The Memorial Wall

Retired Summit County Common Pleas Judge Paul J. Gallagher, who worked in public service for more than 40 years, died after a long illness. He was 80 years old.

“He had Parkinson’s,” said his wife, Diane K. Evans, an attorney. “So it’s over. He’s not suffering anymore, so that’s good.”

A Cuyahoga Falls resident, Gallagher retired Dec. 31, 2018, after 12 years as a judge. During his distinguished career, he also served as a Summit County Council member and Portage County assistant prosecutor.

“He was a good man,” Evans said.

Born August 16, 1943, in Roslindale, Massachusetts, Gallagher was a baby when his Irish American family moved to Akron. His father, John, was an accountant at Firestone. His mother, Mary, taught at West High School.

He graduated from Archbishop Hoban High School in 1961 and earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame in 1966 after spending a year in a monastery wearing a cassock.

No wonder that judge’s robe felt so comfortable in later life.

He started out as a journalist, working as an intern for the Record-Courier, a reporter in Connecticut, West Virginia and Maryland, and then as a press secretary in Maryland, earning a master’s degree in administration science from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Gallagher returned home to Ohio after the 1970s.

Gallagher served as Tallmadge safety service director from 1980-82 before going to law school at the University of Akron. After earning a law degree, he worked as a defense attorney for several years.

He was elected to Summit County Council in 1984 and served until 2006. Gallagher also served as assistant prosecutor in Portage County from 1991 to 2006, starting in juvenile court, then moving to municipal court and common pleas, where he was one of the lead prosecutors.

“He was a guy who always spoke his mind, which is good, and had strong convictions in what he believed in,” said retired Judge Tom Teodosio, a longtime friend. “I think that’s what I’ll always remember Paul for.”

Teodosio served with Gallagher on the County Council from 2000 to 2006, and remembers how the local media labeled him “a watchdog” because he was a straight shooter who sometimes disagreed with the county executive’s office.

Drawing on his journalism experience, Gallagher published a newsletter called County Watch and used it as a platform to raise issues.

After they both were elected to Summit County Common Pleas in 2006, Teodosio said Gallagher earned “an excellent reputation as a fair judge who worked hard.”

“As Common Pleas judges, he was on the third floor and I was on the second floor,” Teodosio said. “We’d get together if I had a break or he had a break. We’d often show up in each other’s courtrooms and share a cup of coffee, and either chat about the law or about other things going on in the community.”

When the Summit County prosecutor obtained a federal grant in 2011 to start a new felony domestic violence court, Gallagher stepped up to become the presiding judge.

Gallagher was 69, one year shy of Ohio’s cutoff for a judicial seat, when he last ran for election in 2012. He retired from the bench in 2018, advising his successors: “Be patient. Everything works out. Be patient.”

Not everyone knew that the judge was grappling with an illness. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in November 2011, and the condition slowly worsened over the last decade.

Gallagher spent the past six months at Regina Health Center in Richfield. His wife praised the staff for its “excellent, excellent care.”

An agency caregiver, who apparently had some familiarity with the court, recognized the judge and treated him with the utmost respect.

Evans said the worker told her: “I couldn’t believe when I got here and saw it was Judge Gallagher. I am so honored to have been able to have cared for him. He’s the best.”

Evans described her husband as quiet and mild mannered, a rather private person who became an extrovert when campaigning.

And he was a big fan of Notre Dame football.

“He liked sailing, he liked walking, he liked exploring, whether it be an issue, like digging into an issue, or whether it would be going to a city and just kind of wandering around,” she said.

She said he was a guy who liked “to sniff his way through life.” If he saw something he was interested in, he pursued it.

It’s hard to believe, but the judge even garnered the respect of defendants.

“They said he was fair,” Evans said.

She remembers going to an event at the courthouse after Gallagher retired. Defendants were waiting in the lobby for a proceeding to begin when they saw Gallagher. Their faces lit up.

“Oh, judge!” they exclaimed. “Oh, judge!”

Teodosio and former County Council member and former judge Clair Dickinson went to see Gallagher at Regina Health Center last week.

“I’m glad Clair and I were able to visit him,” Teodosio said. “We had a nice little chat.”

Evans said funeral arrangements were pending at Newcomer in Akron. A Mass is tentatively planned for Saturday, Sept. 16, with the time and church to be announced. 

Preceded in death by his parents, John and Mary, and brother, John J. Gallagher, the judge’s survivors include his wife, Diane, sister, Madeline Hebert, brother-in-law Lee Hebert, sister-in-law Margi Gallagher and a host of nieces and nephews.

