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JIMMY J. BOLLIN
JIMMY J. BOLLIN, a believer in Jesus as his Lord and Savior, passed on to his eternal reward Nov. 17, 2010, after an extended illness.
He was born Oct. 27, 1942, in Kingsley, Iowa. Jimmy was the youngest of nine children born to Raymond and Opal Bollin. Jimmy came to Tucson in 1960 and attended Sunnyside High School where he played football.
After high school, he enrolled in barber college where, following graduation, he quickly became one of Tucson’s finest barbers. His gift of gab and love of sports, especially baseball, made him a perfect fit behind the barber chair.
He was also a handyman that could fix anything, a gift that served him in over 10 years of management of a major Tucson apartment complex. There too, he was loved by the tenants for his friendly and congenial nature. Since 1990, Jimmy and his wife Penny have worked side by side cutting hair at their busy barbershop in Green Valley.
More than his career accomplishments though, Jimmy will be remembered most for being a great dad, a man who taught his kids to play baseball, who attended his kid’s ball games, a man who was always there for them, even when it wasn’t easy or convenient.
Jimmy is survived by his wife Penny; his children Tracy (Don) Ancharski and Steven (Brandee) Bollin; Earlene Pruett (first wife and mother of Tracy and Steven); grandchildren Andrew Ancharski, Bryce Bollin and Brian Gould; and a brother, Gary (Kathy) Bollin of New York.
A celebration of his life will be held at South Lawn Mortuary on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010, at 10 a.m.
Memorials may be given in Jimmy’s name to Sarver Heart Center at UMC.
ELEANOR MAHAR
ELEANOR MAHAR, of Green Valley, passed away on Nov. 12, 2010 after a brief illness arising from complications associated with COPD.
Ellie was born in Lynn, Mass. on Nov. 13, 1923 and was the final member of her family. She was preceded in death by her parents Mr. and Mrs. James Fay; three brothers James, Lawrence, and Richard; and two sisters Betty and Ruth.
Ellie is survived by her husband Charles of Green Valley; three sons: Stephen of Flagstaff, Peter of Santa Barbara, Calif. and James of Boston, Mass.; as well as grandson Aaron of Tucson and two granddaughters, Cassandra and Danielle, of Boston.
Ellie willingly traveled with her husband and children to his work assignments in Hendersonville, N.C., Phoenix, Greenville, S.C., Philadelphia, Pa., Erie, Pa., San Jose, Calif. and finally to Green Valley in 1986. She left a host of friends at every location.
Ellie was a very outgoing person with a mind of her own and was a strict discipline of her children. She liked to golf and played at the Country Club of Green Valley for many years as well as playing bridge with her many friends. She spent a number of years associated with the charity group, Friends in Deed, in Green Valley.
Ellie will be greatly missed by her friends and family.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Friends in Deed, 301 W. Camino Casa Verde, Green Valley, AZ 85614.
Arrangements for a memorial service are pending.
STEVEN L. OTTO
STEVEN L. OTTO, born in Crystal Lake, Ill. on Aug. 13, 1936, passed away on Nov. 8, 2010, in Green Valley.
He graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in electrical engineering and began working for Motorola Corp. He moved with the company to Scottsdale in 1968 and worked there until his retirement in 1996.
He was first married to Norma Buchte and they had two children. Norma passed away in 1998.
In 2001, Steve and Kay were married. They moved to Green Valley in 2003.
He was an active member of Bethany Lutheran Church in Scottsdale and of Desert Hills Lutheran Church in Green Valley. He sang in their choirs and was also a member of the 260 Club and of the Green Valley Community Chorus.
Steve always tried to do the right thing and took care of everyone he knew. He enjoyed his life and his family and was a “pun-loving” man.
He was preceded in death by his parents Stephen and Dorothy Otto.
