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 The Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall passes through downtown Wapakoneta Wednesday, September 1. Staff photo/William Laney By CARLA MEYER
Staff Writer
For 45 minutes, the roar of motorcycles could be heard passing under an American flag hanging from two ladder trucks. For 45 minutes, area residents gathered in the shadow of the Auglaize County Courthouse and Wapakoneta Fire Station waved and clapped as motorcyclists rode by.
The smiles and waves turned into clapping and cheers as the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall passed down Willipie Street on its way to Custenborder Field in Sidney where it was greeted by a field of American flags.
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Lady's years prove inspiring |
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Friday, 31 July 2009 |
By KRISTA HAYES
Staff Writer
At 105, Wapakoneta resident Luella Siferd Brookhart Brown lived to accomplish much in life, and if given another century she might have just been elected as a U.S. president, her niece says.
“She was some lady,” Wapakoneta resident Lois Ann Siferd said. “She was always telling everybody what to do, and my guess is if she was given another 100 years then she probably would have lived to become president.”
Described as a well organized and very intelligent woman by those that knew her the best, Brown died at 4:41 p.m. Tuesday at Wapakoneta Manor, where she had resided for the past five years.
Born Dec. 18, 1903, in Wapakoneta, the daughter of Nettie (McClintock) and David Siferd, Brown grew up in the area being raised most of her life in the funeral home business by her parents.
In 1927, she married Walter Brookhart, and together he and her brother, Ralph Siferd, started Siferd and Brookhart Funeral Home, located on present day West Auglaize Street.
“Since she grew up in and around funeral homes, she knew the business backward and forward,” Siferd said.
After her husband’s passing in 1954, Brown became co-owner of the funeral home and later went on to marry Clarence Brown, who preceded her in death in 1993. She eventually sold the family-owned business in 1989 to what is now the Bayliff and Eley Funeral Home, just before her second husband’s passing.
Brown is survived by Siferd, along with two daughters, Elizabeth Koch and Cynthia (Erwin) Michael; two step-daughters, Gerry (Jim) Seitz and Mary Ellen Bean; a step-son, David (Cathy) Brown; and a step-daughter-in-law, Helene Brown.
“Even at the nursing home, she was always a joy to visit and love having all her friends and family around,” Siferd said. “Family was very important to her and before he died, she and Clarence had a very nice life together.”
At one time, Brown had worked at the the Wapakoneta Public Library and the Auglaize County Courthouse in its microfilm department before retiring.
She was a 1921 graduate of Blume High School and had attended Ohio Wesleyan University for a year, returning to her parent’s home to teach allocations and direct plays.
She was a member of the First United Methodist Church, past matron of the Koneta Chapter of OES, gaining more than 50 members the year she was worthy matron, the Helen Hunt Club, Women’s Club and the Soroptomist Club.
“My aunt was very active in her church and all its activities,” Siferd said. “When someone asked her if she and Clarence were going to be married in the church her response was, ‘Are you kidding me? I helped build that church.’”
“She was also very civil minded and interested in all events going on in the city and world,” she said. “She had a friend and neighbor at the nursing home who read the daily newspaper to her everyday and had one of those ear pieces hooked to to a TV so she could watch and hear CNN everyday. Every time I went to visit her I would always say, ‘Hey aunt Luella. What’s new today.’” And she always had an answer.”
Although blindness claimed her eyesight at the age of 100, leaving her praying to die since she could no longer participate in activities she loved such as crocheting, Siferd said Brown lived a successful and happy life, accomplishing many things she set out to in her younger years.
“Blindness took everything from her, but she still managed to raise two girls and got them educated,” Siferd said. “Myself along with the rest of the family are going to miss her terribly. She was a wonderful person with a good heart.”
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Last Updated ( Monday, 03 August 2009 )
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