Obituaries Jan. 12
Notice: Undefined variable: article_ad_placement3 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/single.php on line 128
Shelondia Jean Archer, 63, of Washington, died Friday, January 10, 2014.
Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by William G. Neal Funeral Homes Ltd., Washington.
McGraw Edison scheduler enjoyed hunting, sports
James A. Capra, 79, of McDonald, passed away Friday, Jan. 10, 2014, in Woodcliff Senior Care, Bethel Park.
Mr.Capra was born in McDonald on January 27, 1934, a son of the late James V. and Alice Martinek Capra.
Surviving are his loving wife of 57 years, Dolores Wiszczor Capra and their five children, James A. (Cindy) Capra Jr. of Washington, Larry V. (Jonette) Capra of Cranberry Township, Linda L. (John) Petika of Florida, Timothy J.(Judy) Capra of Florida and David L. (Jill) Capra of McDonald; and 12 grandchildren.
Mr. Capra was a retired scheduler for McGraw Edison.
He was a member of St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church in McDonald.
Mr. Capra enjoyed hunting and sports.
He was a member of the U.S. Air Force Cadets.
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday in Thomas-Little Funeral Service Inc., 314 West Lincoln Avenue, McDonald. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, January 14, in St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church, McDonald. Interment will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Moon Township.
Friends may sign a guest book at thomas-littlefuneralservice.com.
U.S. Army veteran worked for Jessop Steel
Joseph Compeggie, 86, of Canonsburg, passed away peacefully at 10:55 p.m. Friday, January 10, 2014, in Greenery Health and Rehabilitation Center, North Strabane Township.
He was born September 27, 1927, in Muse, a son of the late Emilio and Angeline Buzzo Compeggie.
Mr. Compeggie lived his life in the Muse area, where he was a member of Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church.
He attended Cecil schools.
Mr. Compeggie served with the U.S. Army during the Korean War era.
Prior to his retirement, he was employed as a steelworker for Jessop Steel Corp.
Mr. Compeggie was a member of Muse Independent Club and Italian Heritage Society.
On October 13, 1962, he married Fortunata M. Calabro, who survives. They celebrated 51 years of marriage.
Also surviving are three sons, Dr. Michael E. (Cindy) Compeggie of Sneads Ferry N.C., Christopher J. (Margaret) Compeggie of Bainbridge Island, Wash., and Joel D. Compeggie of Canonsburg; four grandchildren, Christopher, Megan, Joseph and Sara Compeggie; two sisters, Lucy Oddis of Tampa, Fla., and Millie Kifer of Canonsburg; a brother-in-law, Frank (Janet) Calabro; sisters-in-law Alice, Joan and Myrna Calabro; a cousin, Jean Graff; and many nieces and nephews.
Deceased, in addition to his parents, are three sisters, Stella Moore, Nita Vergnola and Doris Chessey, and a brother, Mario Compeggie.
Friends are welcome from 2 to 8 p.m. Monday in Salandra Funeral Service Inc., Joseph P. Salandra, owner/supervisor, 304 West Pike Street, Canonsburg, 724-745-8120, where departing prayers will be recited at 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, January 13. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. in Holy Rosary Church, Muse, with the Rev. George T. DeVille, as celebrant. Interment with full military rites by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 191 and American Legion Post 902 Honor Guard, will be held at 12:30 p.m. in National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, Cecil Township. To view or extend condolences, please visit www.salandrafunerals.com.
Linda J. Daugherty, 58, of Canonsburg, passed away unexpectedly Saturday, January 11, 2014, in her home.
Arrangements are entrusted to Salandra Funeral Service Inc. 724-745-8120.
A complete obituary will be published in later edition.
Pipefitter and bricklayer enjoyed fishing
John D. “Jack” Dempe , 80, of McDonald died Thursday, January 9, 2014.
He was born July 28, 1933, in McDonald, a son of Joseph and Lucille McGinnis?Dempe.
Mr. Dempe was a pipefitter for J&L Steel in Aliquippa for 29 years and then Quality Rolls in Pittsburgh for 14 years, where he retired in 1996. He also was a subcontractor as a bricklayer.
He enjoyed playing cards and fishing.
On May 1 1953, he married Lois Ann Parkinson, who survives.
Surviving, in addition to his wife, are two daughters, Deborah Vadas of McDonald and Kelly (Terry) Plutko of Harmony; a son, Scott Dempe of McDonald; a sister, Viola “Porky” Hampson of McDonald; a brother, Robert Dempe of Sturgeon; a granddaughter, Shawna (Scott) Simpson; and three great-grandchildren, Drake, Ciara and Mason John Simpson.
