Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

obituaries

Crash and Burn

dirt bike
Motorcycles are a passion in the garden. And we’ve been thinking about the riders in our lives that have went down this past year.

Evel. Candace has a great perspective on this.

Sweet James who recently died from injuries sustained in a crash.

Dan Feather who died on his dream bike two weeks after he got it.

Keane Moss,17 and James De Anda, 19 on their dirt bikes. The helmet pictured below was used at the memorial.

Kevin Umlauf, trials and enduro rider. I remember when we were kids, Kevin was doing a wheelie on asphalt, lost control and completely scrapped the hide off his back and legs.

And then a guy I met a couple of weeks ago, Ronnie, who was hit on his bike in Branson on his way home from work on a Monday night during the first week in November. Driver was on her cell phone. Ronnie was invisible. He lost his leg, but not his life.

He looks pretty good, but is pretty pissed off. He worked a server in a Branson restaurant. His insurance has already dropped him and he’s trying to secure disability. And build his upper body so he can learn to walk.

motorcycle memorial

Have a great week!

Evel Knievel RIP

evel knievel

Goodbye Evel, you will be missed by the kids that grew up on your stunts, collected the action figures and even pretended to be you in female form on our bikes…..”Stacy and Tracy Knievel Stunt Riders” was a favorite game. Wild World of Sports featuring the latest jump (and crash) was must see t.v.

On Evel’s site, there is a picture of Evel and another one of our heros….Joey Chitwood. Our deepest sympathies to the Knievel family.

Pardon My Dust

dorthy parker

Over the holiday weekend we caught an old favorite, “Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle” with Jennifer Jason Leigh as Dorthy Parker, and was reminded of the author’s tragic ending.

Four suicide attempts, no heirs, her will was simple: she left her literary estate to Dr. Martin Luther King. Parker was cremated and her ashes sat on a shelf at the crematory for six years.

A year after Dorthy’s death, Dr. King was assassinated and the Parker estate rolled over to the NAACP. Meanwhile, her ashes had been mailed to her attorney’s office where the box resided in a filing cabinet for 15 years.

In 1988, someone figured out that Mrs. Parker’s ashes were unclaimed, New York tabloids ran stories and readers sent in letters about what should be done with the dust. The NAACP stepped in and took the box and dedicated a memorial garden at the national headquarters in Baltimore, and finally interred the ashes there.

dorthy parker memorial

source: dorthyparker.com

Goodbye James

James Rogers

James Rogers
December 27, 1957-November 9, 2007

James N. Rogers passed away peacefully at St. John’s Hospital after an illness with his family and friends by his side November 9, 2007. He was born in Springfield, Missouri.

James graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1976 and worked for Paul Mueller’s and Watson Brothers Drywall. He was united in marriage to Debbie Watson December 21, 1982, and to this union one child was born, Sarah Marie, on July 4, 1983.

James loved spending his time playing softball, watching his favorite NASCAR driver, Jeff Gordon, or just soaking up the sun at the lake, but most of all he loved to spend time with his two granddaughters, Amirah and Angel, and his two grandsons, Joseph and Dominic.

Survivors include his wife, Debbie; daughter Sarah and Joe; granddaughters, Amirah and Angel; grandsons, Joseph and Dominic; brothers, John and his wife, Jean, and Tim and his wife, Gerri; sisters, Judy O’Bannon and husband, Bill, and Becky Hilmes and husband, Scott; father and mother-in-law, Ernie and Dixie Watson; brother-in-law Mike Watson; grandmothers, Opal Watson and Fern Neer; nephews, Mike and Chris O’Bannon, Travis and Shad Rogers; nieces, Kathy O’Bannon-Kincannon, Lori Rogers-Wheelis and Whitney Rogers; great-nephews, Sean and Kyle O’Bannon and L.T. Kincannon; great-nieces, Erin O’Bannon and Kasey Kincannon and a multitude of friends and co-workers.

The family would like to thank the staff of St. John’s for the care and support of James, especially Dr. Evans, Cris, Jessica and Amanda. We appreciate your kindness during James’ last stay.

Visitation will be Monday, November 12, 2007, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the funeral home. Funeral services will be Tuesday, November 13, 2007, at 10 a.m. in Klingner-Cope Family Funeral Home at Midtown. Interment will be private.