“He’ll be missed,” Teodosio said. “No doubt about that.”

Veteran journalist and author Peter C. Newman, who held a mirror up to Canada, has died at the age of 94.

He died in hospital in Belleville, Ontario from complications related to a stroke he had last year, which caused him to develop Parkinson’s disease, his wife Alvy Newman said by phone.

“It’s a big loss for Canada,” she said. “He has no peers. There’s no one to fill his shoes. Who is there that’s an author and a journalist that can show Canada to themselves?”

In his decades-long career, Newman served as editor-in-chief of the Toronto Star and Maclean’s, covering Canadian politics and business.

Often recognized by his trademark sailor’s cap, Newman also wrote two dozen books and earned the informal title of Canada’s “most cussed and discussed commentator,” said HarperCollins, one of his publishers, in an author note.

Newman was born in Vienna in 1929 and came to Canada in 1940 as a Jewish refugee.

In his 2004 autobiography, “Here Be Dragons: Telling Tales of People, Passion and Power,” Newman describes being shot at by Nazis as he waited on the beach at Biarritz, France for the ship that would take him to freedom.

“Nothing compares with being a refugee; you are robbed of context and you flail about, searching for self-definition,” he wrote. “When I ultimately arrived in Canada, what I wanted was to gain a voice. To be heard. That longing has never left me.”

That, he said, is why he became a writer.

The Writers’ Trust of Canada said Newman’s 1963 book “Renegade in Power: The Diefenbaker Years” had “revolutionized Canadian political reporting with its controversial ‘insiders-tell-all’ approach.”

Newman was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1978 and promoted to the rank of companion in 1990, recognized as a “chronicler of our past and interpreter of our present.”

His popular histories and biographies brought to life people, places and events that shaped Canada, his profile on the Governor General’s website says.

He was also dedicated to passing on the craft of creative non-fiction to a new generation as a professor at the University of Victoria, it says.

Newman won some of Canada’s most illustrious literary awards, along with seven honorary doctorates, his HarperCollins profile says.

“It’s such a loss. It’s like a library burned down if you lose someone with that knowledge,” Alvy Newman said. “He revolutionized journalism, in business, politics, history.”

On a personal level, Alvy Newman said, her husband had a sharp wit and generous spirit.

“He had a love of the absurd which was so wonderful,” she said. “I think that’s what brought us together. We both had the love of the absurd. We could just find the humor in anything.”

George Frederic Lefont died peacefully on September 5, 2023, from complications related to Parkinson’s disease. He was 85 years old.

George was well known in Atlanta as the owner of movie theaters featuring classic films and independent cinema. His first movie theater, The Silver Screen, showed the kind of classic film double features he had enjoyed during his childhood in San Francisco and quickly became an iconic part of the Atlanta cultural landscape. George later acquired other movie theaters in the Atlanta area, with some devoted to foreign and art films and others showing new releases.

George will be deeply missed by his many dear friends, his daughters and his grandchildren. He is survived by his daughters Stacey Lefont, Audrey Lefont and Paige Lefont, and his grandchildren Cole Lefont, William Biggar, Annabel Biggar, and Juliet Biggar.

Dean Esslinger, a Towson University history professor who started an international faculty exchange program, died September 5th, 2023 at a Towson assisted living community of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 81.

“He was really easygoing and had a very quick, dry wit but was quiet,” said his daughter, Regina Esslinger Hall of Baltimore. “He was very capable and calm. He was a happy man. He was always a happy man.”

Born in Clifton, Kansas, he was the son of Lucy Esslinger, a homemaker, and Firmin Esslinger, a businessperson. Mr. Esslinger met his wife of 59 years, Sandra, at what was then Clifton High School and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1964. He earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in U.S. history from the University of Notre Dame.

After graduate school, Mr. Esslinger moved to Towson in 1968 to teach U.S. history at what was then Towson State College, where he worked for 38 years until retirement. He acted as the director of faculty development and later created the university’s international faculty exchange program, becoming an associate vice president for International Programs. It started when Mr. Esslinger took a trip to China in 1985.

He “made some connections with universities there and brought some Chinese faculty to Towson to teach,” Ms. Hall said. “And then [Towson] sent some of their faculty to China and then that opened up to other countries as well. So there were exchange programs in Germany and Poland and Korea and Japan.”

“Then some of the other Maryland state universities used that as a model to do the same thing,” Ms. Hall said. “So it became a program throughout several local state universities.”

Mr. Esslinger wrote five books about Maryland, including a high school textbook, a history of Friends School for the Baltimore Quaker school’s 200th anniversary, and a history of Towson University. He contributed to other books.

