The Wayne County News • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2017 7A

ObituariesJames Marvin

Hardwickof Huntington

James Marvin Hardwick, 79, of Huntington, W.Va., went to meet the Lord on November 19, 2017. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday, November 22, 2017, at Reger Funeral Chapel, Huntington, by Pastor Phillip Warren. Burial will fol-low at Crescent Hill Cemetery, Ceredo, W.Va. James was retired from Pilgrim Glass Company, a member of Prince of Peace Free Will Baptist Church and a for-mer member of the WV Army National Guard. He was born February 17, 1938, in Wayne County, W.Va., the son of the late William and Grace Ferguson Hardwick. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his two sons, Tony Hardwick and Rick Blake. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Betty Hardwick; four children whom he loved dearly, Jimmy (Michelle), Tim (Terri) and Teresa (Tim), Jerry; nine grandchildren, Jimmy, Casey, Chris, Hannah, Adam, Tara, Victoria, Amber and Beth; 10 great-grandchildren and one on the way; and one brother, William Hardwick. James loved Marshall University football, Kentucky Wildcats basketball and Spring Valley football. He loved his wife and family. He never met a stranger and loved to talk and tell his stories. He was loved and will be missed. .Online condolences may be made to the family at www.regerfh.com.

Delsie Maynardof Huntington

Delsie Maynard, 92, of Huntington, WV, went to be with the Lord on the evening of November 19, 2017 surrounded by her family. To know Delsie was to know that family was the most important thing to her, so her family was with her as she left this world to be welcomed into God’s loving embrace. No amount of words could ever describe the love, care, and kindness this fami-ly’s matriarch held in her small body. Though small in stature, she has and always will carry a large place in her family’s heart. She was born April 12, 1925 in Dunlow, WV, a daughter of the late Wayne and Fairabelle Maynard Copley. She was a homemaker and member of the Echo United Baptist Church. Her husbands, Hiram Henry Auxier and Dolphus J. Maynard, and brothers Lawrence and Bill Copley, sisters Sadie Martin, Doris Blevins, and infant Marie Copley, and son-in-law Howard Maynard preceded her in death. Survivors include three daughters: Carolyn Maynard (Jesse) of Kenova, WV; Belinda Nelson (Roger) of Huntington, WV; and Rita Maynard of Fort Gay, WV, and two sons: George Wayne Auxier (Carolyn) of Crown City, OH, and Hiram Keith Auxier (Gaythel) of South Point, OH. In addi-tion, two sisters, Wilda M. Walden of Huntington, WV and Rosalee Maynard of Dunlow, WV, and brother-in-law Arthur “Mutt” Auxier of Dunlow, WV. Delsie also leaves behind nine grandchildren: Roger Nelson, JR (Pam), Trisha Ross (Thomas), Danielle Watts (Brad), Jessica Ross (Shawn), Tammy Williamson (Bobby), Kate Lilly (Scott), Brian Auxier, Delsie LeMaster (Jeff), and Kim Meade (Mookie), eighteen great-grandchildren, fifteen great-great-grand-children, and a host of other loved ones and friends, too numerous to count. She will be dearly missed. Funeral services will be con-ducted 1:00 p.m., Friday, November 24, 2017 at Morris Funeral Home Chapel, Wayne, WV, with Elders Glen Kiah Williamson and Tommy Damron officiating. Burial will follow at the S.D. Copley Cemetery in Dunlow, WV. Visitation will be from 11:00 a.m. until service time Friday at Morris Funeral Home.

Robert Lee Osburn of Supply, N.C. Robert Lee Osburn, 85, of Supply, N.C., formerly of Lorain,

Ohio, passed away Wednesday, November 15, 2017, at the Cape Fear Hospice Center. He was born July 15, 1932, at East Lynn, W.Va., a son of the late Barney and Susie Osburn. His brothers Curtis, Carl, Howard Osburn also preceded him in death, along with one sister, Edna Smith. A graduate of Wayne High School, Robert retired from U.S. Steel after 38 years of service, and attended Brunswick Island Baptist Church. He leaves behind his loving wife of 66 years, Faye Adkins Osburn; two sons, Robert “Ozzie” Osburn and his wife Jan of Amherst, Ohio and Richard Lee Osburn of Supply, N.C.; two grandsons, Jeremy (Deanna) Osburn of Pleasureville, Ky., and Scott Osburn of Amherst, Ohio; and one great-granddaughter, Adriana of Pleasureville, Ky. Also surviving is one brother, Clarence (Sally) Osburn of Lorain, Ohio; and nieces, nephews, friends and family too numerous to mention. Funeral ser-vices were 1 p.m. Tuesday, November 21, 2017, at Johnson Tiller Funeral Home, Wayne, W.Va., with Pastor Jody Fortner officiating. Burial followed in Baylous Cemetery.

