Stories from Friday, December 11, 2009

Naomi R. Lawrence, 95, retired secretary for the Loan Committee at Farm and Home Savings and Loan Company, died in Carmichael, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009. She was born, Naomi Ruth Fleming in May, Okla., Harper County on July 26, 1914, to Thomas H. Fleming and Mabel E. Robertson Fleming. Mrs. Lawrence graduated from May High School, taught for two years in country schools, and attended business school in Oklahoma City, Okla. After graduation, she served as legal secretary in Woodward, Okla...

Anna Mayme Potter Wolf, age 95, a resident of Deerfield, Mo., went to be with the Lord, Dec. 8, 2009, at the Medicalodge in Fort Scott, Kan. The Rev. Dr. Thomas Tinker and Rev. Joel Dunn will conduct funeral services at 10 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 12, in the Cheney Witt Memorial Chapel. Burial will follow in the Deerfield Cemetery. The family will receive friends Friday evening from 6 to 8 p.m., in the Cheney Witt Chapel...

Already members of many southwest Missouri families have been deployed to Afghanistan, and as the U.S. prepares to deploy an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, military teens at home wage a hidden, often silent battle filled with high stress, worry, behavioral issues, loneliness and loss...

The U.S. Census Bureau is looking for people to help work the 2010 census. Hortencia Wilcox works in the Springfield office and said it is a good way to help your community and yourself. "It's very interesting work," Wilcox said. "It's ideal for retirees, students, or homemakers. It's neighbors counting neighbors, everyone who works in an area lives in that area."...

Three local artists displayed their works at the Spiva Center for the Arts in Joplin for the 62nd Annual Membership Show, which began Nov. 14 and continues through Dec. 27. Jeanne Board, Ladine Casey and Linda Rogers all had artwork on display; Board received a Judges Recognition Award for her oil painting, "Yesterdays," which features two vintage tricycles...

"I have a story for an article that you need to write." That is a common line that many of the contributors to our local newspaper hear frequently. I cannot speak for all of my fellow journalists, but I suspect that many of them have been approached with the same half-request, half-directive. It comes with the job...