THE WESTFIELD NEWS
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 - PAGE 5
Obituaries http://thewestfieldnews.com/category/obituaries
Mary L. Kenyon
Joseph K. Trant WESTFIELD: Joseph K. Trant, 92, passed away on Saturday (September 12, 2015) at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke. Born in Westfield, he was the son of the late Patrick and Katherine (Crean) Trant. He was a life-long resident of Westfield where he was a communicant of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church. After graduating from Westfield High School in 1941, Joe worked at Pratt and Whitney in Connecticut until entering the U.S. Army in 1943. He proudly served his country from 1943 – 1945 and volunteered for Company G of the 175th Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division. He served under Major General Charles J. Gerhardt fighting in Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland and Central Europe and met the Russian Army at the Elbe River outside of Berlin. He received the Bronze Star Medal and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm but was most proud of his Combat Infantryman Badge. Joe retired as a Vice President of International Paper’s Old Colony Envelope Division, where he had worked for 45 years. Joe was also Proprietor of Woodside Memorials. He proudly participated on the local and national political scene serving two terms on the Westfield City Council including one term as its President, as a member of the Westfield Housing Authority, Chairman of the Westfield Police Commission, 8 years on the Massachusetts Democratic Committee, and as an original supporter and advanceman for Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Joe was a member of American Legion Post 124, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Chaplain of the New England Combat Infantry Association and a charter member of The Sons of Erin. Joe was also an avid golfer and scored a hole in one at Southwick Country Club. In recent years, he regularly enjoyed the activities and lunches of the Westfield Senior Center, but above all, enjoyed the camaraderie of the members and staff. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his loving wife of 56 years Dorothy (Strniste), his siblings Thomas, Ann and William and his nephews Michael and Daniel. He is survived by his children Jo-Anne, Thomas and wife Barbara, and John, all of Westfield, Gerald and wife Sharon of Niskayuna, NY and Richard of Agawam. Joe also leaves 11 grandchildren (Scott, Christopher, Jeffrey, Katie, Cory, Shaun, Carrie, Chelsea, Shannon, Patrick, and Tyler) and 5 great grandchildren, his sister-in-law Mary Trant and many nieces and nephews. Joe’s family is very appreciative of the wonderful care provided and kindness extended by the Comfort Care staff at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke and at Baystate Medical Center to him and the entire Trant family during his final days.Calling hours will be held on Sunday, September 20th from 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. at Firtion–Adams Funeral Service, 76 Broad Street, Westfield. His funeral will begin on Monday, September 21st at 8:30 a.m. from the funeral home, followed by a Liturgy of Christian Burial at 9:30 a.m. in Our Lady of Blessed Sacrament Church. The Rite of Committal and burial with military honors will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, all in Westfield.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Joe’s memory to the Friends of the Westfield Senior Center, PO Box 2184, Westfield, MA 01086 or the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, 110 Cherry Street, Holyoke, MA 01040. Firtionadams.com
Wayland, NY – Westfield, MA – Mary L. Kenyon, 65 years of age, (1950-2015) passed away Monday afternoon, September 14th, 2015 at her home in Wayland. Mary was born May 19th, 1950 in Westfield, MA the daughter of Valerian and Margaret (Moriarty) Skrodzki. She grew up and resided in Westfield until her move to the Wayland area twenty years ago. Mary and Bruce “Teddy” Kenyon were married December 1st, 1984 and together celebrated over 19 years of marriage prior to Teddy passing away in April of 2003. Mary was employed in customer service at Walmart in Hornell for the past 20 years and really enjoyed her work. She appreciated nature as evidenced by her gardening, feeding the birds, watching her cats, along with watching the chipmunks and squirrels in her yard. She also was a fan of the jewelry channel as she often would purchase items from it. Mary will be sadly missed by all her family and friends. Mary was pre-deceased by her parents; her husband Bruce “Teddy” Kenyon; and her sister Patricia Roderick. She is survived by her children, Ann (Sandy) Swenor of Springfield, MA and James Cichowski (Niki Jones) of Chicopee, MA; grandchildren, Kenneth Lee Williams, Nicolas Williams, Christina Cichowski and Krysta Skrodzki; great-grandchildren, Riley, Naiasia, Eleanor Juliette and Nicholas; her sisters, Theresa Skrodzki-Monfette of Westfield, MA and Vivian Gosselin of Westfield, MA; along with her best friend and caregiver, Sandy Murray. Funeral services will be held Saturday, September 19th at 12:00 pm at the O’Brien Hilltown Funeral Home, 27 Russell Road, Huntington, MA.A calling hour will precede the funeral from 11:00-12:00. Burial will be in Middle Farms Cemetery in Westfield, MA. Memorial contributions in memory of Mary L. Kenyon may be offered to the Hornell Humane Society, 7649 Industrial Park Rd, Hornell, NY 14843.
