A6 Saturday, January 15, 2011 OBITUARIES
Nicholas Paul Aragon
Nicholas Paul “Payaso” Aragon, 32, a resident of Albuquerque, passed away on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011. Nick was born and raised in Roswell. He moved to Albuquerque in the late ’90s and made this his home. Nicholas and Charlene were married Feb. 14th, 2000, in Albuquerque. He is survived by his wife, Charlene Aragon; parents: Ray and Prissy Aragon; grandparents: Sam and Toni Valdez; siblings: Chantal & Joel Aragon, all from Roswell; stepsons: Dallas & Daniel Phillips and his father -in-law, Charles Phillips, from Albuquerque. A casual celebration of Nick’s life will be held on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011, at Family Church, 6521 Paradise, NW, Albuquerque, at 10 a.m. Arrangements are being handled by the caring professionals at Noblin Funeral Service, Belen Chapel, where an online guest register is available at www.riversideofbelen.com
Wyatt Hedrick
Services are pending at LaGrone Funeral Chapel for Wyatt Hedrick, 94, of Roswell, who passed away
NATION/OBITUARIES Jan. 14, 2011. A complete announcement will be made when the arrangements are finalized. Friends may pay their respects online at www.lagronefuneralchapels.com Arrangements are under the direction of LaGrone Funeral Chapel.
Hazel M. Powell
Funeral services for Hazel M. Powell, 96, of Willis, Texas, formerly of Roswell, will be held on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011, at 2 p.m. at the Cornerstone Christian Church with Pastor Jerry Frank and Pastor Charles Wigley officiating.
Interment will be in Chattanooga Memorial Park in Chattanooga, Tenn. Mrs. Powell was born in Athens, Tenn., on July 10, 1914, and went to be with her Lord on Jan. 12, 2011, at the Odyssey House in Conroe. She was a strong Christian woman and devoted mother who touched many lives. Mrs. Powell worked for many years in retail and gained much respect from her peers, but the greatest role was to put God first in her life. She had a passion for her family and church family that was evident to all who knew her. Her memory will be carried on in the hearts of her family and friends. She was preceded in death by her dear husband, James C. Powell; her greatgrandson, Riley McClain; and her granddaughter, Janet Pool. She is survived by her loving family: daughter and son-in-law, Joyce and Bob Pool; son and daughter-in-law, Clifford and L ynette Powell; daughter and son-in-law, Jane and Roger McClain; grandchildren: Blake, Tim, Cindy, Clifford, Katrina, Christine, Richard, David McClain and his son, David Jr; Dan McClain and wife
Suzie and their daughter, Shea; Tracie McClain and her son, Lance; Brian Young, Valerie Young, Judie Burnham and husband Dan and their children: Jared and Julia; Kari Valles and husband Charles and their children: Powell and Pierson; Olivia Adams and husband Louie; Jimmy Pool and Johnny Pool. Fourteen great-grandchildren and six greatgreat-grandchildren also survive. Grandma was a great prayer warrior and will be dearly missed.
John W. Watson
Memorial services are scheduled for 2 p.m., Monday, Jan. 17, 2011, at First United Methodist Church
Roswell Daily Record for John Ward Watson, 87, who passed away, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Rev. Stephanie Harman of First United Methodist Church will officiate. John was born Feb. 13, 1923, in Kansas City, Mo., to Wesley Leroy and Marcia Ver Valin Watson. John was preceded in death by his wife of 39 years, Edith White Watson, by his parents and by his brother, George Watson. He is survived by his two daughters, Pamela Linnell, of Roswell and Marcia Macisso, of Yar mouth, Maine; his brother, Robert Watson, and his wife, Ann, of Mount Vernon, Wash.; his sister -in-law, Sarah Watson, of Littleton, Colo.; grandchildren: Maria Murphy and her husband, Shawn, Jesse Linnell and his wife, Lindsey, Anna Young and her husband, David, Rose Linnell, John Macisso and his wife, Jessica, Michael Macisso and Patrick Macisso; greatgrandchildren: Delaney and Ethan Murphy, Tanner Linnell, and Givanni and Atticus Macisso. He will also be missed by his special friends Mary Roney, of Albuquerque and Bill Bonham and Bonnie Bitzer, of Roswell.
