ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Births
• Engagement
• Weddings
• Anniversaries
• Obituaries

Births

Preston, Rachael (Jahns) and big sister Rowan Cooksey are excited to announce the birth of daughter/sister Meagan Cheryl. Meagan joined the family on March 16, 2006. She was 8 pounds and 20 inches long. Rowan loves her sister and is being a great help. Meagan is the fifth grandchild of Bill and Cheryl Jahns (mother's parents). She is the eighth grandchild of Arlene Burnett and William Cooksey (father's parents).

The Cookseys attend the Worcester, Massachusetts, congregation.

----------

Reuel and Esther Dimah Appiah of Yeji, Ghana, are thrilled to announce the birth of their first child, Judy Tanya Dimah Appiah. She was born March 11, 2006. Mr. Dimah is the pastor of the Yeji and Macongo congregations of the United Church of God.

----------

Daniel and Alix Fitzpatrick of the Worcester, Massachusetts, congregation are proud to formally announce the birth of their son, Caleb Wendinso Fitzpatrick. Caleb was born on Jan. 15, 2006, weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces and measuring 21.5 inches in length. His proud grandparents are Jim and Charlotte Fitzpatrick of Ossipee, New Hampshire, and Ghanda and Lucienne Kabore of Burkina Faso in West Africa.

----------

Vincent and Ese Hila of the Accra, Ghana, congregation are delighted to announce the birth of their baby boy, Yayragah Korku Dethar. Yeyragah was born April 19, 2006, weighing 3.8 kilograms. Older brothers Elorm, Elikem and Wisdom are very happy as well!

----------

Kurt and Sherrill (Dungan) Tannert of the Tucson, Arizona, congregation are pleased to introduce their son, Joshua Kurt, who was born Jan. 19, 2005. Joshua is quickly learning how to keep up with his 3-year-old sister, Sarah.

Proud grandparents are Marcia Dungan of the Laurel, Mississippi, congregation and Walt and Ann Tannert, also of Tucson.

[back to top]

Weddings

Anne Dungan and Matthew Lucas are happy to announce their marriage on Jan. 1, 2006. The ceremony was held in Meridian, Mississippi, and was officiated by Richard Thompson. The bride is the daughter of Marcia Dungan and the late Eddie Dungan of Meridian. The groom is the son of Jack and Nancy Lucas of Maxville, Florida.

The bride's sister, Sherril Tannert (of Tucson, Arizona), was the matron of honor, and the best man was the groom's brother, Jacob Lucas (of Jacksonville, Florida. The happy couple currently resides in Meridian while attending the Laurel Mississippi, congregation.

[back to top]

Anniversaries

Don and Betty Cole were married on April 20, 1946, and celebrated their 60th anniversary this year. They have three children and nine grandchildren.

Don Cole heard Mr. Herbert Armstrong on the radio in 1961 and studied the truth for several years. They began attending the Manchester, New Hampshire, congregation in November 1966 and were both baptized in January 1967. Both have faithfully attended church ever since. Don was ordained a deacon in 1975 and Betty a deaconess in 1988.

Although now into their 80s, they never miss church and are always there for the setup of services. Don takes care of the hall layout, and Betty keeps a watchful eye on many things to do with potlucks and food and flowers in general.

"They are a wonderfully stable couple," said Paul Suckling, Worcester, Massachusetts, church pastor. "We all enjoyed a celebration with them when it came to 60 years of marriage."

----------

On the Sabbath of June 6, 2006, the Atlanta, Georgia, congregation honored Ralph and Maxine Pope, who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They reside in lovely Cumming, Georgia, where Ralph, an engineer, works as an inventor, holding patents on a number of items already on the market and others he hopes to have out there soon. Maxine has been a member since the early 1960s. Together, they reared three children.

[ back to top ]

Obituaries

David Ogweno Owak, 42, was a faithful servant of God, a deacon and full-time employee of the Church overseeing several congregations and groups in Kenya and Tanzania. He also assisted in the Migori Church office with various administrative matters.

