Year 2002

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November - December

November 2002

             James Edward Garbio, 64, of Gulfport, Florida passed away September 6, 2002 at Palms of  Pasadena Hospital. He was born in Hazelton, Pennsylvania and came to Florida from the Canal Zone.

             Robert Kelly Gerhart, 53, of Smyrna, Georgia, passed away on October 1, 2002.  Mr. Gerhart was a teacher at the Sandy Springs Middle School.

             Carl Milton Johnson, 97, passed away October 15, 2002 in Ventura, California.  He served as the public health officer of Panama City and eventually because the director of the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory.

             Howard U. Keenan, of Sun City Center, Florida passed away on August 17, 2002 at South Bay Hospital.  He was raised in Gatun and graduated from CHS in 1932. 

            Edward J. LaFuente, 48, passed away on May 12, 2002 in Los Angeles, California.

             Carol (Brown) Manning passed away on September 27, 2002 in Little Hollywood, Florida. She graduated from BHS in 1961.  She worked 30 years for the Federal Government, retiring in May 2000 as a biologist. 

            Margaret Kessner Stancook, was recently buried beside her husband, Colonel Joseph C. Stancook at West Point Military Academy.  Her husband was the Comptroller of the Southern Air Command at Albrook Air Force Bas. 

            R.B.H. “Bud” Stroop III, passed away on August 22, 2002 at the age of 78 in Ocala, Florida. He was born and raised in the Canal Zone and retired in 1977 as Chief Marine Traffic Controller.

     Captain John T. Petersen, after enjoying 93 years of good health, passed away on October 10, 2002, in Fallbrook, California, after a short illness.  During WWII Captain Petersen was a captain on many of the tugboats used to assist ships through the Panama Canal from about 1942 until his retirement in 1972. 

            Ann Wilson Scheidegg, died October 30, 2002 at Community Medical Center, Toms River, New Jersey, at the age of 69.  She was a homemaker and loved fishing and making ceramics. 

            Former teacher Helen (Patterson) Schrum, 97, of Great Falls, Montana, died of natural causes at a local nursing home.  She went to the Panama Canal Zone where she taught school for 20 years and where she met her husband. 

            Macel Marie Goulet Thomson of Memphis, Tennessee, died at home October 13, 2002.  She graduated from CHS in 1937 and the CZJC in 1939.  She worked in the Canal Zone Administration Building in Balboa Heights and later in the Ancon Court House.  She married J. Morton Thomson, Jr., in July 1946 at the Rodman Navel Station chapel.  In 1950 the Thomson’s returned to the Canal Zone and remained there until leaving in 1966. 

            Carmen R. Valencia went to a better world October 14, 2002 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.  She moved with her family to Margarita, Canal Zone in 1953, where she spent most of her life.  While there she worked in the Coco Solo Hospital for over 30 years, mainly in the OB/GYN clinic. 

            Charles M. Wicks, Sr., 72, of Cleveland, Georgia, died September 26, 2002 in Gainesville, Georgia.  He retired from Miraflores Locks in June 1988 as a Senior Lockmaster.