He is survived by his daughter Norine (David) Floyd and son Steven (Terry); Kay, his wife of nine years; and Kay’s two sons Andrew Wagner and Daniel Wagner and Daniel’s daughter Megan.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Nov. 14 at Desert Hills Lutheran Church.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made in Steve’s name to the music department at Desert Hills or to the Green Valley Food Bank.
BARBARA J. “BAMBI” MIRECKI
BARBARA J. “BAMBI” MIRECKI, Realtor®,ABR,CRS,CSSN,GRI,SFR,Commissioner of Real Estate Roster died peacefully, Nov. 4, 2010, with family by her side in Tucson.
She relocated from Queens, N.Y. to Scottsdale 13 years ago. She had an incredible passion and dedication for her career as a Realtor at Sharp Homes Realty.
Those who were touched by her will always remember how kind, giving, honest, fair and witty she was. Barbara was also fiercely independent and had a positive, never give up attitude right to the very end.
She is survived by her niece Kim Hickey (Ron); nephews Ronnie and Ryan Hickey; brothers Howard Jr., Thomas and Robert Boyle; and other nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents Howard and Dorothy Boyle; sister Carol “Bonnie” Brock; and brother Bruce Boyle.
Services will be held on Friday, Nov. 12, at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of the Valley Church, 505 N. La Cañada, Green Valley, AZ 85614
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center, 10001 N. 92nd St., Suite 121, Scottsdale AZ 85258. In memo: Patient Assistance Fund in memory of Barbara J. Mirecki or to the American Cancer Society, 4550 E Bell Rd., Phoenix AZ 85032. In memo: Gift Closet in memory of Barbara J. Mirecki. Both local organizations were a great deal of help to Barbara and she had vowed to “give back” to them once she got better.
INGRID “INKY” HEPLER
INGRID “INKY” HEPLER, of Green Valley and formerly of Mt. Pleasant, Mich., died Oct. 19, 2010, of cancer.
Born in Newton Center, Mass. in 1923, she married John C. Hepler, moved to Carlisle, Pa. and later to Michigan.
They retired in the l970s and moved to Green Valley. She had been a resident of La Posada since 2004.
Her lifelong interest in the arts led to involvement with music, and drama, both as a founder of the Mt. Pleasant Players in the 1950s, and to her long attendance at Shakespeare festivals in Utah and Oregon with her friends in Green Valley.
She will be remembered for her cooking skills and generosity with homemade cookies, lemon curd, jam, and chocolate sauce, bridge prowess, intrepid travels both in Europe and in the U.S., delight in entertaining, intellectual curiosity, and her unfailing generosity to her friends and family.
She is survived by her brother Stanley Johnson of Ashville, N.C.; sister Astrid Holland of Lowell, Mich.; three children: Susan Hepler of Alexandria, Va., John S. (Sandy) Hepler of Whitleyville, Tenn. and Nicaragua, and Darcy (Kent) Bradley of Medical Lake, Wash.; two grandchildren who inherited her love of travel: Emily Fertig of Trondheim, Norway and Pittsburgh, Pa. and Andrew Fertig of Ecuador/The Galapagos Islands; and many loving friends in Michigan and Arizona.
Memorial donations in her honor may be made to her favorite cause which benefits the further education of employees in her retirement village: “The Scholarship Fund” at La Posada Foundation, 350 E. Morningside Dr., Green Valley, AZ 85614.
STEVEN L. OTTO
STEVEN L. OTTO, born in Crystal Lake, Ill. on Aug. 13, 1936, passed away on Nov. 8, 2010, in Green Valley.
He graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in electrical engineering and began working for Motorola Corp. He moved with the company to Scottsdale in 1968 and worked there until his retirement in 1996.
He was first married to Norma Buchte and they had two children. Norma passed away in 1998.
In 2001, Steve and Kay were married. They moved to Green Valley in 2003.
He was an active member of Bethany Lutheran Church in Scottsdale and of Desert Hills Lutheran Church in Green Valley. He sang in their choirs and was also a member of the 260 Club and of the Green Valley Community Chorus.