“His Ph.D. and his field of study was on immigration. And Baltimore was one of the biggest ports of entry on the East Coast for immigrants, second to New York City,” Ms. Hall said. “When he started working at Towson he really dug into learning more about Maryland history.”

Dean Esslinger, Towson history professor who spearheaded the university’s international exchange program, dies.

Dean Esslinger, a Towson University history professor who started an international faculty exchange program, died September 5th, 2023 at a Towson assisted living community of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 81.

“He was really easygoing and had a very quick, dry wit but was quiet,” said his daughter, Regina Esslinger Hall of Baltimore. “He was very capable and calm. He was a happy man. He was always a happy man.”

Born in Clifton, Kansas, he was the son of Lucy Esslinger, a homemaker, and Firmin Esslinger, a businessperson. Mr. Esslinger met his wife of 59 years, Sandra, at what was then Clifton High School and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1964. He earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in U.S. history from the University of Notre Dame.

After graduate school, Mr. Esslinger moved to Towson in 1968 to teach U.S. history at what was then Towson State College, where he worked for 38 years until retirement. He acted as the director of faculty development and later created the university’s international faculty exchange program, becoming an associate vice president for International Programs. It started when Mr. Esslinger took a trip to China in 1985.

He “made some connections with universities there and brought some Chinese faculty to Towson to teach,” Ms. Hall said. “And then [Towson] sent some of their faculty to China and then that opened up to other countries as well. So there were exchange programs in Germany and Poland and Korea and Japan.”

“Then some of the other Maryland state universities used that as a model to do the same thing,” Ms. Hall said. “So it became a program throughout several local state universities.”

Mr. Esslinger wrote five books about Maryland, including a high school textbook, a history of Friends School for the Baltimore Quaker school’s 200th anniversary, and a history of Towson University. He contributed to other books.

“His Ph.D. and his field of study was on immigration. And Baltimore was one of the biggest ports of entry on the East Coast for immigrants, second to New York City,” Ms. Hall said. “When he started working at Towson he really dug into learning more about Maryland history.”

As a professor, Mr. Esslinger taught that history is about people’s individual stories, not just dates and names. “There’s always something interesting to learn by listening to people’s stories,” Ms. Hall said.

Gary was an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs "Dream Weaver" and "Love Is Alive". Wright's breakthrough album, The Dream Weaver (1975), came after he had spent seven years in London as, alternately, a member of the British blues rock band Spooky Tooth and a solo artist on A&M Records. While in England, he played keyboards on former Beatle George Harrison's triple album All Things Must Pass (1970), so beginning a friendship that inspired the Indian religious themes and spirituality inherent in Wright's subsequent songwriting. His work from the late 1980s onwards embraced world music and the new age genre, although none of his post-1976 releases matched the same level of popularity as The Dream Weaver.

Gary Wright died after a long health battle. He was 80.

His son, Justin, said his father had been suffering with Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia for the past six years.

The singer-songwriter died at his home in Palos Verdes Estates surrounded by his family and loved ones.

Word of his death spread on social media with many fans and fellow musicians sharing their memories of Wright, including singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop.

"The attached photos hold precious memories from the very first and last time we shared the stage together, alongside our mutual musical pal John Ford Coley," wrote Bishop on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Gary's vibrant personality and exceptional talent made every moment together truly enjoyable. His legacy will live on for many years to come ..."

Ronnie Gene Morton died just three days shy of his 77th birthday. Inside his Bible is the handwritten thought: “The Lord may not come when you expect him to, but He’s always on time.” Ronnie died September 2nd 2023 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease and a stay in the nursing home. Yet, he achieved much in those almost 77 years. 

A United States Air Force veteran, Ronnie served during the Vietnam War era. After his military career, he moved his family to Richmond, Va., where Ronnie worked for a time with Clinchfield Railroad. However, the family eventually moved back to Elizabethton and he went back to school at East Tennessee State University, earning a degree in education. 

Ronnie’s first teaching job was at T.A. Dugger Junior High School, however, he eventually became the technology coordinator for the Elizabethton City Schools. “He enjoyed working with all students, but especially junior high students. He took them to state competitions and did a lot of photography with them, teaching them how to develop film. He was a very smart and innovative person,” said his wife, Lucelia. Even after he retired from teaching Ronnie worked with the state curriculum group in technology in Knoxville. He worked for five years with them and according to Lucelia, loved it. 

