The Memorial Wall

William F. Cahoone Jr. (Big Cahuna) 76, lost his battle with Parkinson’s on Thursday, January 7, 2021. He was born in Sacramento CA and grew up in Fair Oaks, CA surrounded by family and beauty. He graduated in 1967 from the University of Nevada, Reno in Business Administration. After a 2-year stint in the Army serving in Korea Bill went to work for Chevron Oil in the marketing department until he joined Atlas Powder in Salt Lake City as a Sales Representative. He then moved to Denver where he worked the Colorado and Utah mines and other powder using industries. He later worked for Behre Dolbear as Vice President of corporate development, then Atkinson Construction in business development until he retired.

Bill knew everyone in the mine and civil construction business especially underground.  As was said by everyone “you just have to like the guy.”  

Bill is survived by his wife Penny, daughters Kelli (Kal) her husband Michael, Sera, son Nathan and stepson Brian Tippett and is wife Shandi, sisters Kathleen Faircloth, JoAnne Claghorn, three grandchildren: Eliza Romero Cahoone, Braxton and Brodie Tippett.

Harry Fleming … Husband, Father and Parkinson’s Fight Club Leader, Dies age 74

Harry William Fleming passed away at home on January 6, 2021, with his high school sweetheart and loving wife Carol by his side.  Harry had heart failure, a result of an existing condition, compromised by Parkinson’s and COVID.

Harry was born on November 7, 1946, to Joseph G. Fleming and Mildred Miller Fleming.  An only child, he used to joke… as he was so perfect, there was no need for more siblings.

Homecoming services will be at 2 p.m. today at Galilee Baptist Church, Gadsden, for Mr. Harry William Fleming, who died recently. The Rev. G.W. Robinson Sr., pastor, and the Rev. Hugh Trammell, officiating. West Gadsden Funeral Home directing.

He was united in holy matrimony to Trucilla Beason, and to this union, three sons and one daughter were born. He was a very loving husband and a wonderful father. Harry and Trucilla held this union together for 45 years. He was preceded in death by his father, Charlie Lewis Fleming.

He leaves to cherish his memory, dedicated and loving wife, Trucilla Fleming, Gadsden; mother, Mrs. Thomasina Bessie Fleming; four sons, Calvin (Laura) Fleming, Kalvin (Jaccie) Fleming, Dewayne Fleming, Jermaine Hayes, Atlanta, Ga.; five daughters, Harriett Fleming, Lisa Mosley, Doretha Mosley, all of Gadsden, Consuelo and Chiquita Hayes, Atlanta, Ga.; 31 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; four brothers, Charles L. Fleming, William Fleming, Elbert Fleming and Gerome Wynn, all of Gadsden; three sisters-in-law, Ida (Joshua) Sawyer, Willie R. Beason and Cheryl (Charles) Coleman, all of Gadsden; a host of nieces, nephews, and other relatives; special friends, Allen Oliver, Kenny Lackey and Mr. Sutton.  

Born and raised in Pasadena, CA, she was the eldest of four daughters of Norman Leffingwell Goss and Jean Armour Ericson.

After graduating from Westridge School, she devoted her life to music and food. She started a successful catering business, Heather's Affairs, and later opened two restaurants, The Gourmet Goose & The Heather. She was a president of the Orange County Philharmonic; served on the Corona Del Mar Baroque Music Festival's board for many years; and on the Newport Harbor Lutheran Church's council, where she also sang in the choir. In 1990 she joined the Vox Feminae singing group and toured with them in Europe.

Heather found joy in the great outdoors, hiking and biking the California Coast. Even when Parkinson's began to take its toll, she never lost her courage and faith.

We hear her voice, we see her smile, she is with us still.

Heather is survived by an extended family, including her sisters Shana, Devon and Briar, and many nieces and nephews. A full tribute is available from heathergossmemories@gmail.com.

Dan Lauck, the sincere, soft-spoken, and inquisitive journalist who perfected the art of a phrase, died early the morning of December 31, 2020. He was 72.

For almost two decades, Dan battled Parkinson’s disease, a disorder of the central nervous system.

In 2007, at age 58, the disease forced Lauck to retire early from KHOU when his symptoms made the tight television news deadlines too difficult to meet.

For years, though, Dan’s storytelling helped us put Houston in context. He was a thoughtful reporter who sought out unique characters and stories that many journalists missed.

Dan excelled as a wordsmith, the ability to craft a phrase in rich, vivid detail that put his audience in the heart of the story. Each word had weight in Dan’s dry but deliberate delivery on television. It was a warm, unforced style that helped him connect with viewers.

