Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 349, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 Page: 3 of 10
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Sweetwater Reporter
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 ■ Page 3
Obituaries
DONNA JEAN DOWTY
Funeral services for Donna Jean Dowty, 80, of Colorado
City, will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, at First
Assembly of God Church in Colorado City with Rev. Mike
Foster officiating. Interment will follow at Colorado City
Cemetery under the direction of McCoy Funeral Home.
Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 5,
2012, at First Assembly of God Church in Colorado City.
Dowty died Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, at Mitchell County
Hospital.
JOE GARCIA
Funeral services for Joe Garcia, 65, of Spring and formerly
of Sweetwater, will be held at 4 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6,2012,
at McCoy Chapel of Memories. Military Graveside Rites
will be performed at interment at Sweetwater Cemetery,
under the direction of McCoy Funeral Home.
Awake will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012,
at McCoy Funeral Home.
Garcia died Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in Houston.
SERGIO LEONEL RIVERA
Sergio Leonel Rivera, 41, of Sweetwater, died Sunday,
Dec. 25, 2011, at his residence in Sweetwater.
His body was cremated and his ashes will be returned to
his home in Guatemala.
JOHN C. WILKINSON
John C. Wilkinson, 73, of Sweetwater, Texas, passed
away on Jan. 1, 2012, at Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital.
Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday,
Jan. 4, 2012, at McCoy Chapel of Memories under the
direction of McCoy Funeral Home. Rev. Keith Clifton and
Rev. Jerry Payne will be officiating. A family visitation will
be held Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, from 7-8:30 p.m.
John was born on Aug. 12, 1938, in Fisher County. He
has lived all of his life in Sweetwater, and he was a member
of the Lamar Street Baptist Church. John married Linda
Taylor on July 25, 1959 in Sweetwater. He worked as a
Chemical Analyst for the Lone Star Cement Plant for 36
years before retiring. John loved to fish and hunt and his
family was the highlight of his life.
Survivors include his wife, Linda Wilkinson of Sweetwater:
daughters, Jill Doggett and husband Bill of Sweetwater and
Sally Halbert and husband Jay of San Angelo; grandsons,
Darrell Doggett and wife Jenny of Sweetwater and Logan
Doggett of Sweetwater; granddaughter, Katie Halbert of San
Angelo; and great-grandsons, Jaden Doggett and Jensen
Doggett of Sweetwater; his brother, Mickey Wilkinson
and wife Pam of Snellville, Georgia; a nephew and niece in
Georgia; and several local cousins.
Preceding him in death are both parents, Vernie James
and Edith Grace Wilkinson; maternal grandparents, Moses
Clinton and Annie Thomas Lewis; paternal grandparents,
John M. and Alabama Gifford Wilkinson.
Memorials may be made to Ben Ritchey Boys Ranch,
P.O. Box 6839, Abilene, TX 79608, or Hendrick Home for
Children, P.O. Box 5195 Abilene, TX 79608.
Online condolences may be expressed at mccoyfh@
yahoo.com.
Deaf woman speaks
through artwork
J.R. ORTEGA
Victoria Advocate
VICTORIA, Texas (AP) -
The chilly winter air flutters
tufts of short, mousey brown
hair away from Laura Lang's
face as she dabs a brush into
a paint palette.
"Muh," the 44-year-old
groans as she mixes soft
and hard paint strokes onto
a picnic table at Dad's RV
Park - an artistic talent she
recently tapped into.
Reds transition into yel-
lows and gradually the par-
rot that Lang has been draw-
ing and painting since the
morning is brought to life.
Staring at her mother,
Lang signs and uses facial
expressions to communicate
why she likes birds.
Lang breaks into a hearty
laugh and claps. Her mother
cracks a smile.
"Cause they're pretty" her
mother translates.
Lang was born partially
deaf and by the time she was
5 years old, she was com-
pletely deaf, her mother
Wanda Wilson says.
Today, Lang pretty much
takes care of herself.
The family has moved
around most of their lives
and last lived in Des Moines,
Iowa.
Lang graduated from
Nebraska's School for the
Deaf, where she learned
most of her American
Sign Language. Now, she's
tweaked some sign language
to fit her needs.