Deceased are four brothers, Hinton, Ted, Ralph and William Dempe, and two sisters, Betty Hampson and Laverne Faglio.
At the request of the deceased, there will be no visitation. Family and friends are invited to gather for a committal service at 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 14, in National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, Cecil Township. Arrangements by Nation Funeral Home, 218 East Lincoln Avenue, McDonald, PA 15057. View online at www.nationfuneralhome.com.
Elementary school teacher raised in Claysville
Mary Lee Hodinko, 78, of Washington, raised in Claysville, died Thursday, January 9, 2014, in Humbert Lane Care Centre, South Strabane Township.
She was born January 27, 1935, in Claysville, a daughter of Alvin H. Carl and Mary Sheller Carl, who are deceased.
Mrs. Hodinko was a graduate of Claysville High School and California State Teachers College. She was employed as an elementary school teacher in Alexandria, Va., for 10 years, Ravenswood, W.Va., and Washington. She was last a substitute in McGuffey School District.
She was a member of Bethel Presbyterian Church, Prosperity. She enjoyed spending time with her family, reading and traveling, especially family trips.
On December 10, 1954, she married Robert George Hodinko, who survives.
Also surviving are a son, Douglas (Melissa) Hodinko of Canonsburg; a daughter, Debra Lee Hodinko of Washington; and four grandchildren, Samuel, Hayden, Robert and Katie Hodinko.
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, January 12, in William G. Neal Funeral Homes Ltd., 925 Allison Avenue, Washington. Services and burial are private.
Additional information and a guest book are available at www.NealFuneralHome.com.
50-year Peters Township resident was U.S. Steel retiree and avid outdoorsman
Robert Mason “Bob” Mills passed away peacefully Friday, December 27, 2013, in Kent, Wash. He had been battling cardiovascular disease and advancing dementia for a few years.
He was born April 7, 1924, in Duquesne, the second son of Dr. William Woolslaer McCleary Mills and Louisa Carr Rhodes Mills.
Deceased are his parents; his loving wife, Dorothy Frances Fiedler Mills, who passed in January 2006; and his youngest child, Thomas Randolph Mills, who died in November 1993. His older brother, William W.M. Mills Jr., passed in December 2003.
Surviving are son Robert Mason “Rob” Mills II and longtime partner Jon Perdue of Walnut Creek, Calif.; daughter Kathleen Lynn Mills Cheritt and partner Mark Lucas of Kent; sister-in-law Dorothy Strohsahl Fiedler of Holland, Pa.; nephew Richard Lionel Fiedler and wife Charlotte of Royersford; niece Janet Fiedler Andes and husband Bob of Richboro; and niece Mary Lou Mills and spouse Janet Roslund of Monongahela and The Villages, Fla.
With direct lineage to some of the earliest pioneers to cross the Allegheny Mountains in the early decades the 1700s, his roots can be traced through the Mills, McKinney, Snodgrass, Laird, Baldridge and McCleary families. Fifth great-grandfather Timothy Mills came from England and settled on Jamaica Bay, Long Island, New York, in 1656. Fourth great-grandfather Nathaniel Mills moved to Morristown, N.J., about 1700. His third great-grandfather, Matthew McKinney, was born in Elizabeth Township in 1744. His second great-grandfather, Stephen Mills, purchased about 400 acres along the Monongahela River in 1801, comprising what are now the Boroughs of Braddock and North Braddock.
His great-grandfather, Isaac Mills Sr., laid out the plan for the borough and was the first burgess of the new Borough of Braddock. The Isaac Mills family mansion stood on the brow of the hill along Mills Avenue between Fifth and Sixth streets. This stately home became Braddock’s first hospital in 1902. The Mills family mausoleum still stands at the very center of Monongahela Cemetery in Braddock Hills, although the vaults have long been sealed. Grandfather Stephen Mills and great-uncle James Mills were founders and proprietors of Braddock Brick Works. Great uncle Charles Mills was founder and publisher of Braddock Daily News.
His father, Dr. William Woolslaer McCleary Mills, was a general practitioner and surgeon in Duquesne for many decades as well a chief of emergency services at McKeesport Hospital, head of pathology at Homestead Hospital and one of a very few doctors to maintain an active medical license in the state for more than 60 years. He really looked up to and admired his dad. His mother, Louisa Carr Rhodes, came from a prominent McKeesport family, who were proprietors of a dry goods business for many decades. His uncle, John Rhodes, served in the Pennsylvania Legislature for more than 20 years.
