, hold their leaders accountable." Here are some candidates' views on why voters ousted so many mayors throughout Northeast Ohio. Lakewood: Following an acrimonious race that resulted in both candidates filing complaints with the Ohio Elections Commission, Mayor Tom George lost to Councilman Ed Fitz Ger-.
ald. "More and more suburban mayors are having to deal with traditional big-city issues," FitzGerald said. "Some mayors are making transitions, others are not. But those who are running cities the way they were 20 years ago are losing." Avon Lake: Mayor Robert Berner lost after serving nearly two terms, during which the city enjoyed moderate prosperity. Berner said he was perplexed by his loss to Councilman Karl Zuber.
Berner attributes his defeat to low voter turnout on a rainy night, and above all, to voter complacency. "It was change simply for the sake of change," Berner said. Canton: In the last big Ohio city headed by a Republican, Mayor BRENDA FROM B1 Brenda Lee Drive stays, voters say Pund gathered signatures on a referendum petition to challenge the move. He estimates he invested close to $4,000 to push the issue, putting signs around town and mailing out fliers. Anielski said she didn't foresee the Battle of Brenda Lee that member Freda Levenson.
Robertson, one of former Cleveland schools Chief Executive Barbara Byrd-Bennett's top aides, had already left the Cleve-: land district when inflated at-: tendance data surfaced in late 2005. The previous school year, Cleveland had reported only 620 absences to the state. That number was later put at closer to 519,000. It turned out the district had started boosting the attendance rate in 2002 by counting absent students as present as long as they received make-up work. Robertson, who has said he was simply following orders, didn't shy away from addressing the controversy during the campaign.
A section of his Web site is devoted to the issue and even includes supporting documents. "I knew that I did nothing wrong," he wrote Wednesday in an e-mail, asserting that facts surrounding the issue were misrepresented in the media. After the citizens committee endorsed him, "I took that to mean they weren't concerned' about this issue getting dredged up and made into an irrelevant side-show," he wrote. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: 216-999-3894 "To some degree you have to feel sorry for local mayors. Their cities are facing macroeconomic problems that are beyond their control.
In many cases, mayors can do nothing about the state of the economy as their constituents experience it." Jason McDonald Kent State University assistant professor of political science Janet Weir Creighton lost to Democratic State Rep. William Healy II. Local issues decided the race, Healy said. Canton is a Democratic-leaning city with plenty of problems and a history of Republican mayors, and the Ohio Democratic Party played hard for the seat, said Brooks of the University of Akron. The party won, in part because of an ongoing demographic trend Republicans moving to the suburbs and exurbs, he said.
Lakemore: David Carter, parttime mayor for eight years of this small, southern Summit County village, lost to write-in candidate Mike Kolomichuk. "That still confuses me," Carter said, chalking up the loss to two issues: problems with the village bookkeeping and a program to revitalize the village. Kolomichuk who, according to the Summit County Board of Elections has no voting record sent out fliers and campaigned against the revitalization program, Carter said. Burton: Challenger Thomas Blair said name recognition helped him oust longtime Mayor Nick Fischbach. Blair has owned a garage-door company in town since 1985 and puts up Christmas decorations, buys syrup for the village's log cabin pancake breakfasts, serves as director of the local chamber of commerce and belongs to the Rotary.
Fischbach attributed his loss to votes: split among three candidates, as well as low voter turnout. even raged at a pre-election candidates night. "Nobody thought it would be a big deal," Anielski said. Hrabak said she can't understand why voters wouldn't honor the request. (The issue failed 628-381.) "We thought this would be simple," Hrabak said.
"We're the only ones affected. Why would anyone else care?" Pund, who operates a local garden center, said it's because Walton Hills residents respect their history. The majority of streets in town carry names of the local developers 5 5 Thomas F. Allen, lawyer and expert on 19th-century area postal markings 4 WALLY GUENTHER Plain Dealer Reporter UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS Thomas Allen researched the history of 19th-century Cleveland postal markings, published numerous articles and won national and international awards for his exhibits. The 65-year-old University Heights resident, who had a private law firm in downtown Cleveland, died Oct.
17 at the Cleveland Clinic. He died of complications from emphysema and heart disease, according to the Cuyahoga County coroner's office. Allen got into the postal marking collection as a teenager. One of his first collections was a series of envelopes and letters to and from the Civil War's southern prisoners at Johnson's Island in Sandusky Bay. "Tom Allen collected envelopes, what they call covers, that the prisoners of war wrote home," said Hans Pohler, president of the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club, a Greater Cleveland organization.