Carol S. Lawson WESTFIELD — Carol S. (Hansen) Lawson. 81, passed away on September 15, 2015 at the Renaissance Manor at Westfield. She was born in Granville to the late Karl S. and Mary D. (Jensen) Hansen and was a 1953 graduate of Westfield High School. Carol worked as a bus driver for the Westfield School System for 33 years, retiring in 1998. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Westfield, she volunteered at the Council on Aging, a member of the Hampden Village Association and the Barnes NCO Club Wives Club. Carol is survived by her beloved husband of 62 years, Thomas W. Lawson, her loving sons, Karl I. Lawson and Wade A. Lawson and his wife Robyn, all of Westfield, her sister Joyce Crandell and her husband Basil of Ludlow, her cherished granddaughters, Alena and Laurel, and her great grandchildren, Evelyn, Grayson and Caroline. A Committal Service will be held on Tuesday at 9 AM in the chapel of the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery 1390 Main St. Agawam. There are no visiting hours. Donations in Carol’s name may be directed to the First United Methodist Church, 16 Court St. Westfield, MA 01085. www.firtionadams.com
Alysha M. MacInnes Westfield- Alysha M (Byers) MacInnes, 24, (1991-2015) beloved wife, daughter, granddaughter, and friend peacefully passed away at Baystate Medical Center on Sunday, September 13, 2015 surrounded by her loving family. Born in Holyoke on February 9, 1991, she was a lifelong resident of Westfield. Alysha attended local schools graduating from Westfield High School. She was a member of the Second Congregational Church in Westfield. Alysha loved to help others and did so by walking in the Crop Walk for Hunger for many years. She also was a volunteer for the Community Table in Westfield and participated in the Relay for Life for 4 years. Alysha leaves her husband, Anthony MacInnes; her mother Jeanine Byers, her father Alex Turner and her step-mother Theresa Turner; her maternal grand parents Jerry and Linda (Cyr) Byers; her paternal grand parents Vail Turner and Gloria Charland; her 2 brothers Michael Turner and Avian Cost; and her sister Stephanie. She also leaves her mother-inlaw Lisa MacInnes, her father-in-law Carl MacInnes along with uncles, aunts, cousins, and many friends. The funeral for Alysha will take place Saturday September 19 2015 at 11 am in the Second Congregational Church, Western Ave, Westfield. Burial will be at the convenience of the family. Calling hours are Friday from 5-7 pm at the Robert E Cusack Funeral Home, 94 Main St (Rt 20), Westfield. Memorial contributions may be made in Alysha’s name to the Ovarian Cancer research Fund, 14 Pennsylvania Plaza, Suite 1710, New York, NY, 10122
David A. Skipper WESTFIELD — David A. Skipper, 44, passed away on June 21, 2015 surrounded by his family and close friends. David was born in Westfield, and attended schools in the city, graduating from Westfield High School in 1988. He went on to work at the Leubar Mercedes Benz Imports as the head technician. David is pre-deceased by his grandparents, Mary Ann and Harold King, and John and Helen Skipper. He is survived by his mother, Marjorie Skipper, his father Ronald Skipper, and his brother Jordan Skipper. He also leaves his step son, Baily Coles. David was a wonderful son, brother, friend and step-Dad. He will be missed by anyone whose lives he touched. The Skipper family has planned a special memorial service and get together for David. The service and memorial will be held at The American Legion Moto Cross in Southwick, MA on Sunday, September 20th at 1:00pm. Donations can be made by calling Ronald Skipper.
Gateway Superintendent’s Corner Once again the district’s budget for the current school year has been turned down by the towns based in large part on the decrease in revenue created by Worthington’s withdrawal. We continue to count on the promises made by district legislators regarding mitigation relief and the hope that Governor Baker is correct in predicting that the state will have its FY’15 supplemental budget completed during the next two weeks. In the meantime, to ease parent and student concerns, we continue operating under a 1/12th budget (set by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and based upon the budget adopted by the school committee last spring). Although more than $400,000 less than the previous budget, the current budget does not cut student services and will remain in place until the towns and school committee agree on a budget. Given the timelines established by law, the district and our towns have time to complete another complete budget cycle (30 days for the school committee to develop and approve another budget and 45 days after that for the towns to vote) before the DESE sets the budget for
DR. DAVID HOPSON the rest of the year on December 1. As always, the school committee has the option of return the same budget, a lower budget, or a higher budget to the towns. As with many of the budget discussions at town meetings that I’ve attended for nearly four decades, the bottom line remains the perceived inability of the towns to afford the cost of educating our children. Despite the reality that the district’s request for funding is actually a lower percentage of town budgets then the historic twenty-year average, the large one-year increase in town assessments this year due to Worthington’s withdrawal is certainly difficult to accept, especially as many towns have become used to small increases or even decreases, in their assess-
ments. It’s unfortunate that there remain such large differences in opinion about town and school budgets and that there are so many ways to display the facts based upon an individual’s viewpoint. In Blandford someone put out a school budget ‘fact’ sheet (I’m told by the Blandford Finance Committee that they did not put it out and were not aware of the sheet available in a local store) that, if put out by a town official, would violate election law. While containing some factual information, this sheet also included some inferences that were certainly inappropriate. You may see this sheet, and the district’s answers, on the Superintendent’s Blog on the Gateway website. Despite many opportunities for town officials and school committee members to review the budget during its development (over the several months the school committee had this on their agenda), it always seems to come down to misunderstandings exchanged during town meetings. Given the busy lives everyone leads, it may be understandable that many lack the time to participate in this process, or to even attend town meetings. I’m hopeful that we can, with the help of the state, resolve the current budget
Westfield Bridge Club results SOUTHWICK — Westfield Bridge Club results for Wednesday, Spetember 16, 2015 were the following: 1st, Vi Martinell & Cindy Fullerton 2nd, Dorothy Kowaleski & Judy Fiore 3rd, Nancy Gay & Terry Augusti 4th, Barbara Kress & Marilyn Breor Duplicate is played every Wednesday evening at The American Inn in Southwick from 6:30 - 9:30. All players are welcome.
impasse so that we have sufficient time to work on the FY’17 budget, which is now due to the towns in just six months. There will be much discussion occurring during the upcoming year as both the district and GTAC look at finding ways forward for the district and, hopefully, remembering that the school district and towns must both continue to exist if we are to continue being relevant, able to meet the needs of all of our citizens, and being a place where families wish to live and educate their children.
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