Obituaries
Died at 9:30PM on Monday, June 15, 2009 at his residence near Kentwood, LA. He was a native and resident of Kentwood, LA. Age 86 years. Mr. Travis was a U. S. Navy veteran of WWII. Visitation at New Zion Baptist Church, Kentwood, from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. on Wednesday and from 8 a.m. until religious services at 11 a.m. Thursday. Services conducted by Rev. Gibbie McMillian and Rev. Richard Sandberg. Interment New Zion Cemetery, Kentwood, LA. Survived by son, Alton P. Travis, Jr. and his wife, Linda, 6 grandchildren, Carrie Abadie King and husband, Jeff, Ramona Abadie Bacino and husband, Jeff, Elizabeth Hughes Smith and husband, John, Fannie Hughes Allen and husband, David, Sutton Taylor Travis and wife, Stephanie, Cullyn Lea Travis, 7 great-grandchildren, Eli Allen, Samuel Smith, Allie Smith, Savana Allen, Jordan Allen, Sophia Bacino, Joseph Bacino, 2 brothers, Winfred Travis, Kentwood, Billy Travis, Kentwood, 1 sister, Dorothy Hughes, Kentwood. Preceded in death by wife, Eliza Easley Travis, daughter, Diane A. Hughes, parents, Walter and Netty Travis, 3 brothers, Lee, E.D., and Lige Travis, 3 sisters, Ethel Travis, Marie Blades, Rosa Travis. McKneely Funeral Home, Kentwood, in charge of arrangements.Tuesday
“I am He who lives, and was dead,
and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.
And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”
~Revelation 1:18, NKJV~
Doctor appointments can help the caregiver as much as the patients. That’s the way I feel after taking Momma and Daddy to the doctor yesterday. I know we are one the right track. Thanks for your continued prayers for my parents, my sisters, and me.
This devotional is the kind of medical treatment we don’t need, but it carries a message that needs to be shared. Thank you, Mike Benson, so getting across messages in such a special way.
Lazy
THERE WAS A big, overgrown cow poke named Tall Cotton, whose specialty was going to sleep during duty hours, leaving the rest of the crew to do his share of the work…
The boys took it for a time, but they finally decided that something had to be done about the matter.
Then came the day they found Cotton curled up in a haystack, boots off, sound asleep. They opportunity was golden. The boys rounded up a huge tarantula, killed it, and laid it close to Cotton’s leg. Then they tied a pin on the end of a stick and jabbed the sleeping cowboy a couple of times. Cotton came awake like a wild Comanche doing the snake dance and, at the same time, a cowboy rushed up and smashed the tarantula with his boot heel.
Cotton took one look at the dead tarantula and turned white. He began to get sick, even though the other cowboys did their best to console him with stories of horrible deaths they had seen as a result of tarantula bites. Finally, one of the crew, who laid claim to having read Ten Thousand Things Worth Knowing, as well as Dr. Chase’s Recipe Book, offered to try to save Cotton, even though he admitted it seemed hopeless.
First, the cowboy poured a pint of Castor oil down Cotton. Then he followed it up with a glass of soda, a cup of vinegar, and finally a quart of water in which a plug of tobacco had been soaking. For a while it seemed almost certain that Cotton was going to die from the tarantula bite, but the medicine was potent and, eventually, he was saved.
After that, the crew had very little trouble with him lying down on the job, especially in haystacks! (Stan Hoig, The Humor of the American Cowboy, 26, 27)
“Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.” Proverbs 6:4; cf. 6:9-10, 24:33
Have a blessed day!
Anna Lee
Monday Evening
Sandra Birch Lee
(January 31, 1948 – June 14, 2009)
Sandra Birch Lee died Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 5:05 P.M. at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center surrounded by her loving family. She was born on January 31, 1948 and is preceded in death by her father, William Clovis Birch, her mother-in-law and father-in-law, Zylphla Allen and Hardy Lee, grandparents; Mae Felps and Jule Pierce Needham and Leon and Bernice Birch and Jessie Alford Young; four brothers-in-law, Luther, James and Reuben Lee and Kyle Brabham. Left to cherish her memory is her husband, Leroy Travls “Pete” Lee, daughter Vickie Lee and son Petey Lee, mother, Mildred Needham Birch, 4 sisters, Judy Bridges and husband Maurice J. of Kentwood, Rhonda McGehee and husband Allan, and Sue Lane & husband, Benny, all of Watson, Beth Brabham of Magnolia, MS and brother, Bill Birch and wife Sharon of Kentwood, two grandsons, Lee Aron & Hardy Hayden; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law; Georgia Yarborough of Kentwood, Ethel and Neil Felker of Baton Rouge, Sara Lee, Zachary, Patsy Lee, Greensburg, Mary Lou Lee, Amite, aunts and uncles; Helen & Edgar Caston, Baton Rouge, and Lula Will, Kentwood, and an uncle, John Needham from Gainesville, FL, and numerous nieces and nephews. Visiting will be at New Zion Baptist Church on Highway 38 W, Kentwood, LA on Tuesday from 6 p.m. until funeral services at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Services conducted by Rev. Clay Spinks. Interment at New Zion Cemetery. The family would like to thank the staff at the hospital, especially Dr. Harold Clausen, Dr. Paul Waguespack, and Dr. Scott Landry who provided such excellent care. McKneely Funeral Home, Kentwood, in charge of arrangements.