Lang has been drawing for
about five years, but it was
not until three months ago
that she expressed interest
in drawing and painting for
others.
Sketching floral arrange-
ments with chalk was what
Lang first picked up on.
"She's very proud of them
(paintings),1' her mother
said, smiling. "As are we."
In the past three months,
Lang has painted picnic
tables with lighthouses, floral
arrangements, landscapes
but more specifically, birds.
She has drawn pheasants,
blue jays and cardinals.
Her painting is bright,
detailed and vivid.
Not only is Lang commu-
nicating through sign lan-
Moo
Continued from pagel
from the titular book, as
well as a copy of the Dr.
Seuss book, "Mr. Brown
Can Moo! Can You?". Also,
Reese, Garret, and Mini
Moo posed together for
photographers. The photo
of the trio will grace the
cover of the regional AT&T
phone book.
guage, but also her painting
shows her overall mood -
she's just plain ol' happy.
Lang may not be able to
hear the high-pitched tweets
of a bird, but that does not
make the detail in her paint-
ings less powerful.
"When God takes one
sense from us, he gives us
another," her mother says.
Lang hops off a slow
moving golf cart and walks
between RVs.
Seven picnic tables with
her art illustrations are
sprinkled throughout the
park; and like any good art-
ist, she knows exactly where
each one sits and the draw-
ing it displays.
"Well, 1 think we're going
to another one," her mother
says as Lang hops back into
the cart.
Lang's mother passes by
a table with a single parrot
that was auctioned off
Outside one of the RVs is
Becky Watts, whose decor
clearly shows her affinity for
ladybugs.
Lang has painted a picnic
table for her in the past.
The table sits in front of
the RV with painted lady
bugs and red trim.
Watts appreciates Lang's
talent and is amazed by the
work she does.
"She's fantastic," she says.
"She really does great."
Lang smiles - a gesture that
is universally understood.
Lang and her mother stare
and silence ensues as they
sign back and forth.
"What do you think about
being able to draw for peo-
ple?' her mother signs.
After a couple of seconds,
Lang's mother sighs, smiles
and translates.
"She just thanks God that
she can," Lang's mother
translates.
Looking for love
for Patrick the
gorilla in Dallas
DAVID FLICK
Dallas Morning News
DALLAS (AP) — After a lonely bachelor existence,
a long-term relationship may finally be in Patrick's
future.
But first he has to learn some manners.
Patrick, the Dallas Zoo's 21-year-old lowland gorilla,
does not have a good track record for courting the
ladies.
A few years ago, two females — Tufani from the
Cincinnati Zoo and Makena from Disney's Animal
Kingdom — were brought in as prospective partners.
The first time Patrick was introduced to Makena, he
bit her on the leg.
It was boorish, even for a gorilla, but not entirely
Patrick's fault, said Lynn Kramer, the zoo's deputy
director. "Makena was partly raised by humans and
wasn't familiar with gorilla etiquette."
Normally, females will stay out of the way of a mature
male, known as a silverback. She didn't.
"Patrick overreacted," Kramer said. "In any case, it
clearly wasn't working out."
It wasn't the first time Patrick had exhibited anti-
social behavior.
When zoo staffers gave Patrick toys to play with, he
would tear them up and eat them. He was known to
throw rocks at the observation glass.
"I'm told he has a thing for women with toenail pol-
ish. If visitors stand outside the exhibit with painted
toenails, he'll tap the glass and point," Kramer said. "I've
never seen that myself."
In any case, Tufani and Makena were shipped to the
Kansas City Zoo in Missouri. In the years that followed,
Patrick spent much of his time alone or, more recently,
as part of a bachelor gorilla troop that zoo officials are
putting together.
Now, zoo officials are trying once again to improve
Patrick's social skills.
Earlier this year, Kramer received approval from the
Species Survival Commission, which oversees the place-
ment of endangered animals, to temporarily acquire two
new female gorillas.
Madge, 30, and Shanta, 15, arrived in Dallas from the
Cincinnati Zoo last month and are in temporary quar-
antine.