The envelopes had initials of the censors who read the letters, routing markings, border markings between the North and South, and a United States stamp of that period, he said. Thomas F. Allen A 1942 2007 Survivors: No survivors 1: Memorial services: 11 a.m., Saturday, St. Paul Episcopal Church, 2747 Fairmount 5. Cleveland Heights Contributions: St.
Paul Episcopal Church, 2747 Fairmount Cleveland br Heights 44106 Arrangements: Brown-Forward Funeral Service of Shaker Heights His overall collection showed how rates, markings and ink stampings changed through the end of the Civil War. The U.S. Postal Service began using stamps in 1847. His first exhibit of the Johnson's Island Prisoner of War covers won a silver medal at the 1978 March Party Stamp show, annually hosted by the GarfieldPerry Stamp Club, a Greater Cleveland organization. The exhibit of postal markings earned a gold medal and the American Philatelic Society medal of excellence at the 1993 AIRPEX, a national stamp show.
His full postal history, including a stamped and stampless exhibit, won an international gold medal in Brussels, Belgium, in 2001. He sold the exhibit in 1995. Allen also had a Cleveland collection of letter envelopes from the early 1800s through the Civil War period, including manuscript markings before postage stamps were used, said Pohler. He sold that collection last year. He co-authored a 1991 handbook on 19th-century Cleveland postal markings.
Allen is a past president of the United States Philatelic Classics Society. He was the editor in chief for one year of the organization's publication, the Chronicle. He joined the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club in 1976 and he served as its president, secretary and longtime treasurer. Allen was a member of the Ohio Postal History Society since 1976, and was its treasurer the past 12 years. He served as treasurer of several other philatelic organizations.
He judged numerous exhibits as an American Philatelic Society accredited judge. Allen was born in Norwalk and graduated from Norwalk High School. He graduated from Yale University in 1965, magna cum laude, and the Yale Law School in 1968. He joined the Squire Sanders Dempsey law firm after graduating and became a partner in 1978. He left the firm in 1991 to open his own law office.
His emphasis was on tax, estate, trust and related matters. A To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: I DEATHS ELSEWHERE Johtje Vos, 97, sheltered Jews during Nazi occupation From wire reports the ultimate question: Would sidered their actions heroic and they continue to help? never regretted the decision SAUGERTIES, N. Y. Dur- The answer for Johtje Vos was although it placed their lives ing the World War II Nazi occu- an emphatic yes. She and her and the lives of their children at pation of the Netherlands, husband provided wartime shel- risk.
Johtje Vos and her husband ter to Jews and saved the lives of "We couldn't do differently agreed to keep a suitcase full of 36 people. Vos died from com- than say yes," Vos said in an invaluables for a man forced to plications of old age Oct. 10 at terview posted on the Web site move to a ghetto. the home of her son here, said of the Museum of Tolerance in Then they said yes to a couple her daughter Barbara Moorman. Los Angeles.
who asked them to shelter their Vos was 97. Vos wrote a book, "The End of 3-year-old son and yes again to a For their actions, Vos and her the Tunnel," about her activities pair who sought safety in the husband received the title during the war. But for many Voses' home. "righteous people" from a rabbi years the couple never spoke Each request escalated and fi- at the Israeli consulate in 1992. publicly about their experiences, nally led the couple to confront The couple said they never con- Moorman said.
Death a Index MORRIS Andre M. MULLEN Sam A HI Death Notice Index a a MURPHY Mary C. (nee Christenson) NEBE William J. NENADAL Arthur F. O'BRIEN Beverly PETRELLO See Giallanza Notice POUNTNEY Dorothy Ruth PRINCE Edward Roger PULS Margaret J.
RAMUS Eleanor J. (nee McTigue) REIMER Margaret E. (nee Gydosh) ROLAND Bernice G. (nee Kinkelaar) ROYER Henry Arlington RUSSELL Regina E. SCHAEFER Edward SCHNEIDER Pauline G.
(nee Negrelli) SHIMRAK See DeFabio Notice SIMKO Mary (nee Tenik) SOLON Robert E. SPETA Jane (nee Lorince) STARK The Honorable Judge Leo P. SUPP Ladd F. TAYLOR Eugenia H. TAYLOR Minnie Ruth TEGREENE Dosia "Doe" THOMAS Willie Mae TONELLI Louis TORER Norbert R.
TUNNEY Rosaleen M. (nee Simmonds) TZANAKI See Zaccardelli VAN BUSKIRK Grant VITAS See Stark Notice VOMBERGAR Mirko WARREN Christina WILSON Marie C. (nee Krebs) WISH Esther (nee Givertz) ZACCARDELLI Elenh (nee Tzanaki) 1 Death Notices Arrangements by KINDRICH-MCHUGH STEINBAUER FUNERAL HOME. ALTO MARY S. ALTO (nee Daniele), age 80, died November 5, 2007.