Betty Bridges Wales
(August 19, 1937 – June 12, 2009)
Died at 7:25 p.m. on Sunday, June 14, 2009 at North Oaks Medical Center in Hammond, LA. She was a native of Tangipahoa Parish, LA and a resident of Kentwood, LA. Age 71 years. She was a member of Bethel Baptist Church. Visitation at Bethel Baptist Church, Kentwood, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Monday and from 8 a.m. until religious services at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Services conducted by Rev. Clay Spinks. Interment New Zion Cemetery, Kentwood, LA. She is survived by 2 daughters, Mary “Kathy” Burge, Angola, and Billie Johnson, Ethel; son, Richard Wales and wife, Kathy, Walker; 8 grandchildren, Kim Lee, Josh Miller, Shannon McCray, Joseph Johnson, Tyler Wales, Heidi Wales, Clay Wales, and Wyatt Wales; 5 great-grandchildren, Justin Burge, Kristy Allen, Destiny Dover, Bryson Lee, and, Kaliyah McCray; 2 sisters, Monnie McNabb and husband, John, Kentwood and Billie Rae Bullock, Osyka, MS; brother, Maurice Jay Bridges and wife, Judy, Kentwood; numerous nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, Tena and Willie Bridges; 3 brothers, Rocky, Pud, and Curtis Bridges; sister, Rhonda Bridges. Pallbearers will be Richard Wales, Josh Miller, Clay Wales, Tyler Wales, Byron Bullock, and Cody Bullock. Honorary pallbearer will be Joseph Johnson.
Diana Schexnayder Henry |
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A resident of Houma, she died at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 13, 2009. She was 64 and a native of Amite. Visitation on Tuesday, June 16, at St. Bernadette Catholic Church, Houma, from 9 a.m. until Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. Survived by her spouse, Rene J. Henry Sr., Houma; son, Rene J. Henry Jr. and wife Donata, of Abita Springs; daughter, Lisa Henry Hoffman and husband Drew, Kenner; and three grandchildren, Heather R. Hoffman, Kenner, and Ella Rose Henry and Benjamin Roy Henry, both of Abita Springs. Preceded in death by her parents, Roy A. and Mary Adolph Schexnayder. Arrangements by Chauvin Funeral Home Inc., Houma. |
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Monday
“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you . . .
being confident of this very thing,
that He who has begun a good work in you
will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
~Philippians 1:3-6~
Please continue to pray for Mrs. Blanch Wheat and her family. “Miss” Blanch is at home.
Please continue to pray for my parents, Grant and Dot Smith, especially my mom as she continues to recover from her fall.
The share group will meet Thursday at 6:30 at the cabin. Join us for food, fellowship, and a devotional.
Have a great day!
Anna Lee
Sunday Evening – More Additions & Updates
Judy Easley’s son, Joffrey, and son-in-law, Shaun, were in a boating accident yesterday. Joffrey was bruised, but otherwise okay. The propellar cut Shaun’s leg, so he had surgery at Ochner’s yesterday. He also has a fractured vertebrae. Please pray for the family. Kim graduates from orthodontist school Friday. Pray for the family that day and in the coming days as Kim begins her business in Hammond. Judy said they were all very thankful it was not any worse.
Four people who had surgery in the last week or so were in church. Logan Sanders, Delanie Dean, Susie Sharkey, and Jesse Dean are all progressing nicely. Please continue to pray for them.
Mike Lambert will be having a heart procedure tomorrow at Ochsner Hospital in Baton Rouge. Please pray for him and his family tomorrow.
Sunday Evening
Sandra Lee passed away a little before 5 P.M. tonight. Arrangements will be made tomorrow. Please continue to pray for the Lee and Birch families.
Don Denton
Today Joshua and I were able to attend church. It is hard to describle what that feeling is like when coming back to church after a lengthy illness has happened.