Ronnie and his wife were the parents of two daughters, Kristie, who has four sons, and Teresa Jeanine, who had cerebral palsy and preceded her father in death. “He loved his daughters, his grandsons, and four great-grandchildren. They were a big part of his life,” said Lucelia. In addition to teaching, Ronnie enjoyed singing, and was part of a quartet for a long time. “He enjoyed Southern Gospel, and among his favorite songs were ‘In the Garden’ and ‘Beulah Land,’ both of which were sung at his funeral. The quartet was a fun-loving group, who loved the Lord and loved to sing about him,” shared Lucelia. She also noted that Ronnie loved his church and constantly read and studied the Scriptures. He also enjoyed genealogy. However, his love for the scriptures and learning new things in the Bible was number one with him, his wife said. Ronnie was a member of Hampton Christian Church but attended Roan Mountain United Methodist Church. “He was a person that loved all Christians regardless of the church they attended and wasn’t much for denominations. He had Christian friends in all churches,” Lucelia said. He continued to sing even after he went to the nursing home. “His cousin ended up in the room with him and just a couple of weeks before he died, they were in the room singing ‘Proud Mary’ and the staff was singing with them. He was a hoot at times,” his wife noted. “Ronnie loved his family, loved the Lord, his church. He really loved life in general. He was a lifelong student,” Lucelia added. 

Ronnie grew up in the Gap Creek community, the son of the late William Henry and Ruth Morton. In addition to his wife and daughter and her family, he leaves behind two sisters, Brenda Hart and Debbie Miller. Ronnie Gene Morton achieved much in his lifetime and touched many lives, even when he was in the nursing home.

 “Parkinson’s is a cruel disease and Ronnie struggled with it for 20 years. But, he made the most of it. He was an upbeat person most of the time and lived as if it was his last day,” Lucelia shared. No doubt, Ronnie Morton would tell you he was a blessed person despite his struggles with Parkinson’s disease and the loss of a young daughter to cerebral palsy. He gave to life all that he had and made the days count.

ROWBOTTOM Jane Florence (Flossie) Died peacefully on 25th August 2023 at East Lancs Hospice, aged 77 years. Teacher, artist, and craft maker; mother and grandmother, Flossie was the treasured wife of Don, the much-loved mum of Daniel and Alice and granny of Bea and Ted, and the dear sister of Jo, Meg, and George. She was dearly loved by all the family. A private internment will take place followed later in the year by a celebration of her life with friends and family.

Jane Rowbottom, 77, was on medication for Parkinson’s disease but her husband, Don, did not feel as though it was working as much as it used to.

She last lived at Church Brow in Clitheroe and died on August 25, 2023, at East Lancashire Hospice in Blackburn having been transferred there from Royal Preston Hospital.

Jane would regularly suffer from ‘freezes’ as a result of her condition, though she would normally snap out of them quickly.

It was said that Jane would sometimes suffer these freezes in public too, and Don would have to ‘bear hug’ her to keep her up.

However, on July 22, when Don was helping her down the stairs as he would every morning, she froze, and as she held the banister with one hand she fell.

Dr Gareth Roberts, a neurosurgeon at Preston hospital, said Jane fell about six steps and sustained a head injury.

A CT scan on the day of her arrival at hospital showed a small amount of traumatic bleeding on the brain, leading to her being admitted to the neurosurgical ward. A further scan two days later showed no significant change.

Following discussions with Jane’s family, it was decided to keep her more comfortable, and she was transferred to East Lancashire Hospice for end of life care on August 9.

She remained unresponsive and died peacefully shortly before 9pm on August 25.

A medical cause of death given by doctors was haemorrhages caused by Parkinson’s disease.

Reaching a conclusion of accidental death, Coroner Richard Taylor said: “Jane Florence Rowbottom died at East Lancashire Hospice on August 25, 2023, from an injury sustained in a fall at her home on July 22.”

Eleanor Weinstock, a former Palm Beach resident who served 14 years as a representative and then a senator in the Florida legislature, died Saturday, August 19, 2023, from Parkinson's disease.

She was 94 years old.

Born January 25, 1929, in New York, Eleanor Frank would go on on to graduate from Skidmore College with a bachelor's degree in art.

She was in Hollywood, Florida, on a short vacation from her New York job as a textile designer when she met Sander "Sandy" Weinstock. The couple married and, after a honeymoon in Africa, settled in New Rochelle, New York.

But not for long. Just a year later, Sandy bought what was then the Ambassador Hotel and moved his family to Palm Beach's north end.

While her husband was busy developing condominiums in the south end ― including Sloan's Curve ― Mrs. Weinstock continued her art while raising three children and becoming more active in civic issues, eventually serving as president of Florida's League of Women Voters.

