Person Page - 3625

     Rupert Edwin Light Jr. was born on June 22, 1918 at Patrick Co., Virginia.^2,5 He died on December 20, 2007 at Illinois at age 89.⁵

     Leland West Light was born on December 8, 1921 at Pittsylvania Co., Virginia.^5,2 He married Evelyn Simpson on April 2, 1938 at Reidsville, Rockingham Co., North Carolina.³ Leland West Light and Evelyn Simpson were divorced on October 14, 1940 at Henry Co., Virginia.³ Leland West Light died on March 2, 2009 at New Jersey at age 87.⁵

     Her Social Security Number was 229-44-8475.² Her married name was Sowders.¹ Beulah Unknown married William Frank Sowders, son of Jacob Rush "Jack" Sowder and Mary Laurice West.¹ Beulah Unknown was born on September 25, 1888 at Virginia.^3,2 She died on March 2, 1957 at Shelby Co., Ohio, at age 68.^2,4

     Kenneth Larry Shinall was buried at O. E. Price Memorial Park, Logansport, De Soto Parish, Louisiana.^2,4 His Social Security Number was 459-72-4997.³ He LOGANSPORT, LA - Services for Mr. K. Larry Shinall of Logansport, LA, will be held Monday, July 22, 1996. Burial in O.E. Price Memorial Park, Logansport, LA. Mr. Shinall, a resident of Logansport for the past 40 years, died Saturday in Logansport following a sudden illness. He was 53 years of age. He served his country in the United States Navy, was a farmer and a member of the Methodist faith. He was proceded in death by his father, Wilton Dewitt Shinall and his step-father, Charles Wallis. He is survived by his wife, Deean Shinall of Logansport, LA; mother, Dorine Wallis of Logansport, LA; two sons, Richard David Branch and wife, Melody of El Darado, AR and Jason Todd Shinall of Logansport, LA; two daughters, Melissa Ann Thomas and husband, Jerry of Logansport, LA and Courtney Paige Shinall of Logansport, LA; two sisters, Wilma Baily of Shreveport, LA and Kathy Baker and husband, Bill of Joaquin, TX; one brother, Mike Wallis and wife, Kerrie of DeSoto, TX; four grandchildren and a host of other family and friends. Pallbearers will be Rusty Morris, Rodney Ramsey, Dennis Freeman, John Russell, Randy Bounds, Alan Bounds, Judge Cordray and Jimmy Parker. A very special thanks to Dr. Moshin Hakim, Dr. Tommy Brown, Debbie Vay, Kim McClellon, the Willis-Knighton/LSUS Heart Transplant Staff and Hospital personnel, and all donor families who help give the gift of life through The Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency.⁴ He was born on May 20, 1943 at Cartersville, Bartow Co., Georgia.^2,3 He married Delores Deean Dodd, daughter of Charles William Dodd Sr. and Octavia West Goldsborough "Alma A." Sowder, on September 2, 1972.^1,2 Kenneth Larry Shinall died on July 20, 1996 at Logansport, De Soto Parish, Louisiana, at age 53.^2,3,4

     Marie Louise Jones was buried at Riverside Memorial Park, 211 N. Government Way, Spokane, Spokane Co., Washington.⁴ She was born on September 25, 1919 at Spokane, Spokane Co., Washington.^2,5,3 As of October 10, 1944,her married name was Sowder.¹ She married Anthony Rex "Tony" Sowder Jr., son of Anthony Rex "Tony" Sowder and Eva May Goldsborough, on October 10, 1944 at Spokane, Spokane Co., Washington.^1,3 Marie Louise Jones died on April 11, 2017 at Spokane, Spokane Co., Washington, at age 97.³ She SOWDER, Marie Louise (Jones) 1919 - 2017. We lost but Heaven gained another member of the Greatest Generation with the passing of Marie Sowder at the age of 97. Her life was one filled with challenges and opportunities, love and laughter. She was born in Spokane September 25th, 1919 to Minnie and Andrew Jones. She was the youngest of three. At a young age she lost her father to a sawmill accident and her oldest brother to a hunting accident and was a great comfort to her widowed mother and her older brother. She graduated from North Central High School where she dominated the badminton and tennis teams. After graduation, she worked at Tull & Gibbs Department Store in downtown Spokane. During a social gathering her aunt had arranged for young ladies and airmen at Fairchild Air Force Base, she caught the eye of Tony Sowder who was being deployed to the WWII European Theater as a bomber pilot. When the war ended, they were married in the living room of that matchmaker aunt. After some traveling as a military family, Marie and Tony settled in Spokane and raised three children. She was a truly happy house wife and mother maintaining a home of warmth and love and many, many cookies. She kept a breadboard on her kitchen wall that stated “Food is Best Made with Butter and Love.” She loved feeding those she loved including the urban wildlife that gathered under her kitchen window, even a skunk. Well into middle age, she reclaimed her tennis game and with her husband spent many hours at the Central Park Racquet Club where they often trounced couples decades younger in mixed doubles. She lost her beloved Tony in 1995 after 51 years of marriage. She soldiered on with the help of her children and grandchildren, her brother and many, many friends. She was able to live in her home well into her 90s. In the last years of her long life, she was cared for by the wonderful staff at Rockwood Retirement Center where she maintained her gentle and kind nature and playful sense of humor. She died in her sleep on April 11th. She is survived by her brother Roy Jones and his wife Margel, her children Douglas (Patricia), Gregg, and Lisa (Nick O’Connell) and grandchildren Christine, Colin, Anthony, Alexander, Allison, Daniel, Nicholas and Marie. on April 19, 2017.³