Don’s illness is considered chronic. My entire understanding of what “chronic illness” means has changed. The level of empathy for those suffering from a chronic illness has changed to.
Don will get better. It has just taken longer than we could have ever imagined. His goal is to be back at work the fall semester and he is making amazing strides in that direction. It looks more than ever like a reality that this will happen.
The doctors at “Barnes Jewish” wanted Don to go from there to a full time rehab hospital and Don and I decided not to. And we are glad we did.
Don is now walking with a cane again back here at home again. Don has done his own intensive work here at home to get to a place where he can be in “out patient” therapy again. Don will start that on Monday.
We continue to take “one day” at a time. And we are learning more of what moving forward looks like and not letting this disease become our life, our idenity.
And of course we have our “set back” days which is normal. Allowing ourselves the grace to be there is a good thing.
Please pray for us, we have allot to do this week. Pray for Don’s continued progress. We are very hopeful.
We give thanks to you all for your continued support of us. We could not make it without all that you do for us. I continue to be humbled by what God does to meet our needs.
Bless you our family and friends.
Diane
Dukes Family
< happy birthday! >
Yesterday was Erik’s 40th birthday. He celebrated it with his wife and kids at Dinosaur World in Bowling Green, KY. I don’t think that was his birthday celebration of choice, though, unless he has become an avid dinosaur guy without me knowing. I think his birthday celebration of choice was to be with his wife and make his boys happy. One of them in particular is quite fond of dinosaurs. He was very happy.
Yesterday was Erik’s 40th birthday. He celebrated it with his wife and kids at Dinosaur World in Bowling Green, KY. I don’t think that was his birthday celebration of choice, though, unless he has become an avid dinosaur guy without me knowing. I think his birthday celebration of choice was to be with his wife and make his boys happy. One of them in particular is quite fond of dinosaurs. He was very happy.
What was probably his best birthday surprise was from Mom. Just a little over a month ago, if you had asked Erik if he thought Mom would ever sing him happy birthday again, he would have probably responded with something like doubtful. But, she did.
She had on her passy muir valve. Dad was on the phone with Erik. Dad asked Mom if she remembered it was Erik’s birthday. She said she did. He asked her if she wanted to tell him happy birthday. She said she did. Dad didn’t say anything about singing, but Mom sang. In keeping with the normal birthday routine, she busted into the tune. She sang Erik the most amazing rendition of happy birthday we had all ever heard, her arrangement including the passy muir valve rasp for effect.
Erik must have smiled. You could almost hear it through the phone.
Another cool birthday thing yesterday. Yesterday evening, Dad and Jen and the kids and I stopped again to see Mom. It was a good visit. At one point, Caleb asked Ammaw if she remembered his birthday. She said September 20th, which is right. Jen then asked Mom if she remembered Katey’s. Without hesitation, she said August 11th, which is right. Abby’s? November…she didn’t remember the exact date, but she got the month. Ella’s? No hesitation again. December 13th was her answer. She was right. Pretty awesome!
Some days it seems like her memory is all there. Other days it’s not quite as clear. But then again, how often do I walk into a room and walk back out hoping to remember what I walked in for in the first place?
Yet another birthday thing. Mom’s 68th birthday is Monday, June 22nd. We are looking forward to a great celebration. Y’all come join us!!!
To say we are pleased with Mom’s new hospital would be an understatement. Right away, they have focused wholistically and proactively on Mom’s health, with the goal in mind to move her to the brain center in Orlando for rehab. Her first day in the new place, they plugged her tracheotomy (which we thought was overdue), sat her up on the edge of the bed (which you can see in the picture), and made advancement in treating her sacral decubitus (the bedsore on her bottom). Pretty amazing.
Today, they already are talking about taking out the tracheotomy, doing another swallow study to get Mom on a full diet, and getting the cranium piece back on. I will keep you posted on the plan ahead. We are very thankful.
Dad and Jen and the kids and I have had a great week. I will post some pics on my blog to give you some highlights. Click here to go there. Erik will be with Dad all of next week. Jen and the kids and I will be back the next.
I hope yall have a great week. Be thankful for your dads. I am very thankful to be typing on a computer next to mine right now.
Oh yeah! Erik didn’t turn 40 yesterday. He turned 39. I like to pick at him since he’s older than me.
I’ll post at you later.
-jason
Sunday
“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” ~James 5:16b~
Tiffany Bankston Currier is home (Cedartown, GA), but still has pneumonia, pleurisy, and low oxygen levels. Please continue to pray for her and her family. Her parents will stay at least ten more days to help take care of Tiffany and her family.
