Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, one man is honoring veterans who are buried at Brush Creek Cemetery in Irwin, Pennsylvania. William Bray cleans and re-sets headstones, restoring them to their original glory. He started a “Sponsor a Stone” program where donations can help defray the cost of materials he needs to make sure all the veterans buried […]
The following Memorial Day services are scheduled. Hempfield Greensburg Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 33 will conduct a program at 11 a.m. Monday at Westmoreland County Memorial Park. State Rep. Eric Nelson (R-Hempfield), a Marine Corps veteran, will be the guest speaker. A roll call will honor veterans recently interred
It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Wanda L. Eastin, 85, early Tuesday morning, April 11, 2023, surrounded by her friends and family in Denver, Colorado. Wanda, born on November 12, 1937, to Lewis and Nora (Warren) DeSelms in Zenith, now rural Xenia. Wanda's early life was spent as a typical kid in Zenith/Johnsonville, Illinois. Wanda and her parents relocated where she would attend the Flora Junior and High School and it was there at the Flora High School where Wanda met her late husband, Russel Dean Eastin. Married on March 3, 1957, at the Flora Community of Christ Church, they were inseparable from that point on. After graduating high school, Wanda went on to pursue a degree in Home Economics from Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, as well as a BS in Elementary Education from Eastern Illinois University. Wanda fell in love with teaching and taught for 25 years at North Clay CUSD as a kindergarten and 5th grade teacher. Wanda had the biggest
Herschel Eugene "Gene" Rapp of Zenith, Illinois passed away at his home on October 18, 2021. He was 84. Gene was born October 9, 1937, in Zenith, the son of Herschel and Malinda (Henson) Rapp. Gene grew up in Paxton, IL, a town he spoke of fondly his entire life. He served for six years in the Illinois National Guard. He worked a variety of jobs in the Paxton area including food distribution at J.M. Jones in Urbana, IL where he met his wife Cynthia "Cindy" Ruppel. Work took him to Minneapolis, MN where he worked for Gateway Foods for many years. He returned to Zenith in 1984 where he worked for Knapp Oil Company until his retirement. Gene was a master carpenter and all around "handyman." He built everything from furniture to the very home he lived in for the past 35 years. After retirement, he enjoyed rebuilding cabins at the Brush Creek Campgrounds in Zenith where he will be laid to rest. Gene loved living in the country where he enjoyed feeding birds and