Steve always tried to do the right thing and took care of everyone he knew. He enjoyed his life and his family and was a “pun-loving” man.
He was preceded in death by his parents Stephen and Dorothy Otto.
He is survived by his daughter Norine (David) Floyd and son Steven (Terry); Kay, his wife of nine years; and Kay’s two sons Andrew Wagner and Daniel Wagner and Daniel’s daughter Megan.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Nov. 14 at Desert Hills Lutheran Church.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made in Steve’s name to the music department at Desert Hills or to the Green Valley Food Bank.
DOUGLAS FENN SHERWIN
DOUGLAS FENN SHERWIN was born in New Haven, Conn. on Sept. 18, 1918. He passed away peacefully on Nov. 1, 2010 in Green Valley at home in the La Posada Retirement Community.
Doug grew up in California and graduated from high school in Peoria, Ill. He attended Iowa State College (now ISU), where he met the love of his life, Ruth Paulene Whipp. They were married on June 30, 1942 in California while Doug was in the U.S. Navy.
After the war, they returned to Iowa and Doug began his broadcasting career at KGLO radio in Mason City. He retired as Assistant Vice President of Broadcasting with Lee Enterprises in 1983. Doug and Ruth then relocated to Green Valley where Doug was involved in numerous volunteer activities for the next 20 years.
Ruth passed away in 1996. Doug married Patricia Hawthorn in 2001 and she passed away in 2004. Over the last few years, Doug and Yvonne Martineau shared a loving, thoughtful relationship.
Doug is survived by his brother Proctor (Lee) Sherwin of Georgetown, Texas; son Daniel (Vickey) of Mankato, Minn.; daughter Sally (Tom) Jeffrey of Fairfield, Va.; daughter Jane (Scott) Randall of Ames, Iowa; son Peter (Suzanne) of Cape Coral, Fla.; and son Andrew (Julie) of Eden Prairie, Minn. He is also survived by numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A private family service celebrating his life will be held at a later date. Arrangements by Bring’s Broadway Chapel, 6910 E. Broadway, Tucson, AZ.
HOMER EUGENE LEWIS
HOMER EUGENE LEWIS, 79, of Tucson and formerly of Fairmount, Ill., died Aug. 17, 2010 in Tucson. He was born Oct. 9, 1930, in Fithian Ill., the son of Clay and Mary Lou Lewis.
He is survived by two sisters: Pauline Lucas of Washington, Ind. and Geneva Hepburn of Ridge Farm, Ill.; and 23 nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers; and four sisters.
Homer enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at the age of 20 and was stationed in Texas, Memphis, Tenn., Korea and California. Upon discharge, he moved to Chicago, Ill. and later to Denver, Colo. working full time and going to college part time. He graduated from the University of Denver with a B.S. in Business Administration majoring in Accounting.
Homer retired in 1992 and moved to warmer weather in Green Valley. He moved to Tucson in 2009.
A memorial service was held on Nov. 6, 2010, at Sunset Memorial Park’s Mausoleum Chapel in Danville, Ill. The Reverend Gerald McPhillips officiated. Sunset Funeral Home and Cremation Center, A Life Celebration Home in Danville is in charge of arrangements.
Donations in Homer’s memory may be made to DCI Desert Dialysis, 2022 E. Prince Rd., Tucson, AZ 85719, ATT: Larry Brauer.
MARY NEWTON
MARY NEWTON, 84, of Green Valley, passed away after a brief illness on Oct. 28, 2010, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Tucson.
Mary was born March 7, 1926, in Detroit, Mich. to Kazimietz and Antouna Pochowicz. She is survived by her husband Gerald E. Newton; daughters Jeanette (Gary) Sellers of Cedar Grove, Tenn. and Judith Reilly of Algonac, Mich.; grandchildren Suzanne and Danielle Sellers and Aaron and Monica Reilly; sisters Valeria Chapman of Clay, Mich., Ann Bedsworth of Lynchburg, Va. and Stella Russell of Marysville, Mich.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents; and sisters Joan Davis and Helen Sabatene.