In early April a rapidly spreading cancer was discovered, and it took his life on May 2, 2006.

He is survived by his wife, Damaris, and their five young children. David was known as a businessman, a tailor and a husband and father. He had recently spearheaded a widows and orphans agricultural project for members in southwestern Kenya.

His funeral was held on May 11 in Migori, Kenya, with the sermon given by the senior pastor for East Africa , John Elliott, to an audience of nearly 800 attendees.

Many of those attending expressed how David had enriched their lives, had taken time to assist them with personal needs and had taught them the truth from the Bible. His presence will be greatly missed by the Owak family and among people in the communities he served.

The family wishes to extend their thanks for the many prayers, cards and messages of consolation received from brethren around the world. We look forward to being with our dear brother David at the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

----------

Marvin Heins, 81, of Houston, Ohio, died May 7, 2006, at his home. He was born June 25, 1924, on the family farm in Cynthian Township to Paul W. and Eva Mae (Mills) Heins. He married Ruth Knoop on Feb. 18, 1950.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Ruth; two children, Helen Ward and Paul; and six grandchildren.

Jim Chapman baptized him April 16, 1976. Mr. Heins spent his life farming and provided many members with meat, vegetables, milk and fruit. He was a very active member of the Outreach Program in the Dayton congregation. He was responsible for making arrangements in 1999 for monthly Bible studies at the Fair Haven Nursing Home in Sidney where he was a caregiver. He helped in the Good News distribution program for many years.

He was active in the local community. He was an honorary member of the Houston FFA and received his American Farmer degree in 1943. He was a 4-H Club advisor, a member of the Houston Grange and he helped other farmers to repair machinery.

Adeline "Addie" Filachione, a member in the Youngstown, Ohio, congregation, died May 19, 2006. She was 94.

Miss Filachione was born Sept. 10, 1911, in Baglini Del Trigno, Italy, a daughter of the late Alexander and Maria Lezarra Filachione. She came to the United States in 1918. Addie had worked for Youngstown Sheet and Tube company for 20 years in the general office as a weight calculator and in customer service, retiring in 1976.

She loved music and donated her piano to the local church when her fingers were no longer nimble enough to play it herself. Miss Filachione was known for her expert cooking skills, quick wit and sense of humor until stricken by Alzheimer's disease a few years ago. We look forward to seeing her fully restored in the resurrection.

----------

Richard Nickels, age 58, lost his battle with cancer on June 4, 2006. Diagnosed with an unknown stage four cancer in March 2006, he did not suffer long.

An accountant and computer consultant, Richard worked for a major coal mining company in Gillette, Wyoming. He was a graduate of Linfield College (B.A., 1969, Summa Cum Laude).

Richard Nickels became a World Tomorrow broadcast listener in 1961, was baptized in 1969, and was employed by the Worldwide Church of God from 1971 to 1973 in Festival site construction and Church Administration. Since 1978, he wrote numerous articles and books for Giving & Sharing, a nonprofit mail-order bookstore serving Sabbath-keepers around the world. Thousands of Bibles and Bible study aides were donated around the world through this organization. From 1996 to 1999 and 2004 to 2006 he was president of the Bible Sabbath Association.

He is survived by his wife, Shirley, of Gillette; and daughters Barbara Parada of Houston, Texas; Rachel Nickels of Everett, Washington; and Amanda Byrd of Eugene, Oregon. His funeral was held in Vancouver , Washington , on June 11. The family is overwhelmed and very thankful for all of the prayers, support, cards and calls they have received over the last few months.

----------

Dale (John) Freyman, 71, passed away April 22, 2006, at his home in Port St. Lucie, Florida, after a long illness.