When he was born, the family lived at 217 North Second Street in Duquesne. He played stick-ball in the alley behind the house and worked summers at Kennywood Park. He graduated from Duquesne High School in spring 1941. He then spent the 1941-42 school year at Mercersburg Academy, a college preparatory boarding school in Franklin County, where he exceled at soccer and swimming.
Having reached the age of 18 in April 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in summer 1942. He went off to flight school at Lackland Air Base in San Antonio, Texas, and earned his wings in 1944 as a second lieutenant. He was trained as a pilot of B-17, B-24 and B-25 bombers. Although he was never sent into action overseas, he loved to fly and always spoke of those years with great fondness for his captain and crew. He also looked up to his big brother, Bill, who was five years older and a captain and pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He flew more than 25 missions across Europe and retired as a lieutenant colonel from the Air Force Reserve.
As a young man, his father, Dr. Will, would take him along to visit their 300-acre farm, really just woodland and meadows, in Fulton County, south of Harrisonville, along Licking and Owl creeks, where they would hunt for fowl and small game. It was here where they would share the friendship of the Deshong and Strait families, which continues to this day.
Another treasured place he held close in his heart was a very rustic cold-water, two-room cabin along Medix Run, north of Clearfield. This is where he went deer hunting with his college fraternity brothers. It is a place his wife loved as well, and they spent some quiet time there every year.
After his military discharge, Mr. Mills enrolled at Grove City College. After one year, he transferred to Allegheny College, Meadville. There, he met his future wife, Dottie Fiedler, and made many lifelong friends. He majored in English for his bachelor of arts, and he was a fraternity brother at Phi Gamma Delta.
After they graduated from Allegheny in spring 1951, they were married September 22, 1951, at St. Mark’s Methodist Church in Rockville Centre, Long Island, N.Y., the town where she had been raised and graduated from Southside High School.
That autumn, they settled into an apartment in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood and took the trolley downtown. Mr. Mills worked for the National Tube division of U.S. Steel, and Mrs. Mills was a secretary. In 1954, they moved to McGrann Hills in Peters Township in Washington County. With their third child, son TR, born in 1963, they had outgrown their small house on Highway View Road. They found a lovely acre of maple and elm trees on Robinhood Lane and built their dream house, a three-story colonial “in the woods” of Giant Oaks. They resided in Peters Township for more than 50 years.
Mr. Mills was an avid outdoorsman; he simply loved to be out-of-doors. He enjoyed to hunt, fish and camp, and he instilled and nurtured the enjoyment of the out-of-doors in his three kids and wife Dottie, his self-proclaimed “child bride.” He was a life member of the National Rifle Association and strong advocate of firearm safety. He was certified by the Pennsylvania Game Commission as a hunters safety instructor and conducted courses for many years. He was an excellent marksman, whether rifle, shotgun or pistol, and re-loaded most of his ammunition. He was a top-notch amateur photographer. Later in life, he went deer hunting with his .357 Magnum and his 35mm with telephoto zoom lens.
He was a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America and wrote a weekly column called “Outdoor Outlook” for the Observer-Reporter in the 1970s. He was a protégé and friend of Dr. Roger Latham, who then was the outdoor editor of the Pittsburgh Press. He and his wife took the three kids in the Buick station wagon with the Starcraft tent-camper in tow and visited most of the National Parks in the Rocky Mountains, the Great Lakes, the Northeast and the Appalachians during the ’60s and ’70s. He was one of the founding committee members of Boy Scout Troop 320, sponsored by Trinity United Methodist Church in Peters Township, and taught merit badges in marksmanship, hunting and fishing.
After his retirement from U.S. Steel and his wife’s retirement from Peters Township government as planning director, they enjoyed making trips to various places: the Eastern shore in summer, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii, Ontario, Canada and the Great Lakes, the streams of West Virginia and to Washington and California states to see their kids. Their 50th wedding anniversary was spent with family in Rocky Mountain National Park along the Big Thompson River in Estes Park, Colo., in September 2001.
Many pictures of family and friends and other info will be posted on DotAndBobMills.com in the next few weeks. Children Kathy and Rob can be reached at Info@DotAndBobMills.com. The family suggests donations to Carnegie Free Library of Braddock (Carnegie’s very first library), McKeesport Heritage Center, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy or National Wildlife Federation. As per his wishes, he has been cremated, and no memorial services are planned.