She and Gerald were united in marriage on Feb. 6, 1965. They moved to Green Valley from New Baltimore, Mich. in 1987. In her early years, Mary was employed in child care and later became a homemaker.
In Green Valley, Mary was active in the Michigan Club and the Parkinson’s Exercise Group along with her husband, Gerald. She and Gerald had recently moved to the Del Coronado Apts. in Green Valley.
A Memorial Service led by Rev. John Stieve and Ron Kasten of Lutheran Church of the Risen Savior will be held on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010 at 2 p.m. at Del Coronado Apts. 1919 N. La Cañada Dr. in Green Valley.
JANE KURAS BRANDECKER
JANE KURAS BRANDECKER, a quiet-spoken bookkeeper from a Polish immigrant family who married her successful boss and spent her adult life traveling the world and giving away their money, died Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010, in the city she had called home for 30 years, Green Valley. She was 96.
Over the decades, Jane Brandecker and her late husband A. J. Brandecker, a pioneer in refrigerated trucking, donated $1 million to the Salvation Army, Easter Seals, Chicago Children’s Hospital, Tucson Medical Center and the American Red Cross. Jane volunteered at the Red Cross Blood Bank in Tucson for nearly 30 years.
“I greatly looked forward to visiting and talking with Jane on the days she was a Red Cross volunteer well into her 90s,” says Richard White, executive director of the Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Red Cross. “Everyone whose life she touched at Red Cross loved Jane. We will especially miss her radiant smile.”
Jane Brandecker’s husband died in 1980 and, as they agreed, he left most of the childless couple’s assets to the Red Cross. Jane then moved to a modest two-bedroom condo in Green Valley that they couple had purchased in 1967.
“She believed that doing good was more important than acquiring material things. She and her late husband really loved square dancing,” recalls her brother, Paul Thaddeus Kuras, who bought a condo in the same complex in 2002. The brother and sister were often seen in the Tucson area attending church at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and functions at the American Legion and Pima Air & Space Museum.
Jane Kuras Brandecker was born Jan. 22, 1914, in Chicago, Ill. Her parents were Jan (John) Kuras and Karolina (Caroline) Stella Machowska Kuras. Both were born in Sufczyn, Poland, immigrated to the U.S. in 1911 through Ellis Island and joined relatives already established in Chicago.
Jan owned a shoe repair business. Karolina raised their six children: the late Sophie Kuras Sandby, an industrial inspector; the late Stanley Kuras, a printer; the late John Kuras, a block glass salesman; Joey Kuras, who died as a child; and Paul, who retired from the U.S. Marine Corps and McDonnell-Douglas (now Boeing) and volunteers at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson.
Jane graduated from Chicago Public High School system and honed her secretarial and bookkeeping skills by paying her own way in a private business college during the Great Depression. She practiced her shorthand by transcribing President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Fireside Chats” broadcasts on the radio in the 1930s.
In the early days she used some of her meager income to provide her family with much needed furniture, other practical items and presents.
Jane met her future husband, whom she called “Brandy,” while working as his trusted secretary and bookkeeper. They were married in Georgia in the late 1950s. They lived in Chicago and Green Valley, and spent summers in Spokane, Wash. They traveled to Australia, Asia and Europe.
She is remembered by her family for her patience, cross-stitch embroidery, exacting recordkeeping and never forgetting a birthday card for any of her siblings or their offspring.
Her brother Paul says that she approached every task with efficiency. “She was a great one for packaging and mailing cookies and other goodies for her brothers while they served overseas during WWII and Korea,” he says.
Chapel services for Jane Brandecker will be held Friday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. at East Lawn Palms Mortuary, 5801 E. Grant Road, Tucson, AZ 85712, (520) 885-6741.