Hastie Adkins Sullivan Thackerof Proctorville

Hastie Adkins Sullivan Thacker, 98, of Proctorville, Ohio passed away Sunday, November 19, 2017, at The Emogene Dolin Jones Hospice House, Huntington, W.Va. She was born September 3, 1919, in Wayne County, W.Va., daughter of the late Rev. Joseph and Polly Adkins. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husbands, Cecil Sullivan in 1999 and Leo Thacker; three brothers, Hallie, Howard and Homer Adkins; three sisters, Tina Adkins, Hazel Schneider and Edna Baker; and son-in-law Larry Brown. She was a member of Lucinda United Baptist Church. She is survived by two daughters, Wilma (James) Rucker of South Point, Ohio and Frances Brown of Proctorville, Ohio; one son, Junior (Connie) Sullivan of Proctorville, Ohio; four grandchildren, Kimberly (Deron) Carrico, Greg (Ashley) Sullivan, Kristen Rucker and Tony Brown; five great-grandchildren, Emily and Elizabeth Carrico, Tanner Brown, Macie and Andrew Sullivan; two siblings, Dorothy (Wetzel) Lester and Harvey (Winfred) Adkins; and several nieces and nephews. Funeral service will be 11 a.m. Wednesday, November 22, 2017, at Hall Funeral Home and Crematory, Proctorville, Ohio, by Rev. Eddie Salmons and Buford Love. Burial will follow in Miller Memorial Gardens, Miller, Ohio. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. The family would like to extend a special thank you to all her caregivers and the Emogene Dolin Jones Hospice House.

Tracy Layne Wetherallof Kenova

Tracy Layne Wetherall, “Catbird,” 52, of Kenova, W.Va., passed away Thursday, November 16, 2017, at his res-idence. Funeral services were 1 p.m. Monday, November 20, 2017, at the Reger Funeral Chapel by Pastor Jamie Gump. Burial followed in Spring Hill Cemetery, Huntington, W.Va. He was born July 18, 1965, in Huntington, a son of Dolores Harless Wetherall and the late C.E. Wetherall. He was a truck driver. Additional survivors include his daughter and her husband, Lauren Wetherall and Jordan Lorea; grandchildren Averie Wetherall and Aeris Lorea; brother and sister-in-law Terry and Tammy Copley; sister and brother-in-law Tana and Harold Lucas; and nieces and nephews Desarai and Brittany Lambert, Darrell and Stacy Walters and Dennis Walters. Condolences may be made to the family at www.regerfh.com.

Elizabeth Rose “Betty” York of Wayne Elizabeth Rose “Betty” York, 72, of Wayne, West Virginia,

passed away on Saturday, November 17, 2017, at St. Mary’s Medical Center. She was born June 20, 1945, at Dingess, W.Va., a daughter of the late Mervin and Hazel Johnson. Her husband, William York, also preceded her in death, along with brothers Mervin Johnson and Raymond Jennings. She leaves behind two sons, David Lee York of Wayne, and Michael Ance York; three grandchildren, Michael James York, Joshua Williams York and Megan Elizabeth Saxton; and a host of special friends too numerous to mention. At her request, there will be no services. Johnson Tiller Funeral Home, Wayne, is honored to serve the York family.

On top of all this, there’s a new book (“HACK”) out by Donna Brazile. How scintillating to have something fresh — from a Democrat — a real attention-getter while Trump continues to rant “lock her [Hillary] up!”

In my opinion, the president should stay at home until he learns the job he was elected to do. But, then, when he’s home he spends an inordinate amount of time playing his golf courses. I think the president may be secretly saying to himself: Won’t it be nice when the news cycle shifts from this Russian stuff to what I’m doing in Hawaii? Or, the Philippines? Or, China? Shifts to anything I’m doing other than what’s been headlines back at the swamp!