John attended the University of Nebraska and Northwestern University, receiving a degree in mechanical engineering. He received his M.A. in Business Administration from Baldwin Wallace College. He and Edith married in 1950 in Oshkosh, Wis. After retiring from Tocco Industries in Cleveland, Ohio, John taught at Cuyahoga Community College. John enjoyed building model airplanes and was a motorcycle enthusiast. He also enjoyed woodworking and playing bridge, and was a past member of Kiwanis and SCORE in Guilford, Maine. He moved to Roswell in 1999, relocating from Guilford, Maine. John served his country as a 1st Lieutenant in the Marine Corps in WWII, serving in the Pacific. He was a member of First United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Cowboy Bell Scholarship Fund of the First United Methodist Church of Roswell Arrangements have been entrusted to Ballard Funeral Home and Crematory. An online registry can be accessed at www.ballardfuneralhome.com.
GOP ousts Steele, picks Priebus to head party
OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The national Republican Party, coming off huge election victories but facing a $22 million debt and an internal war over identity, ousted chairman Michael Steele, Friday and chose Wis. party chief Reince Priebus to lead in the runup to the 2012 presidential race. The embattled Steele dropped his re-election bid halfway through an afternoon of balloting when it became clear he could not win another two-year term after a first marked by verbal missteps and financial woes. “We have to get on track. And together we can defeat Barack Obama in 2012,” Priebus, the chairman of the Wisconsin GOP, said in a brief victory speech, pleading for unity within the fractured 168-member Republican National Committee. “We all recognize that there’s a steep hill here ahead of us, and the only way that we’ll be able to move forward is if we’re all together.” The new chairman’s name is pronounced Ryns Pree’-bus. A former top lieutenant to Steele, Priebus promised to hire top-notch staff, restructure the organization and put it on solid financial footing so the next GOP presidential nominee will be prepared to take on Obama. Later, he rejected suggestions the national party organization’s power might have waned, given the proliferation of outside groups that have assumed cam-
paign functions the party historically has performed. “It’s very relevant,” he said. For the next two years, Priebus will try to prove that. Most urgently, the new chairman must retire an RNC debt of about $22 million owed to vendors and banks, as well as lure back demoralized donors who have been so frustrated with Steele’s management that they sent their dollars elsewhere or didn’t open their wallets at all last year. The party had only about $1 million cash on hand at year’s end. He’ll also serve as the party top spokesman promoting its agenda, countering Democrats, raising money to help Republicans and improving a get-outthe-vote effort that critics say languished under Steele. Additionally, Priebus will have to figure out how to navigate a GOP civil war in which conservatives and tea party disciples are trying to pull the Republican Party further to the right, to the chagrin of moderates and some longtime establishment leaders. The favorite heading into Friday’s balloting, Priebus led the field through seven rounds of voting. Steele quit after the fourth round. Ann Wagner, a former Missouri state GOP chair, abandoned her bid a few rounds later. Maria Cino, a New York native and a veteran party operative who served in President George W. Bush’s administration, and Saul
AP Photo
Reince Priebus, of the Wisconsin Republican Party, talks with members during the Republican National Committee Winter Meeting, Friday.
Anuzis, a former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, stayed on the ballot until the end. “Despite the noise, despite the difficulties, we won” in November, Steele said, noting huge gains that included the GOP taking control of the House. “We must go forward, and we must win. We fired (Nancy) Pelosi. Let’s take the Senate. Let’s take the White House.” It was a message Priebus echoed. Virtually unknown nationally, the Wisconsin GOP chairman has a high
profile in his home state. He’s an attorney with the law firm Michael Best & Friedrich, where he is a partner specializing in corporate litigation, according to the firm’s website. State and federal campaign finance records show the Wisconsin Republican Party has paid the firm at least $89,572 in legal fees during Priebus’ tenure as state GOP chairman. Priebus’ political statements have sometimes contrasted with the law firm’s actions. He has criticized Obama’s multibillion-dollar economic
stimulus package as a costly failure; Michael Best & Friedrich has helped clients try to win stimulus funds. Firm spokesman David Krutz said Friday that Priebus has had no role on the stimulus team. A telegenic though gaffeprone party leader, Steele had argued that he should be re-elected because of the GOP’s record of coast-tocoast victories. However, Republican operatives had formed a network of outside groups that adopted traditional national party functions out of a concern about the RNC’s ability
under Steele to raise money and deploy resources to key races. The first black chairman of the Republican Party, Steele was elected to a twoyear term in January 2008 just as Obama — the country’s first black president — was taking office. Since then, Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, has spent much of his tenure fending off criticism. He faced frequent complaints about questionable spending, anemic fundraising, staff shake-ups and cringeinducing comments.