M aria Ross, a Dallas Zoo mammal keeper, spent time
at the Cincinnati Zoo observing their behavior before
bringing them dow n to meet Patrick.
Unlike Dallas, the Cincinnati Zoo has a large troop,
where the two females were well-schooled in proper
primate behavior. Ross said.
"They're used to silverbacks; they'll know how to act,"
she said. "They'll be nonconfrontational, but they'll
stand their ground."
Kramer said he believes that like a lot of troublesome
young males, Patrick is a product of a poor upbringing.
Born in the Bronx Zoo, he was hand-raised by humans,
Kramer said. Once in Dallas, he was partnered with
Jabari, another young male gorilla. After Jabari was
killed by Dallas police during an escape in 2004 that
injured three zoo visitors, Patrick spent years largely by
himself.
None of this worked to foster good gorilla manners.
If anything, Kramer said, he is surprised that Patrick's
behavior is as normal as it is.
Unlike some silverbacks raised by humans, Patrick
doesn't walk upright on two legs but drags his knuckles
as a gorilla with any pride should. He doesn't stare at
other gorillas (which indicates hostility) but glances
sideways.
Patrick's basic problem, Kramer said, appears to be
boredom.
"He's a bit hyper," he said, "but I also think he's begin-
ning to mellow out a little bit."
We'll know soon enough.
The first step is putting the prospective love interests
in adjacent enclosures — a process known as the "howdy
phase." Then, if all goes well, they will be introduced
soon.
If everything goes really well, Patrick and Shanta may
get approval from the Species Survival Commission to
mate.
Patrick would then be allowed to join a full-fledged
breeding troop. If that doesn't work out, then he may be
consigned to the Dallas Zoo's bachelor troop.
And if he can't even get along with the other guys, then
it may be back to life on his own. Kramer considers that
to be the least likely outcome.
Still, he said: "Patrick has one strike against him. If
he can't be socialized with them (Madge and Shanta),
then I don't think the SSC will be inclined to send us any
more. At this point it all depends on his own behavior."
Marsh fires in Southeast
Texas extinguished
BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — An emergency manage-
ment coordinator in Southeast Texas says fires that
swept through dry marshlands burned through about 10
acres before being extinguished.
Jefferson County emergency chief Greg Fountain says
the fires were started Monday by somebody welding,
and they spread because it was windy and the marsh
grass is dead and dry in winter.
Fountain said Tuesday the fires were not related to a
drought that has parchecl Texas in the past year, feeding
some of the largest wildfires the state has ever seen.
Fountain described the fires about 80 miles east of
Houston as minor compared to the wildfires that swept
through Central Texas and West Texas last spring and
summer.
ROSCOE
STATE BANK
ROSCOE/SWEETWATER/BASTROP
Member FDIC
McCoy
Funeral Home
401 E. 3rd
235-8666
Sweetwater
www.mccoyfh.com
907 Broadway
766-3452
Roscoe
Father: Thankful
for passers-by who
saved children
LOGAN, Utah (AP) — Roger Andersen thought it was
over.
The 46-year-old lost control of his car this weekend on
a winding Utah canyon road and slid into an icy river,
trapping his 9-year-old daughter Mia and 4-year-old
son Baylor, along with their friend, 9-year-old Kenya
Wildman. "The car flipped upside-down and quickly
became submerged.
"The first thought was, 'So this is it how it ends,"
Andersen said while choking back tears Monday. "This
could very easily have been a funeral for four of us."
But it wasn't, thanks to a handful of passers-by who
stopped and within seconds, jumped into the frigid river
to help.
"I was amazed at the people and the readiness of peo-
ple to jump in and help," Anderson said at a news con-
ference in Logan, about 80 miles north of Salt Lake City.
"Without hesitation, they just did what they had to do ...
And that... for our family, made all the difference."
Andersen said they were on their way to a ski resort
Saturday when the accident happened on a road they've
traveled hundreds of times. The road didn't appear icy,
at first, but as they made their way up the canyon, it got
slicker so he slowed.
But just one tap on the brakes was all it took.
"In a second, I was completely off the road and sliding
down the embankment," he said. "Within a second, the
entire cabin of the vehicle was full of water."