Let’s face it, we all knew when the first special investigation indictment was announced it was going to be Paul Manafort. He was a natural, along with his sidekick, former business associate Rick Gates. What we didn’t expect was, at the same time, a squealer named George Papadopoulos was waiting in the wings.

Papadopoulos, the so-called small fish, is providing the founda-tion on which a case will be built against the really big fish. The Daily Beast stated that Papadopoulos is the Trump adviser “who may kill Trump’s presidency.” Papadopoulos’ appearance in the March 2016 photo along with Trump and Sessions provides incon-trovertible proof Sessions is a liar and Trump knew about a possible Russia collusion.

Evidence accumulates. Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were placed under house arrest with GPS monitoring while, ironical-ly, Donald Trump left the coun-try. Make no mistake. Trump is the big fish, and he has been stinking for a long time.

Milt Hankins is a theologian, former pastor and local author. His website is columnistwith-aview.com.

corporations and wealthy Americans while providing modest tax relief for certain segments of the middle class and actually raising taxes on many members of that class. Perhaps worst of all, the bill, if passed into law, is estimated to add $1.7 trillion to the national debt, which already stands at an eye-popping $20.5 trillion.

In the crudest terms, the bill is “payback” for the so-called “donor class,” the mega millionaires and billionaires who fill the coffers of Republican office holders and candidates. (To be fair, some members of that class do indeed give to Democrats and inde-pendents, but those donors generally have a heart for protecting the environment or bolstering educational opportunities or some other social justice issue.)

Currently I wish a major publisher would send Frank 700 miles southeast from his home state of Kansas to research and write “What’s the Matter with Alabama?”

There, a former judge, twice removed from the Alabama Supreme Court for flagrant violations, the Hon. Roy Moore, is soldiering ahead with his bid to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by Jeff Sessions when Sessions agreed to become President Donald Trump’s attorney general.

The disgraced judge has even more serious obstacles to winning the seat — accusations by several women that he made unwanted sexual advances, right up to criminal molestation, against them when he was a district attorney in his 30s and the women were still teenagers aged 14 to 16.

Moore has been harping on his “family values” and “solid Christian” rhetoric and denying all allegations of sexual miscon-duct. That notwithstanding, an impressive phalanx of Republican senators and representatives in Washington, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have either withdrawn support or issued calls for Moore to “step aside.”

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) has even gone so far as to say he prefers the election of the Democratic candidate, Doug Jones, to the seating of a Republican as tarnished by scandal as Moore appears to be.

John Patrick Grace is a former Associated Press reporter, editor and foreign correspondent (Rome). He is currently a book editor and publisher and teaches the Life Writing Class in and near Huntington.

against the ivory trade, which is at the root of the poaching. We have finally prevailed on the Chinese, long the worst offender on ivory, to begin to shut down its markets. It would be bizarre to turn around and say that any schmuck with money to burn and no better way to entertain himself can waltz into the U.S. with elephant tusks.

Trophy hunting is now the exception rather than rule in African countries. Botswana, with the largest population of elephants, banned hunting in 2014; Kenya prohibited it back in the 1970s. Hunting bans are hardly a magical solution to the devastation in elephant populations. Yet wildlife tourism that doesn’t involve destroying a scarce and endangered resource seems a better long-term economic bet.

After the initial decision to lift the trophy ban was announced, Trump may have been moved to speak out by heart-rending images on TV of elephants getting slaughtered. If so, it was an admirable reaction. When an elephant -- a creature that means no harm and is deeply affected by trauma and loss -- is poisoned or gunned down for fun or profit, it’s worth asking, Who’s really the animal?