     Harriet Anna Napier was buried at Denison Cemetery, Idabel, McCurtain Co., Oklahoma.³ She was born on September 22, 1901 at Wayne Co., West Virginia; Her gravestone has a birth year of 1902.^3,4,5 As of July 26, 1945,her married name was Sowder.¹ She married Hugh Sowder, son of William Wheeler Sowder and Octavia Lee West, on July 26, 1945 at Sebastian Co., Arkansas.¹ Harriet Anna Napier died on March 2, 1986 at Oklahoma at age 84.^3,4

     Kara Lee Sowder was born on February 18, 1931 at Arkansas.³ As of May 23, 1950,her married name was Miller.² She married John Ydstie Miller on May 23, 1950 at Texarkana, Miller Co., Arkansas.^2,3 Kara Lee Sowder died on February 28, 2021 at Lexington, Lexington Co., South Carolina, at age 90.³ She Kara Lee Miller, age 90 years, died on February 28, 2021 at the Wellmore Assisted Living Facility in Lexington, South Carolina, after a long illness. Kara Lee was poised and funny; she loved to socialize with family and friends, and to harmonize in a clear, sweet alto. She enjoyed contract bridge, board games, word-puzzles, and ballroom dancingshe and her husband John could turn an elegant foxtrot. Her gift for comedy, mimicry, and storytelling endeared her to her children and friends; she loved to read aloud, and did the best "Piglet" voice any of us ever heard. Born Kara Lee Sowder on February 18, 1931, she grew up in Arkansas and Oklahoma, spending time with her father, Hugh Sowder, and with her mother and step-father, Bonnie and Clyde Lee. She was a curious and independent child, and an avid reader. She met John Y. Miller, the love of her life, in 1950 on the set of a college drama production of George F. Kaufman's comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner; they married in Texarkana on May 23, 1950, and relocated to San Diego in 1955.For the next twenty years, Kara Lee was an active homemaker, serving as a Cub Scout Den Mother, Girl Scout Troop Leader, and PTA President. In 1975 she returned to the workplace as a Manager of Student Accounts at the then-fledgling National University. Over the next decade she rose through the ranks, becoming Director of Academic Services in 1985; meanwhile she also attended classes at NU, receiving her B.B.A. summa cum laude in 1977, her M.B.A. with distinction in 1979, and her J.D. from the National University School of Law in 1985. In December of that year, she became a Member of the State Bar of California. Kara Lee was a widely admired member of the academic and business community in San Diego. In 1986 she was accepted into the Mission Valley East chapter of Rotary International as the first female Rotarian in the county, and was quoted in The San Diego Union saying her membership had been "a very positive experience . . . I have been accepted as a member just like one of the guys" (5/5/1987). Upon her retirement from National University in 2007, her contributions were celebrated at a banquet hosted by the university president. Kara Lee was predeceased in 2003 by her husband of 53 years, John Ydstie Miller, and is survived by their three children, David Lee Miller, Nita Ellen Boyce, and Jeanette Michelle Mahnke, along with nine grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and a sister, Terri Lynn Watts. on June 13, 2021.³

     His Social Security Number was 330-12-6484.⁴ John Ydstie Miller was born on April 22, 1923 at Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois.^5,4,2,6 He married Kara Lee Sowder, daughter of Hugh Sowder and Bonnie Lucille "Bonita" Keller, on May 23, 1950 at Texarkana, Miller Co., Arkansas.^1,3 John Ydstie Miller died on September 11, 2003 at San Diego Co., California, at age 80.^4,7,6

     Her Social Security Number was 198-24-4635.³ Laura Belle Wilt was buried at Oakwood Cemetery, 107 Cemetery Street, Martinsville, Virginia.¹ She The funeral for Laura W. West, 74, of 80 Axton Road, Martinsville, who died May 22, 2004, at Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County, will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at McKee-Stone Funeral chapel. The Rev. Lynwood Wells will officiate. Burial will be in Oakwood Cemetery, Martinsville. The family will receive friends from 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. West was born Aug. 26, 1929, in Pittsburgh, Pa., to Howard Wilt and Helen Skiles Wilt. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Maynard Price "Pete" West Jr., in March 1996, and by two brothers, Herb Wilt and Jim Wilt. She attended Westminster College and retired as a bookkeeper for a dental supply office. Surviving are two daughters, Sandy West of Axton and Nancy West of Alexandria; and several nieces and nephews. Memorials may be made to the Axton Life Saving Crew, P.O. Box 458, Axton, Va. 24054.¹ Her married name was West.¹ She married Maynard Price "Pete" West Jr., son of Maynard Price West and Lucille Martin Fagg.¹ Laura Belle Wilt was born on August 26, 1929 at Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania.^1,3 She died on May 22, 2004 at Martinsville, Virginia, at age 74.^1,3,2

     John Mark West was born on July 19, 1955 at Martinsville, Virginia.^4,2,3 He married Jo Anne Ferguson on September 16, 1977 at Staunton, Augusta Co., Virginia.³ John Mark West and Jo Anne Ferguson were divorced on May 15, 1984 at Augusta Co., Virginia.⁵ John Mark West married Patricia Ann Reiter on August 27, 1984 at Chesterfield Co., Virginia.³ John Mark West and Patricia Ann Reiter were divorced on November 13, 2003 at Chesterfield Co., Virginia.⁵ John Mark West died on October 28, 2009 at age 54.⁴