Beloved wife of the late Frank dear mother of Frank R. (Donna), Mark J. (Diane), and the late Donald; loving grandmother of Danielle, Dominic, Sean, Rachel, Cassandra, Tyler; sister of the late Frank Daniele. Memorial Mass of Christian Burial, Thursday, November 8, 11 a.m. at Church of the Holy Angels, 18205 Chillicothe Bainbridge Twp.
Interment Mt. Hope Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Alzheimer's Assn. or Heartland Hospice. Death Notices ALVAREZ JOSE ANTONIO CALDERON ALVAREZ, age 42.
Beloved son of the late J. Jesus Calderon and Saludina Alvarez. Loving companion of Don Farone. Dearest brother of several brothers and ters all living in Mexico. Uncle of many nieces and nephews.
Funeral Mass Saturday, Nov. 10. 2007 at 12 Noon at St. Augustine Church, 2486 W.14th (PLEASE MEET AT CHURCH). Friends may call at the BOLLINGERCATAVOLOS FUNERAL HOME, 9810 DENISON FRIDAY 4-8 P.M.
ANDERSEN made to the funeral home. Share your Condolences, Thoughts and Memories Online Sign the guest book and post your personal message for death notices listed in today's paper, and from the past 30 days Find the online death notice listing and a link to the guest book at: www.cleveland.com/obits THE PLAIN DEALER KATHLEEN M. ANDERSEN, age 67, daughter of the late Edwin and Katherine Andersen; dear sister of Mark (Diane) Andersen; Donna Newman and the late Diane Gordon; aunt, great aunt and great-great aunt. Funeral Service Friday, 11:00 a.m. at the BAUER FUNERAL HOME, 2089 COLUMBIA VALLEY CITY, OH where friends may call THURSDAY 7-9 P.M.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be Death Notices ARNHOLT WILLIAM ARNHOLT was born to Elmer and Lydia Arnholt (nee Brethauer) on May 22, 1933, Seymour, IN. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Concordia Teacher's College, River Forest, IL in 1955. Mr. Arnholt received a call to teach on the staff of St. Mark Lutheran Church.
Bill was involved in music events in the greater Lutheran community for many years. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Maurice and sister, Doris. He is survived by two brothers, Robert (Bennie) of Seymour, IN and Loran of Marengo, IL, and his nephew, Wayne of Seymour, IN, and his nieces Donna and Philip Shelton of Decatur, AL, and Judy and Scott Little of Marengo, IL. VISITATION at BUSCH FUNERAL HOME AT 4334 PEARL ROAD ON FRIDAY FROM 5-8 P.M. Memorial services will be conducted at St.
Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4464 Pearl Road at 10:00 a.m. with a VIEWING BEGINNING AT 9:00 A.M. Memorial gifts to St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Endowment Fund may be made in lieu of flowers. BUSCH FUNERAL AND CREMATORY SERVICES 216-741-7700 For more information, to view an online memorial, or send condolence go to www.buschfuneral.com BACHA EILEEN E.
BACHA, age Dear mother of Kathy (David) Schiliro and Veronica DePould (Tim); loving grandmother of Nicole (Scott) Swecker, Crystal (Daniel) Morway, Michael Bruno and Brittany Schitiro; great-grandmother of Justin Schiliro, Brandon Morway, Mala Bruno, Madeline and Alexa Swecker; sister of the late Kruggel (Betty). VISITATION, FRIDAY, 7-9PM In the EL AT SUNSET MEMORIAL PARK, 6245 COLUMBIA where services will be held on Saturday, November 10 at 12:30 PM. Arrangements by DOSTAL FUNERAL SERVICE. dostalfuneralservices.com BLASEG See JACKIEWICZ Notice. RITA A.
BLASKO (nee Nemecek), age 86, passed away Nov. 3, 2007. Beloved wife of the late Joseph loving mother of Joseph A. (Audrey), Robert (Melanie), Mary Ann, and Daniel (Darla); grandmother of nine; great grandmother of six; sister of Bernadine Rudowsky (deceased) and Joann Houdek. Member of the Catholic Daughter Society and the St.
Leo the Great Funeral Choir. Mass of Christian Burial Friday, Nov. 9, St. Leo the Great Church at 10 a.m. Interment Holy Cross Cemetery.