Jimmy Merritt of Wayne Jimmy Merritt, 61 of Wayne, WV, died Saturday, November 18,

2017 at United Hospital in Bridgeport, WV. He was born June 22, 1956 in Huntington, WV, a son of the Phyllis Mae Chinn Merritt of Huntington, WV, and the late Charlie Golden Merritt. Jimmy was a self-employed contractor and member of Canada Chapel. A sister, Benita Merritt also preceded him in death. Additional survivors include a daughter, Rachel Merritt of Wayne, WV; two brothers, Anthony Merritt and wife, Betty of Wayne, WV, Keith Merritt of Barboursville, WV; and a grandson, Jeremy Ramsey. Funeral services will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, November 25, 2017 at Morris Funeral Home Chapel, Wayne with Pastor Johnny Jackson officiating. Burial will follow at the Jones Cemetery, East Lynn. Friends may call one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

Irene Pritchard of Kenova Irene Pritchard 59, of Kenova, WV went to be with her Lord on

Sunday, November 19, 2017 at Cabell Huntington Hospital. She was born September 1, 1958 in Kenova, WV to the late parents Arnold Scarberry and Mary Etta (Castle) Scarberry. She was pre-ceded in death by her husband, Donald Pritchard Sr. In addition to her husband and parents Irene was preceded in death by her siblings, Eugene Scarberry, Arnold Scarberry, Raymond Scarberry, Harold Scarberry and Louise Scarberry. She leaves behind to mourn her loss, her children, Junnie Scarberry (Angela) and Donald Pritchard II (Kayla); her sister, Helen Robertson; grandchildren, Sadie Pritchard, Kimmy Scarberry, Justin Scarberry, and Tyler Scarberry, and a host of family and friends. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M., Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at Ceredo-Kenova Funeral Home with Pastor Rod Justice officiating. Family will wel-come friends at 1:00 p.m. Burial will follow at McCoy Cemetery, Catlettsburg, KY. Online condolences may be expressed to family below.

Bobby Ray Smith Jr. of Huntington Bobby Ray Smith Jr. 53, of Huntington, WV passed away on

Wednesday, November 15, 2017 at Cabell Huntington Hospital. He was born July 18, 1964 in Huntington, WV to the late Bobby Ray Smith Sr. and Juanita Aileen Daniels Smith. He is preceded in death by his infant daughter, Juanita Smith. Bobby leaves behind to mourn his loss; his wife, Tammy Hesson Smith; his children, Roberta Smith, Bobby Smith III, Eric Smith( Michelle)and Stephen Smith; his siblings, Wetzel Smith ( Patty), Roberta ( Larry), Debra Maynard (Delbert), Kathy Nance ( Jeff), Kevin Smith (Tracy), Paul Smith (Tina), Rick Smith (Linda). Also left behind is one grand-child, Damien Smith and a host of family and friends. At this time there will be no services.

Paulette Newsome of Louisa Paulette Newsome 69 of Louisa, KY went home to be with the

Lord on Nov. 19, 2017 following a brief illness. Paulette was born Oct. 2, 1948 at Louisa, the daughter of the late William C. and Lydia Evelyn Sturgill Hazlett. In addition to her parents she is preceded in death by her husband Hezra Gene “Buzz” Newsome and a daughter Jennett Newsome. Paulette was a homemaker and member of the Emmanuel Baptist Church. Survivors include a daughter Carma Thomas and husband Frankie of Leon, WV; a son Paul Newsome and wife Pam of Louisa; a sister Josephine Thornsberry also of Louisa; a brother Roy Hazlett of Louisa; eight grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at a later date to be announced by the family. Care has been entrusted to Wilson Funeral Home.

Michael Lynn Maynard of LouisaMichael Lynn “Mike” Maynard 53 of Louisa, KY passed away

Nov. 18, 2017 at his home following a long illness. Mike was born Jan. 20, 1964 at Ypsilanti, Michigan the son of Phyllis Blackburn Preece and the late Raymond Maynard. In addition to his father he is preceded in death by a sister Ansel Dawn Williamson and his step dad Charles Edward Preece. He was a retired truck driver and attended Buchanan Chapel Church. Survivors include his wife Loria Adams Maynard; his mother Phyllis Preece of Louisa; two daughters Amanda Lowery and husband J.R. of Dayton, Ohio and Haley Maynard of Louisa; three brothers William Maynard and wife Violet of Columbus, Ohio, Dwayne Maynard and wife Tonya of Louisa, and Paul Preece and wife Lea Anna also of Louisa; four grandchildren, and a host of friends. Funeral services will be con-ducted on Tuesday at 11:00 am at the Wilson Funeral Home with Rev. Keith Workman officiating. Burial will follow in the Preece Memorial Gardens at Louisa, KY. Friends may visit the family on Monday from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Wilson Funeral Home. Care has been entrusted to Wilson Funeral Home.

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HANKINS from Page 5A

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