In her early years in Palm Beach, Florida was still strictly segregated, with public water fountains labeled "Black" and "White."

"I remember taking my daughter to the water fountain in Winn-Dixie," she said in an interview with the Palm Beach Post "and, of course, I took her to the black one."

It was the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment that propelled her into politics when, incensed by the bill's resounding defeat in the Florida legislature, she vowed to unseat her district's anti-ERA representative.

She did exactly that and went on to serve 14 years as a representative and then a senator, championing education and social justice initiatives.

She and her husband were avid bridge players, both eventually attaining Life Master ranking. At the time of his death in 2008, they had been married for 56 years.

Mrs. Weinstock continued to paint until shortly before her death.

She is survived by her children Jane, Charles ("Chuck") and Ann; and her grandchildren Alexander and Caroline.

The Location, Location, Location star’s father Richard, known to friends and family as David, 89, and mother Anne, 82, who were both farmers, died in Lower Garrington Farm in Littlebourne near Canterbury, Kent, in August.

Spencer, 53, paid tribute to his “amazing parents” in a post on Instagram on August 20th , where he revealed the couple had been going out for lunch at the time of their death.

He also said that his mother had Parkinson’s and his father had been diagnosed with dementia. 

The star went on to say that “[a]lthough desperately sad and shocked beyond all belief – all families are clear that if there can ever be such a thing as having a “good end” – this was it.”

Ken Orchard, an influential figure in radio, has died at 85 due to heart disease and Parkinson's. 

The 85-year-old Ken Orchard, a radio giant in California's Victor Valley, died on August 17 2023 in Hemet, CA, after battling heart disease and Parkinson’s in his later years.

Orchard enjoyed a long life with many successes, twists and turns, and a broadcast career that spanned six decades. He never worked a day in his life because he loved radio as much as he loved his family, his daughter said. 

The Daily Press reports KVVQ took the High Desert by storm as the Victorville-based station flooded nearly every home, office, school bus, and car with waves of popular music by singers such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Prince and Billy Joel.

Born in Blunt, South Dakota, Orchard married his high school sweetheart, Millie, at age 19 in 1957 in Van Nuys. They spent their honeymoon traveling to Crescent City for his first job in radio.

After radio jobs in Georgia and Tennessee, the Orchards headed back to Los Angeles, where Orchard took an engineering job with RKO General-owned KHJ radio and television in 1959. He spent 21 years at KHJ while also becoming a real estate broker. His dream was to build, own and operate a radio station through money made in real estate investments.

Orchard applied for a construction permit to build his first FM station in Victorville. Once approved by the FCC, he left his KHJ job and sold his rental properties to fund construction and equipment. KVVQ 103.1 FM went on the air in August 1980. The call letters stood for Victor Valley Q-munities. 

The radio station dominated the airways.  KVVQ, “will play hit after hit,” said Ken, who explained that his family’s faith in God would prevent the station from playing songs with “double entendres” or “innuendoes.”

Ken’s second station, KLLY 95.3 FM, was built in Bakersfield. It went on the air in January 1985. He called it “Kelly 95” after his daughter. He sold the Bakersfield station in the late 80s to build KVVQ AM 910. 

Orchard used the radio station’s platform to help the campaign for Hesperia's cityhood. After several years of hearings and testimony, environmental impact reports and fees, KVVQ-AM went on the air on Feburary 1, 1990.  Ken later acquired KIQQ AM 1310 in Barstow. Two more translators were built to boost the AM and FM signals up Interstate 15 and north of Barstow.

In 1991, local radio stations began experiencing financial difficulties when George Air Force Base was shuttered. By 1997, most of the advertising dollars had vanished and stations began closing.  Financial issues eventually forced the closure of KVVQ in 1997.

In 1999, Ken began a consulting firm, Orchard Media Services, with his daughter.  The company provided radio and TV stations with much-needed assistance with FCC compliance. Ken visited thousands of broadcast stations all over the country, conducting “mock" FCC inspections and offering services to help them maintain their license to broadcast, Kelly said.

He created KLLY in Bakersfield and later founded Victor Valley, CA's first 24/7 FM station, KVVQ, airing a CHR format in 1980 after leaving an engineering role at KHJ in Los Angeles. His dedication to faith prevented the station from playing questionable content. Orchard's legacy, which spanned six decades, includes aiding stations through Orchard Media Services and being an unwavering family man.

Survived by wife Millie, his four children, 11 grandchildren, and over 14 great-grandchildren, Orchard's impact extended beyond his empire in the High Desert.