Mattress
JERUSALEM — An Israeli woman mistakenly threw out a mattress with $1 million inside, setting off a frantic search through tons of garbage at a number of landfill sites, Israeli media reported Wednesday.
The woman told Army Radio that she bought her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise on Monday and threw out the old one, only to discover that her mother had hidden her life savings inside. She was identified only as Anat, a resident of Tel Aviv.
When she went to look for the mattress it had already been taken by garbage men, she said. Subsequent searches at three different landfill sites turned up nothing.
The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot published a picture of the woman searching through garbage at a dump in southern Israel.
Yitzhak Borba, the dump manager, told the radio station that his staff was helping the woman, saying she appeared “totally desperate.” He said the mattress was hard to find among the 2,500 tons of garbage arriving at the site every day.
He said he increased security at the site to keep would-be treasure hunters at bay.
For her part, Anat said it could be worse. “People have to take everything in proportion and thank God for the good and the bad,” she said.
Loosing a $1M would be bad; loosing your soul would be a lot worse.
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world,
and loses his own soul?”
Mark 8:36
Posted by Mike Benson at June 11, 2009 10:35 AM
Count your many blessing this Lord’s Day!
Anna Lee
Saturday Afternoon Update
Pete Lee has decided to wait until Monday to remove Sandra’s life support if God doesn’t intervene in the meantime. Keep praying for the family as they wait at Lady of the Lake.
Saturday – Another Update
Dukes Family
< progress…hopefully. >
So sorry for not updating since Wednesday. We have had a busy Thursday and Friday. It has been such a blessing this week to have Jen and the kids here. Dad and Mom and I have all so enjoyed it. It’s been a change of pace, for sure, which has been very good. It has also changed our routine a bit, so the updating hasn’t been as frequent, as you have probably noticed.
Thursday was a good day overall. The highlight to me was Jen getting some focused time with Mom. She really loves Mom, and over the past two years has come to know her well. More than just mother-in-law or grandma. Also as friend. They have spent a lot of time together. Mom has been pretty much a daily part of our lives since they moved to Orlando in June 2007.
Thursday afternoon, Dad and Jen got to hang with Mom for a while. I took the kids and rode around, enjoying the Westbank scenery. We drove down toward the end of the road (near Jean Laffitte toward the Gulf) and through the Barataria Preserve. Didn’t see an alligator, which was the goal of the older two kids. Oh well. They have lots of those in our neighborhood back home, so it’s okay.
Jen really enjoyed her time. Jen helped Mom take in about half a chocolate smoothie that we brought her. She got to care for Mom like the amazing nurse that she is. Her smile afterward, when we met them in the parking garage, was neat to see. I could also see in her eyes a hurt in her heart, missing her friend.
It is hard to see Mom and remember. The hurt is in the remembering and in the imagining. The beauty is in the now. We are thankful for the time now with Mom. We hurt thinking back on time before, because we don’t know yet if we will have that time again. We will see. We are praying. And dealing with the anger from time to time of the driver who wasn’t supposed to even be driving that stole the prime of Mom’s “grandmother” life.
Pray for us in that. And for the driver. It does no good to dwell in that anger. Just admitting it’s there.
Thursday morning, Dad and I went to see Mom early. Then, we headed out to Kenner, LA to tour another LTAC (long-term acute care hospital) for Mom. Ochsner hospital recently purchased this LTAC, and we wanted to check it out. You may have picked up from time to time in our postings some real dissatisfaction with where Mom has been. There are some bright spots for sure, but overall we lost have lost our trust in her care there. We have great trust in Ochsner and a long relationship with them taking care of our family. We trust that this new LTAC will be good for Mom.
Friday evening, Mom was moved there. SHE IS NOW IN THE OCHSNER KENNER HOSPITAL off of Loyola Ave in Kenner. She is in the LTAC there. We are thankful for Mom’s progress. We are very hopeful that it will continue at her new facility with more attention, more precaution, more cleanliness, and more proactiveness.
The New Orleans Baptist Seminary has been amazing in their support of our family. They reminded me again to put the link for the web page where you can donate to help Mom and Dad with the coming medical bills. If you want to do so, you can click here to visit that page. When you donate, you will be donating to the Seminary and notating that the donation is for the “Jimmy and Retia Dukes fund.”
Thankful for all of you and all of your support. Today, we are going to see Mom this morning and afternoon, going to take the kids to the Aquarium in between, and going to take Dad to Drago’s for lunch I think. Some friends from the Tylertown, MS area are down and want to take Dad to his favorite restaurant. They are sweet to do so.
We’ll post at you later.
-jason
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