He struggled to free the children from their seatbelts,
but couldn't get them loose, and he had to breathe.
"I decided the best thing w as to get out of the car and
get air," he said. "In no less than 10 seconds, there were
a half-dozen men standing on the banks of the river, and
they're questions to me were, 'Who else was in the car?'
"Within five seconds, there were eight men in the river
... ready to assist," he added.
The rescuers pulled the children one-by-one from the
car and passed them up the river bank to others, where
some performed CPR on two of them — his children.
They were unconscious and not breathing.
They all loaded up into a friend's SUV and sped down
the mountain for help, but were met about halfway by
paramedics, Andersen said. His two children were flow n
to a hospital in Salt Lake City, treated for hypothermia
and released on Monday. The family friend also was
treated and released.
"In a matter of a couple of days, now Baylor is running
around just like nothing ever happened to him, and Mia
is fine and Kenya is also fine," he said. "It's a story to me
that is inspiring in many ways."
He said he will now learn more about how to help oth-
ers.
"I need to do more so I can be at that level where I can
step in and help people," Andersen said.
Kenya's father, Dennis Wildman, called it "a great story
about "the human spirit and our desire to help others."
He said the bystanders who didn't hesitate to help "lit-
erally brought our children home to us."
"We just want to say thank you," he said.
Former police officer Chris Willden was among the
first on the scene. He said he shot out one of the car's
window with his pistol to reach the trapped kids.
"I was trying to grab arms, but I couldn't feel any-
thing," Willden said. "I'm thinking ... 'What are we going
to do?"'
He turned to see at least eight other people had
scrambled down the lo-foot embankment along U.S. 89
to help.
"I remember thinking to myself, 'You're going to see
some dead kids, get ready,"' Willden said. "I've got three
of my own and it was going to be (an awful) start to the
New Year."
One of the girls had found an air pocket but was
trapped by her seat belt. Willden cut it with a pocket
knife and pulled her from the rear passenger window.
The two other children soon followed.
Roger Andersen's wife, Mindy, fought to keep from
crying Monday as she thanked the bystanders for saving
the children's lives.
"Hero," she said, "is not even big enough for what they
did."
Woman burned in
North exas meth
lab explosion
QUITMAN, Texas (AP) — Investigators say a rneth-
amphetamine lab explosion in North Texas has left a
woman burned and the boyfriend who dropped her off
at a hospital facing drug charges.
The Wood County Sheriffs Department says Russell
Allen Love of Quitman was jailed Tuesday on charges of
manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance.
Online jail records did not list an attorney for Love,
whose bond was set at $75,000.
Shanda Gail Simmons was left at a Quitman hospi-
tal Saturday night and told authorities that a meth lab
explosion happened near her home.
Chief Deputy Wes Criddle says Love was later located
at the residence he shared with Simmons, where depu-
ties found a drug lab in the kitchen.
Simmons was hospitalized in fair condition Tuesday
at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.
MIDDAY ON WALL STREET
Today's Trading
Change
DOW
12,472.61
+255.05
NASDAQ
2,663.69
+58.81
S&P
1,283.74
+26.22
General Motors
20.90
+0.63
Ford Motor Co.
11.12
+0.36
AT&T
30.42
+0.18
Pepsico, Inc.
67.12
+0.77
USG Corp.
10.64
+0.48
Archer-Daniels
29.20
+0.60
GE
18.35
+0.44
Deere & Co.
79.47
+2.12
McDonalds Corp.
100.90
+0.57
Chevron Texaco
109.51
+3.11
Exxon Mobil
86.06
+1.30
Fst. Fin. Bnkshs.
34.21
+0.78
Coca-Cola
70.59
+0.62
Dell
14.95
+0.32
SW Airlines
8.63
+0.07
Microsoft
26.53
+0.57
Sears Holdings Co.
32.28
+0.50
Cisco
18.71
+0.69
Wal-Mart
60.53
+0.77
Johnson & Johnson
65.41
-0.17
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 349, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 3, 2012, newspaper, January 3, 2012; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229652/m1/3/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.