His family says Cheers! to him as he and his wife are together once again to enjoy a Pennsylvania martini.
U.S. Navy veteran retired from McGraw Edison
Charles A. Pizzuti, 87, formerly of Canonsburg, passed away peacefully, to be with his Lord, with his daughters by his side, Friday, January 10, 2014, in Washington County Health Center, Chartiers Township.
He was born October 13, 1926, in Muse, a son of the late Albert and Dominica “Minnie” Pizzuti.
Mr. Pizzuti lived most of his life in Muse and Canonsburg.
He served with the U.S. Navy during World War II as Seaman Second Class and receiving a Victory Medal.
After 36 years, Mr. Pizzuti retired in 1988, as a bushing maker for the former McGraw Edison.
He was a member of St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church, Muse Italian Club, SNPJ Lodge 138 of Strabane and also the International Button Box Group.
On December 12, 1953, he married Alice Pastovich, who passed away August 1970.
Surviving are three daughters, Charlene Dunkerly, Patricia (Dennis Mitchel) DeThomas and Margaret (Doug) Hildebrand; eight grandchildren, Ezra, Elijah, Jesse, Zaccariah and Christian Hildebrand, Christopher Elewski, Michael and Ryan Dunkerly; seven great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
He was the last of his immediate family.
Deceased, in addition to his parents and spouse, is a grandchild, Isaiah, who passed away shortly after birth, and several brothers and sisters.
Family and friends are welcome from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday in Salandra Funeral Service Inc., Joseph P. Salandra, owner/supervisor, 304 West Pike Street, Canonsburg, 724-745-8120. Services and interment will be private and held in the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, Cecil Township, at a later date. To view or place condolences, please visit www.salandrafunerals.com.
Maple Creek Coal Mine retiree
William Joseph “Joe” Rex, 60, of Rices Landing, died Thursday, January 9, 2014, in his daughter’s home in Mt. Holly, N.C.
He was born June 16, 1953, in Waynesburg, a son of the late William and Nancy Stauffer Rex.
Mr. Rex was a 1972 graduate of Carmichaels High School.
He was a retired coal miner from Maple Creek Coal Mine and had also worked at one time as a bus driver for Jefferson-Morgan School District and McNally Bus Company.
Mr. Rex was a member of United Mine Workers of America and Rices Landing Volunteer Fire Company.
He was an avid outdoorsman and hunter, and enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his grandsons.
On June 28, 1975, he married Darlene Joyce Sabo, who survives.
Also surviving are a son, Dale Rex and his wife Stacey of Gastonia, N.C.; a daughter, Tammie Rex Wofford and her husband Jim of Mt. Holly; four grandsons, Dylan Rex, Dalton Rex, Drew Wofford and Ryan Wofford; a brother, Kenneth Rex and his wife Cindy of Rices Landing; two sisters, Thelma McCartney and her husband John of Jefferson and Robin Grimm of Blairsville; and several nieces and nephews.
Deceased is a brother, James D. Rex Sr.
Family and friends will be received from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday in Behm Funeral Homes, 1477 Jefferson Road, Jefferson, Gregory P. Rohanna, supervisor, where services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 14, with Pastor Raymond Johns officiating. Interment will follow in Greene County Memorial Park, Morgan Township. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to National Kidney Foundation or the family. Condolences may be expressed at www.behm-funeralhomes.com.
Vietnam veteran was self-employed builder
Daniel K. Ringling, 71, of Waynesburg, died Friday, January 10, 2014, in his home.
He was born September 17, 1942, in Canonsburg, a son of the late George and Virginia Stull.
On February 14, 1992, he married Dawn Landau Ringling, who survives.
Mr. Ringling was a self-employed builder.
He was a U.S. Army veteran, serving in Vietnam as a helicopter crew chief with First Air Cavalry, Silver Spur.
Mr. Ringling was a life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10081.
He enjoyed classic cars and collected pre-war Lionel trains. He was a member of the Arkansas Valley Flywheelers in Colorado.
Surviving, in addition to his wife are a daughter, Tina Rhea Ringling Brown (Joe) of Maryland; a son, Jerry Ringling and his wife, Georgia Anna Abhend Ringling, of Maryland; two grandchildren, Sophia Ray Ringling and Oliver Finn Ringling; and a brother, Paul Ringling of Denton, Md.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date.
Arrangements by Behm Funeral Homes Inc., 182 West High Street, Waynesburg, PA 153701. Condolences may be offered at www.behmfh.com.