Friends may call at THE TOMON SONS FUNERAL HOME, 4772 PEARL RD. (N. OF BROOKPARK RD.) CLEVELAND THURSDAY 2-4 AND 6-8 P.M. Family suggests contributions to St. Barnabas Villa, 9234 Olde Eight Northfield Center, OH 44067.
www.tomonfh.com Death Notices BLASKO BROOKS SUE BROOKS, age 70. Devoted wife of the late John; loving mother of John, Bonnie Walker, Annette Devlin, and Ramona Delfosse; dearest grandmother, great grandmother and sister. VISITATION FRIDAY 2-4 AND P.M. AT CRACIUN BERRY FUNERAL HOME, 7200 DETROIT where services will be heid Friday, 8:30 p.m. BRYANT LILLIE B.
BRYANT. Mother of Angela C. Williams. Funeral service to be held Friday, November 9, 2007 at Imani Church, 1505 East 260 Euclid; at 10:30 a.m. with WAKE ONE HOUR PRIOR TO SERVICE.
Interment Cleveland Memorial Gardens. Services entrusted to THE HOUSE OF WILLS FUNERAL HOME. 14711 HARVARD AVE. Houseofwills.com I P. 1 Willoughby Hills: Mayor Ken Lorenz was soundly defeated by City Council President Robert Weger by a vote of 1,812 to 347.
In a bitter race with finger-pointing over actions of a former city accountant and a proposed expansion of the Cuyahoga County Airport, Lorenz also was the target of sexual harassment allegations from a strip club bartender he hired to work in City Hall. Sheffield: Democrat John Hunter handily defeated fourterm Republican incumbent Mayor Darlene Ondercin in a 718-548 vote. Hunter, 65, the former president of the United Auto Workers Union at Ford's Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, said the victory proved that residents wanted a change in leadership and direction. Hunter has been critical of the village's flood preparedness and the shuttering of a fire station. Lodi: Eight-year Republican incumbent Thomas Longsdorf, 63, placed third in a three-way race.
"Lodi is a sleepy little town that has changed little in 30 years," said the victor, Dan Goodrow. "Thomas is a nice guy, but the village needs controlled growth." He said he is trying to bring a water park to the area as well as stimulate jobs and growth. To reach these Plain Dealer reporters: 216-999-4549 216-999-4115 and families who paved the way. He said Brenda Lee Drive builds on that tradition. As for the street's namesake, she couldn't be happier that it's staying.
The Punds, married since 1991, live within eyesight of the development. Brenda Lee Pund makes a daily drive past the sign adorned with "the name my mother gave me." Today, she said, she will appreciate it more than ever. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: 800-962-1167 ALTO Mary S. (nee Daniele) ALVAREZ Jose Antonio Calderon ANDERSEN Kathleen ARNHOLT William BACHA Eileen E. BLASEG See Jackiewicz Notice BLASKO Rita A.
Nemecek) BROOKS Sue BRYANT Lillie B. BURLINGHAM Robert L. "Bob" BURNS Robert H. BURNS See Burlingham Notice BUTLER Harry F. BUTLER Reota L.
CALABRESE Ferdinand "Fritz" CHRYSLER Erwin J. CLAYTON Helen E. COOPER Elizabeth "Beth" (nee Salucka) R. CRIMALDI (nee Valosephine CURRENCE Marion DeCAPUA Linda (nee Fletcher) DeFABIO Gus DUDAS Barbara (nee Sikosky) FAWCETT George O. FENN Richard Carl FLURY Norman S.
FONTANA Charles T. FOY Everett Eugene GAFFNEY Margaret Joan (nee Baugh) GIALLANZA Filomena F. GIBBS Trayshon Jamal GLAVAN Mary Louise (nee Estock) GLENN Kenneth E. GROSS Rosemary A. HAFLINGER Jack E.
HAGAN Robert HENDERSON Levy "Doc" HESTON Dorothy M. (nee Reimer) HINTON Bobby Carl JACKIEWICZ Gary L. JACKSON Rayford L. JOHNSON Richard JONES Linda Ann KANE Daniel D. KARPY See Saunders Notice KENNEDY Virginia L.
(nee Mohr) KUSIMIER See Giallanza Notice LaCONTE See DeFabio Notice LEFFERTS Earl F. LITZ William E. LUDWIG Lidia J. MAMBU Fred N. MARCHIO Anthony "Tony" MARECZKO Sophia "Sophie" McCARGO James B.
McGREGOR William McNEELY Robert M. "Bobo" MERDLER Annette, (nee Nebel) MICHELLER Joseph MOHEREK Valentine MORAN Michael P. MORRIS Andre M. MULLEN Sam 5 A HI.