He was born July 9, 1934, in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. He worked most of his life in construction, building houses. He was baptized in 1969 in Mt. Pocono, Pennsylvania. He was very active and participated in many church activities. He worked a lot with the teenagers until he moved away to Florida in 1974. He also spent 18 months in Houston, Texas, and attended the Houston North church during that time and then returned to Lake Worth, Florida.

He and his wife, Rose, also a member, lived in Port St. Lucie for 26 years. He had been with UCG since 1995.

He was preceded in death by three children, Donna, Diane and Dennis. Mr. Freyman is survived by his wife of 52 years, Rose; two sons, David of Port St. Lucie and Jim of West Palm Beach, Florida; and three daughters, Roseann of Melbourne, Florida, Cindy of Cary, North Carolina, and Ruth of Raleigh, North Carolina. He also has nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Services were held in Lake Worth, and were performed by West Palm Beach associate pastor Richard Rand.

----------

Dale Pope, born in St. Louis, Missouri, lost his battle with colon cancer on April 30, 2006. Dale, who had a zest for sports, was baptized in 1983 at the age of 21. He was a faithful member in the Atlanta, Georgia, congregation and was looking forward to the Kingdom of God .

He is survived by his mother, Maxine Pope, also a member, and a father, brother and sister. He had expressed his appreciation for the prayers and cards over the past months from members all over the world who had encouraged and strengthened him through this trial.

[ back to top ]

Tribute: Phillip Carl Fowler

Phillip Carl Fowler was born Jan. 6, 1920, in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He died peacefully at his home in Linden, California, June 13, 2006.

Phil moved to Chicago, Illinois, at an early age and attended school there. He first met his future wife, Waueda, when she was only 10 days old. His mother was a good friend of Waueda's mother and a nurse, and was there to help when she was born. The long friendship of their mothers eventually brought Phil and Waueda together. Years later they were wed on July 10, 1943, and resided in Chicago. It would prove to be a long and loving marriage of almost 63 years.

Not long after the birth of their first child, Roy, Phil was sent overseas to serve in the Pacific theater as a paratrooper during World War II with the 82nd Airborne. During the war, he jumped in Luzon, the Philippines; Guadalcanal; and a number of other islands. Many of his fellow paratroopers never returned home, and he felt it was a miracle he survived.

Phil's occupation after the war was growing and canning mushrooms. He had his own cannery and had the largest mushroom operation in that part of the country. He maintained a successful mushroom business for 40 years.

He and his wife began attending services in 1958. In the later 1960s he was ordained a deacon, and not long after that an elder. He fulfilled many duties and services in the Chicago area. At one time, he was editor of a church newspaper in Chicago, the president of Spokesman's Club, and he served in speaking and many other functions.

After many years in Chicago, he and his wife moved to Linden, California, to be near their family. He has a son, Roy, and a daughter, Robin, and was preceded in death by another daughter, Rona, who died when she was only 23 years old. He also had the blessing of two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

When the United Church of God began in Stockton, he and his wife volunteered to host the congregation at their home for about six months to help save hall rental expense. They also hosted many other events at their home.

Phil was a man of many interests. He loved to fly airplanes, and owned single-and twin-engine aircraft that he flew all over the United States, Canada, Mexico and parts of South America.

After retiring from the mushroom business in 1983, he took the time to complete his education as a naturopath, receiving an N.D. degree. He really enjoyed helping people with their health problems.

He continued to actively pursue learning into his later years. He enjoyed listening to and actively participating in educational videos from the University of Texas on various mathematical subjects. He especially liked to get out his calculator and work out calculus problems.

Phil's wonderful sense of humor and colorful personality endeared him to many. He will indeed be missed.

—Jim and Joan Tuck

[ back to top ]

Announcements: Members are welcome to submit announcements of the births, engagements, weddings, significant anniversaries (25, 40, 50, 60, etc.) and obituaries in their families. Please include a self-addressed envelope if you would like photos returned. Most items are 50 to 100 words and should not exceed 250 words. Please e-mail (preferred) or give them to your local pastor to forward to United News.