In an industry sometimes characterized by egos and showmanship, Lauck instinctively avoided both to earn the admiration of colleagues and the respect of competitors. 

 The Houston Chronicle described Lauck as “one of the best writers in the business.”

His peers thought so, too.

In 2001, Dan won the national Edward R. Murrow award for outstanding writing.  Over his television career, Lauck was also honored with three regional Murrow awards and six regional Emmy Awards. 

Dan married his wife, Meg, a director at ABC Sports, in 1983. He doted on her, his three daughters and loved to brag about his grandchildren.

After retiring, Dan and Meg lived in Sugar Land, Texas where he played golf for as long as his body would let him.

Sandra Helen Blum ("Sandy") passed away on December 31, 2020, of complications from Parkinson's disease and COVID-19, at the age of 80, leaving behind Bob, her husband of 58 years, her children Eric (Michelle) and Josh (Meg), her grandchildren, Brian, Sam, Kevin, Cece and Matt, and her younger brother, Martin Frankel. Canadian (Toronto), by birth, she entered the world on April 6, 1940. The daughter of Ted (Tuvya) and Goldie (Golda) Frankel, she quickly adapted to her new "hometown" of Los Angeles in 1952, establishing a lifelong love of the beach and the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Living right across the street and having graduated from L.A. High in 1958, Sandy received her Bachelor's degree from Cal State L.A. and then earned her teaching credential. While an undergraduate, she met Bob after the two were set up on a date by a mutual friend. Following a fourteen-month courtship, the two were married on July 1, 1962. From that point, Sandy traveled near and far with Bob right beside her, collecting memories and art from their adventures over 58 years of marriage.

She first worked as a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, supporting her husband as he made his way through medical school, and later taught in Oceanside, California when Bob was stationed at Camp Pendleton during the Vietnam War. She put her career on hold to be a terrific mom to her two boys. Though a devoted spouse who willingly moved the family to Fresno for six years so Bob could build a cardiac catheterization lab at Fresno Community Hospital, Sandy also was an independent woman who ran the house and made her own important choices.

After returning to L.A. (Encino) in 1977 and raising her sons, she had the bat mitzvah she was denied as a young girl and re-entered her chosen profession, teaching third grade for 20 years at the VBS Harold M. Schulweis Day School, helping hundreds of students get good starts in life. Following her teaching career, she volunteered for years as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate to the foster care system and as a docent at the Skirball Cultural Center.

She (square) danced her way through life with her friends, always with a song in her heart and usually on her lips. She eagerly participated in local musical productions, including Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma, and South Pacific at Valley Beth Shalom. Always known for having a bit of a sweet tooth, there was little that ailed her which couldn't be cured with a pint of Ben & Jerry's or a one-pound box of See's Nuts & Chews. With a predisposition for optimism and calm and a degree of stubbornness, to the very end, she pushed against the limitations brought on by Parkinson's which she battled against and lived with for more than fifteen years.

Thomas "Tom" Fintan Young succumbed to a 35-year battle with Parkinson's on New Year's Eve in 2020. Born September 16, 1938, in Torrance, California to Bayley Bunce Young and Thomas F. Young, Sr. The family moved back to New Milford, Connecticut to be with family. Tom spent his early years working on the farm, playing ice hockey, and spending summers on the Cape with his Grandmother and Aunt where he learned to sail. He joined the Marines after graduating from high school, completing pilot training before finishing his service at El Toro Marine Base in California. A consummate sportsman he spent every spare moment surfing in San Clemente and Laguna Beach and later Hawaii. He also enjoyed sailing in Newport Beach and winters skiing in Colorado and Utah, where he was on ski patrol. In 1960 he met a young blonde on the beach in Laguna. He and Sue were married in 1964. His yacht racing on several boats led to a career in the industry and success as an entrepreneur with Blinn & Young canvas products, once covering a majority of the boats in Newport Harbor. He and Sue enjoyed many trips to the East Coast, Bermuda, and Europe through his yacht racing. Eventually their children Cari and Colin arrived, and the spirit of adventure continued with camping and ski trips and fly-fishing trips in the mountains. He later renewed his passion for flying and flew his beloved Cessna 185 down to Baja to spend time with good friends at Rancho El Barril and into the Rockies to go skiing and fly-fishing. He competed in rowing with his good friend Bill and was a keen cyclist joining the group rides at Como Street and often disappearing for hours to train. Despite the onset of Parkinson's in his late 40's, he continued his passion for rowing with the former doubles partner Bill and the crew at the Newport Aquatics Center. He would also train early most mornings with good friend Ted Newland and the UCI water polo team. Later as Parkinson's reduced his ability to participate in sports, his focus shifted to working on cars and tuning up old Fords with hot rod engines. Throughout his life, he was a voracious reader, his shelves lined with books on adventure, travel, and history. Tom is survived by his loving family including Sue, Cari, Colin, Sasha, and grandchildren Cassius and Laike. We will miss you Dad and Grampy. You are forever in our hearts.

