Stories from Friday, December 14, 2001

The family of Dwaune and DeVeta Redfield are hosting an open house celebration for their 80th birthdays, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2-4 p.m. CST, at the Palisade Methodist Church. Dwaune was born north of Stratton Nov. 1, 1921, and DeVeta was born Feb. 5, 1922 in Haigler...

Joe and Frances (Dick) Segar are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. They were married Dec. 20, 1941, at St. John's United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, Calif. He is a former teacher and coach at McCook High School. Cards of congratulations will reach them at 2222 38th Street, Los Alamas, N.M. 87544...

Bill and Shauna Deterding of Cambridge announce the engagement and upcoming wedding of their daughter, Brooque Suzzanne to Michael David Ellis. He is the son of the Rev. David and Joy Ellis of Menno, S.D. The bride-to-be is a student at Creighton University in Omaha and will complete her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy in December, 2002. ...

Tracy and Lisa Eustace of Newton, Kan., announce the birth of their daughter, Madeline Mae, on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001. She weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces. Grandparents are Jon and Pat Burkey of McCook. Great-grandparents are Leo and Nellie McConville, also of McCook...

Rev. Walter John Fredrick Klipp GREELEY, Colo. -- Rev. Walter John Fredrick Klipp, 80, of Greeley, formerly of McCook, died Friday (Dec. 7, 2001) at the Northern Colorado Medical Center. He was born April 26, 1921, at Wilton Junction, Iowa, to Adolph and Marie (Schacht) Klipp. He attended grade school at Lowden, Iowa, and graduated from high school in Milwaukee, Wis. He attended the seminary at Concordia in St. Louis, Mo., graduating in 1945...

Harold L. Robison OBERLIN -- Harold L. Robison, 80, died Wednesday (Dec. 12, 2001) at the Casa Grande Regional Medical Center. He was born Sept. 21, 1921, in Harlan County to Ira Elmer and Clara Edith (Fringer) Robison. He was raised in Oberlin, and graduated from Decatur Community High School in 1938...

John Jacob Brunk OBERLIN -- John Jacob Brunk, 84, died Friday (Dec. 14, 2001) at the Cedar Living Center in Oberlin. He was born April 27, 1917, in Decatur County, Kan., to John J. and Luella Jom Brunk. He was raised in the Norcatur, Kan., area. He attended country grade school near Norcatur, and Norcatur High School...

Celia Hurlbut Hollister THORNTON, Colo. -- Celia Hurlbut Hollister, 91, died Dec. 6, 2001, at Sunny Acres in Thornton. She was born Oct. 4, 1910, in Grundy County, Iowa, to Ward and Beulah (Hollister) Hurlbut. She was raised in Norcatur, Kan. She earned her bachelor's of science degree from the University of Colorado...

Walter E. 'Pete' Westerbeck ARAPAHOE -- Walter E. "Pete" Westerbeck, 89, died Tuesday (Dec. 11, 2001) at his home in Arapahoe. He was born June 23, 1912, at Arapahoe to William H. and Louise (Wendland) Westerbeck. He was raised in Arapahoe and graduated with the class of 1932 from Arapahoe High School. After graduation he worked for a road construction crew in Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado...

Dear Editor, Concerning McCook's water problems: Only crystal-clear thinking will solve the city's acute water situation. Neither the cheap sophistries of the politician, nor the banal sentimentalities of the average concerned vocal citizen will supply residents with first-rate liquid...

Dear Editor, Are your dollars for Christmas gifts short? Then consider hitting auctions to fill the stockings. I don't know a person who would not like old tools or items from days gone by. This makes your dollar do the work of a rich man's 10 dollar bill. ...

If there were any doubts about the character of Osama bin Laden, they should be laid to rest. The release of the videotape of the terrorist boasting of the horrible death he inflicted on thousands of innocent men, women and children on September 11 should make it clear -- he is the current focus of evil in the world...

Wonderful winter The area's first snowfall didn't amount to much, but the snow immediately lifted my spirits. There are a variety of reasons why winter is the best season, starting with the clothing. Cold weather means you can dig out the sweaters and sweatshirts, which both conveniently hide those rolls of fat accumulating this holiday season...

The service clubs of McCook were extremely active with the war effort in 1942. I've mentioned the Elks Lodge's magazine collection effort before, but found this photo in the April 23, 1942, Gazette which showed one of their piles. The picture was taken on Monday of that week and by Thursday the magazines were all gone. In the picture are Don Gibson exalted ruler of the lodge (left) and L.H. "Boz" Miller, chairman of the lodge's Social and Community Welfare committee...

We have always had such a clear distinction in this society between the way men display their emotions and the way women display theirs. Because this country literally had to be conquered through warfare and civilized through imposition, the macho man was here from the very beginning. Stoic, determined, focused, and fearless, these men among men set the tone for how men were to act for the next two hundred years...

How do the Christmas lights shine? Let me count the ways. While love, not yuletide illumination, was the object of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's famous poem, if she were alive today she would surely be impressed by the beauty which home displays are bringing to the Golden Plains of Nebraska and Kansas...

Mary Jeanette Smith Mary Jeanette Smith, 72, died Thursday (Dec. 13, 2001) at her home in McCook. She was born July 19, 1929, on a farm near Haigler to Frank Ernest and Mabel Maude (Leech) Bullock. She graduated from Haigler High School in 1946. On April 12, 1947, she married Donald Melvin Smith at Benkelman. ...