Obituaries

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Mary Avon Sommers

Mary Avon Sommers, 90, of Pandora died at 12:50 a.m. Dec. 26, 2010 at Bluffton Hospital. She was born Feb. 21, 1920 in Pleasant Township, Putnam County, to Alvin and Avon Geiger Lugibihl. On Dec. 15, 1939, she married Donavin Sommers and he preceded her in death on May 1, 1997.

Mrs. Sommers was a homemaker. She had worked at the Pandora-Gilboa school cafeteria, Welty-Schumacher Egg Co., Pandora, and the Imperial Discount Grocery, Bluffton.

She was a member of the Ebenezer Mennonite Church, Bluffton, and a graduate of Pandora High School.

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Billy A. Chidester

Billy A. Chidester, 81, of Bluffton, died at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 21, 2010, at Bluffton Hospital.

He was born June 1, 1929 to Charles and Roberta (Church) Chidester in Cridersville, Ohio. He married Barbara Leigh on April 8, 1951. He later married Thelma Knupp (Feb. 1, 1986) and she died Oct. 4, 2009.

Mr. Chidester retired after 46 1/2 years from the Nickel Plate-Norfolk Western Southern Railroad. He was a member of the Sugar Creek Church of the Brethren, Lima, and was attending College First Church of God, Findlay.

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Bluffton native Roger G. Bell, 79, of Fairfield Glade, Tenn., died Dec. 19, 2010 at Cumberland Medical Center.

After serving in the United States Army he attended Ohio Northern University followed by working 34 years at RCA/GE in Findlay. He worked as an Engineering Technician.

He was born in Bluffton to Maurice Lowell and Kathryn Jeanette Stratton Bell on Dec. 29, 1930.

He was a member of the Fairfield Glade Community Church.

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Ray Niswander

H. Ray Niswander, 87, of Bluffton died at 6:10 p.m. Dec. 13, 2010, at the Hilty Memorial Home, Pandora.

Mr. Niswander was born Nov. 8, 1923, near Bluffton to Henry and Olivia Helms Niswander. On Aug. 28, 1948 he married Alice Oyer and she survives.

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Robert Klingler

Robert E. Klingler, 82 died at 9:06 a.m., Dec. 6, 2010, at Largo Medical Center - Indian Rocks Campus in Largo, Florida. He was born Aug. 30, 1928, in Ada, Ohio to Amos and Bernice (Ewing) Klingler. On Nov. 3, 1950, he married Dorothy Welty and she died March 19, 2006. He then married Marilyn Rettig-Reamsnyder on Jan. 19, 2007 and she survives.

Mr. Klingler retired from the Village of Pandora in 1993. He had also worked at Clark Buick, Findlay and McDowell-Marshall Buick in Pandora.

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Boyd Leon Clapper

Boyd Leon Clapper, 98, of Ada, died 10:20 a.m. Dec. 4, 2010 at Richland Manor Nursing Home, Bluffton.

He was born April 12, 1912, in Paw Paw, Michigan, to Boyd and Edith Brown Clapper who preceded him in death. On Feb. 23, 1941 he married Phoebe Wilkins Clapper and had been married 69 years.

His family moved to Orange Township, Hancock County when he was 7 years old. He was a graduate of Ada High School in the class of 1930.

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