Ann M. Anderson, Teacher At St. Mary of the Assumption School, Has Passed Away

Her visiting hours will be Tuesday at Brunner Sanden Deitrick Funeral Home & Cremation Center; a burial mass will be Wednesday at St. Mary

Ann M. Anderson passed away unexpectedly Saturday at University Hospital in Cleveland. Anderson, 49, was born February 21, 1963, in Akron and lived there until moving to Concord Township 25 years ago. She was a second grade school teacher for 15 years at St. Mary of the Assumption School in Mentor. "She was a very loving mother, wife and excellent teacher -- very vibrant, very strong in her faith and very giving," said Sharon Bassett, the assistant principal at St. Mary. Bassett said that Anderson was instrumental in helping students prepare for their First Communion. Also, she would organize annual caroling trips for students to local retirement homes around Christmas. Anderson is survived by her husband James Anderson; children Jonathan…

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Moms Talk: What Do You Do On Snow Days?

Moms discuss what arrangements they need to make when school is suddenly canceled

Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question on parenthood posed to them by readers or another member of council. This week's question: What do you do during snow days? Call in sick? Call in grandma? (Or, alternately, are you the grandma that gets called in?) Melanie Majikas: That is a huge challenge for working parents with younger kids, especially when school is canceled only due to temperature and not because the road conditions are too bad for travel (sorry, personal pet peeve!) Fortunately, my kids are old enough now to spend the day at home on their own. But when they were younger, I usually had to take a vacation day (or occasionally, a sick day,) since my husband's job is more reliant on him being there than mine is. …

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Devone

3:41 pm on Thursday, January 5, 2012

Since we have school at home, we get a lot done on snow days!   more ›

Autism, 9/11 and Fantasy Baseball: Listening to Local Voices

Mentor Patch bloggers gave us their funny, poignant and often thought-provoking takes on life

Even as the editor of this site, I never know what to expect from the bloggers on Mentor Patch. Sometimes you get comic riffing on how much Andy Reid and Mike Holmgren look alike. Sometimes you get a more poignant comparison. For example, Brianne Knight explained why her autistic son is a lot like the Muppet character who sang "Mahna Mahna." "He speaks his own language and goes off on tangents most times. He can be redirected and brought back out of his own little world with a little harmony though," she wrote. Knight also wrote about her son's first day of preschool. She feared for the worst but her little Mahna Mahna surprised her. Meanwhile, Mentor Patch's newest blogger, Jim Pelyhes, recounted his first day at the Lake County …

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Dr. Bernadine Healy Loop, Who Led National Institutes of Health, American Red Cross and More, Died Saturday at 67

The Gates Mills resident and wife of former Cleveland Clinic CEO Floyd D. Loop wrote a book about her journey with brain cancer.

Dr. Bernadine Healy Loop, the first woman to serve as director of the National Institutes of Health and past president of the American Red Cross, died Saturday, Aug. 6, at age 67. The Gates Mills resident wrote a memoir about her experience with brain cancer titled The Living Time: Faith and Facts to Transform Your Cancer Journey in 2007. She was named Cleveland Clinic head of research in 1985, NIH director in 1991, Ohio State University college of medicine dean in 1995, American Heart Association president in 1998 and Red Cross CEO in 1999. In 1994, she ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, losing in the primary to Mike DeWine. Healy, who had been a science and technology adviser to President Ronald Reagan…

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Rev. Robert W. Kline, founding pastor of St. John Vianney Church, has died

Kline, pastor at the Mentor church from 1969 to 1998, died at 10:45 a.m. today at the parish, where he was pastor emeritus in residence

The Rev. Robert W. Kline, 88, founding pastor of St. John Vianney Catholic Church, died today (Friday, June 24) at 10:45 a.m. at the parish, according to Robert Tayek, communications director for the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. Kline, who was pastor emeritus in residence at the church in recent years, was assigned to assist in establishing the parish to serve Catholics in Mentor and northern Willoughby at the end of 1969. He served the congregation until retiring in January 1998. Calling hours are 1-3 and 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, June 28, at McMahon-Coyne-Vitantonio Funeral Home, 6330 Center St., Mentor. Vespers are set for 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, followed by viewing until 9 p.m. at St. John Vianney, 7575 Bellflower Road, Mentor, where …

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Thomas J. Gill Jr., 84, retired GE Lamp Division Engineer, VFW Post 9295 Member

He lived in Mentor for more than 40 years

Thomas J. Gill Jr. retired in 1986 as an engineer after 24 years with the General Electric Corp. Lamp Division in Cleveland. The Mentor resident, who died Jan. 31 at age 84, served in the Navy during World War II. Gill participated at the Battle of Leyte and subsequent actions in the Philippines, helping to deliver tanks, cargo and troops to islands in the Pacific from an LST tank landing ship. He belonged to Veterans of Foreign Wars George E. Hayward Post 9295 and the NRA. Gill, who was born April 13, 1926, in Laurinburg, NC, lived in Mentor for more than 40 years. His favorite pastimes included working on his cars, camping and spending time with his family. Gill is survived by his sons, Robert E. (Laurie A. Harpster) and Thomas Jeffries …

Ernest A. McFarland, 87, Masonic leader, business owner

He served as commander-in-chief of the Lake Erie Consistory.

Ernest A. McFarland held numerous leadership positions since joining the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Valley of Cleveland in 1976 and being crowned a 33rd-degree Mason in 1983. The Mentor resident, who died Jan. 31 at age 87, had served as commander-in-chief of the Lake Erie Consistory, treasurer of the Valley of Cleveland and executive director of the Cleveland Masonic Library. He was a past president of the Ohio State Lodge Secretaries Association. He belonged to the St. Benedict Conclave of the Red Cross of Constantine and was named puissant sovereign in 1995. McFarland, the retired owner of Chrome Services Inc. in Painesville, began holding offices with the Masons in the early 1960s. He was illustrious master of Painesville Council …

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June Lund Shiplett, 80, romance novelist

Also wrote a memoir about caring for someone with dementia

The first of June Lund Shiplett's 15 historic romance novels, "The Raging Winds of Heaven," was published in 1978, when the author was 48 years old. The Mentor-on-the-Lake resident, who died Dec. 19 at age 80, produced 15 romance novels, many of which were part of her "Winds" series featuring a heroine from the Revolutionary War era. While her publishers were not keen on her veering away from the generally accepted formula for romance novels, her readers loved her for including heroines who were middle-aged, sometimes overweight and/or connected with Northeast Ohio. Shiplett also penned a memoir titled "A Glass Full of Tears: Dementia Day by Day," published in 1996. It was based on her experiences as a caregiver for her late husband, …

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Bob Malinowski was Willoughby Assistant Fire Chief

St. Mary of the Assumption parishioner was a veteran and an enthusiast for competitive darts

Bob Malinowski, 64, served 28 years with the Willoughby Fire Department before retiring as assistant chief at the end of 2007. When Malinowski's retirement was announced at a Willoughby City Council meeting, Mayor David E. Anderson described him as a "rock" for the department and commended him for his leadership. In his farewell comments at that meeting, Malinowski, who died Dec. 8, 2010, after a long illness, said it had been a great ride and praised the city and its citizens. He was born Robert J. Malinowski on Oct. 1, 1946, in Cleveland. Malinowski graduated from Benedictine High School in 1964 and received a bachelor's degree from Cleveland State University. From December 1966 to January 1969, he served in the Army. He attained the …

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