Jeanne Marie Rogel Glazer died on Dec 27, 2020 due to complications from COVID at age 75. Her spirit was vibrant and steadfast despite enduring Parkinson's and Dystonia for nearly 25 years. She was born in Cleveland, the youngest of three. She graduated from BGSU Ohio in 1965 with teaching degrees. She moved to LA and married Howard Glazer in 1968. Jeanne was a school teacher, and sign language interpreter with the National Center on Deafness and CSUN for 25 years. She epitomized strength of character, and raised her children to be respectful of people and the environment. She was a proud member of CODA and was honored to carry the 2002 Olympic torch.Jeanne is preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, and her husband. She will be missed forever by her children, her family and friends.

Multiple sources are reporting that three-time World Champion boxer Frankie Randall has died. He was 59.

Orphaned at a young age, Randall was born in Birmingham, Ala., and raised in Morristown.  He was a three-time world champion amassing a 55-5-1 record from 1983 to 1998. Past his prime, Randall continued to fight, losing 13 of his last 16 fights before retiring in 2005. 

He is a three-time light-welterweight world champion, having held the WBA, WBC, and lineal titles between 1994-1997.

Randall was best known for his three fights with Julio Cesar Chavez. "The Surgeon" as he was known was the first boxer to defeat Chavez, whose record at the time of their 1994 fight stood at 89 wins and a draw. Randall lost the title in a controversial split decision after Chavez suffered a  when the fighters accidentally bumped heads.

Chavez won the third fight against Randall in his retirement bout when both men were past their prime.  

“There are opponents that are complicated for us. The truth is that for me, Frankie Randall’s style was always complicated for me,” Chavez said earlier this year. “Even in the third fight, because in the second fight, even though I beat him the truth is that if it weren’t for the headbutt no one knows how it would have gone for me because I was already really tired."

After winning the WBA title from Juan Martin Coggi, then lost it in similar fashion after a head clash. Randall won the title back from Coggi.

“My dad has pugilistic dementia and Parkinson’s,” his son Marcus Randall told Ringtv.com earlier this year. “A frontal lobe brain injury that affects his speech, motor skills, and mental stability. Due to his condition, my family and I made the decision to place my dad in a nursing home in Tennessee. We wish to keep the location private at this time. I’m sure his condition progressed over time. He was a boxer; he gave his whole life to boxing, he loved his job.”

Randall is to be inducted into the Alabama Boxing Hall of Fame next year.

K.T. Oslin, the country singer-songwriter behind the breakout hit “80’s Ladies” and four country No. 1s, died on December 21, according to the Associated Press. She was 78. Kay Toinette Oslin tried to make her country career happen for years before being signed to RCA Records in 1987, when she began performing under her stage name. At the time, it was a rarity for a woman to begin her music career in her mid-40s, especially in country. Her second single, “80’s Ladies,” reached No. 7 on the Billboard country chart, winning Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards and carrying her to a CMA Female Vocalist of the Year win, along with a Grammy. Her follow-up singles “Do Ya” and “I’ll Always Come Back” both hit No. 1 on the country chart. Both her debut 80’s Ladies and sophomore album This Woman reached platinum status in the U.S. This Woman also gave Oslin her third No. 1, “Hold Me,” which additionally won two more Grammys. Oslin scored her final No. 1 with “Come Next Monday,” off Love in a Small Town, her final album for RCA.

Oslin later released three more albums, most recently Simply in 2015. She also sang as a studio backup singer, performed in theatrical choruses, and cut ad jingles for a time in New York, according to the AP. She was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. A friend told the AP Oslin died the morning of December 21 in suburban Nashville, where she lived in an assisted-living facility. She had Parkinson’s since 2015, and tested positive for COVID-19 last week, according to the friend. No cause of death has been revealed.

“K.T. Oslin had one of the most soulful voices in Country Music and was a strong influence for women with her hit ‘80’s Ladies,’” Sarah Trahern, the CMA’s CEO, told the AP. “I was fortunate to work with K.T. on a number of television shows in the late ’90s. She was always gracious to the crews and up-and-coming talent performing alongside her. She truly had one of the best voices in the history of our format. Our thoughts go out to her loved ones at this difficult time.”