The Oregonian (Portland, OR)
April 15, 2006A funeral will be at 2 p.m. Monday, April 17, 2006, in Portland Memorial Funeral Home for Vera LaVella Petersen, who died April 9 at age 91.
Vera Nys was born July 6, 1914, in Lincoln Creek, Wash. She moved in the late 1940s to Portland and was a data entry operator for Bonneville Power Administration, where she worked for 32 years. In 1971, she married Ernest M.; he died in 1984.
Survivors include her grandchildren, Janet Larkin, Susan Jones, Robert Jones and Michael Jones; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
Her daughter, Roberta Jean Wray, died in 1995.
The Republican (Springfield, MA)
July 9, 2008DURHAM, NC - Elwood Dayton Swartz, 92, died June 6, 2008.
The son of Hubert and Jesse (Parker) Swartz, he was born and raised in Chicopee but lived most of his life in West Springfield.
For 35 years he worked as a dispatcher and driver for the former Frank J. Cole Trucking Co. of Springfield. He was a longtime member of the First Congregational Church of West Springfield and Unitarian Universalist Church of Springfield.
Elwood is predeceased by his brother Harold and sister Helen Grady; and by his wife of 55 years, Fay (Woolley) Swartz of West Springfield.
He is survived by his wife of ten years, Doris (Woodward Swaine) Swartz of Durham, NC formerly of West Springfield; sons Peter, Stephen and John; daughters Marcia, Ann and Beth, stepdaughters Lynne and Dianne, eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
Union-News (Springfield, MA)
June 21, 1994Fay (Wooley) Swartz, 75, of 60 Morningside Terrace died Sunday at home.
She was a secretary at the former Third National Bank in Springfield. She was born here, and attended American International College, Springfield.
She leaves her husband of 54 years, Elwood D. Swartz; three sons, Peter of Farmingdale, Maine, Stephen of East Hampton, Conn. and John of West Springfield; three daughters, Marcia Hagerty of Peterborough, N.H., Ann Mariano of Hudson and Beth Swartz of Hampden, Maine; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, IN)
July 30, 2004NILES M. PARKER, 90, formerly of Havertown, Pa., died Wednesday, July 28, 2004, at Heritage Park.
Mr. Parker was born April 18, 1914, in Philadelphia, and worked as a Professional Engineer.
He was married to Virginia (Heathershaw) Parker of Des Moines, Iowa, for 50 years; she preceded him in death in 1996.
Survivors include daughters, Caroline "Chris" Voors of Fort Wayne and Edith Kubica of East Greenwich, Conn.; son, Niles M. Parker Jr. of Indianapolis; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Cited from June Rockwell Levy Foundation;
Austin T. Levy was born in New York City on December 16, 1880. His father died when he was four, his mother when he was eleven. He then lived with his aunt and sister.
He was graduated from Grammar School 69, and attended City College of New York for one year. His first job, at age 16, was that of office boy at a linen importing company. That was his introduction to the textile business. He later became a wool commission agent, and at age 29 he leased a mill in Greenville, R.I., which he named the Stillwater Worsted Mills. In three years he needed a larger complex, so he leased another mill in Burrillville, R.I. Nine years later he bought the mill.
Because of his humble beginnings, he always had great respect for his employees. As an owner he devised new pay scales, modified lighting and machine spacing and made other workplace improvements. In 1916 he hired a full time industrial nurse, one of the first in Rhode Island.
Mr. Levy was one of the first business owners to offer his employees profit sharing. He was also one of the first to offer paid vacations four weeks pay for two weeks vacation. "When you are on vacation you need more money," he said.
It was around this time that he met June Rockwell. They became dear friends who shared their love for music and the arts. The courtship was long. He proposed nine years later.
In 1918 he had 22 seven-room houses built for his employees. Rents were based on one's ability to pay, not on the cost of construction. In 1924 he inaugurated a voluntary stock option plan. Many took part in the program. His mills were so well run, and their output of such high quality, that he was able to keep the mills running 48 weeks a year, even during the Great Depression.
In 1933, when the Depression was at its worst, the Burrillville Town Buildings Project was undertaken. These buildings were gifts from June and Austin Levy to the Town of Burrillville. The buildings consisted of the Burrillville Town Hall, the Assembly (a charming, completely modern performing arts center), the Ninth District Court of the State of Rhode Island, the Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library, the First Universalist Church, the American Legion Hall and the Burrillville High School. The Bridgeway in the village of Pascoag was also a gift to the town. Later, in the 1950,s they built and donated the Harrisville and Pascoag Post Offices to the United States government. It was an act that required special congressional legislation.
To help maintain the properties they set up a $50,000 endowment. One of their most appreciated gifts to the town was a modern ice hockey rink, Burrillville High hockey teams being among the best in the state.
Mr. Levy was a prolific writer and lecturer on economic subjects, largely dealing with industrial relations and wages. He wrote and published numerous pamphlets. He believed strongly that the country would prosper if fair wages were paid accompanied by shorter hours. In June 1937 he was invited to testify at United States Senate hearings.
Mr. Levy was a gentle and kind man who loved his fellow citizens. He died on November 14, 1951, at the age of 70. A genuinely humble man, no industrial buildings he erected, nor handsome edifice he and his wife gave for public use, bore the Levy name during their lifetimes. They felt that service was its own reward.
58677. Gertrude Haskell Sprague
local newspaper
Mrs. Gertrude Sprague Osborne, wife of N. Randall Osborne, died yesterdsy at the family residence, 1638 Sanderson avenue. Mrs. Osborne was the younger daughter and sole surviving child of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Sprague. She spent the winter as usual with her parents in Florida, but a few weeks ago, having becoming alarming ill, was brought home from a New York hospital in a special car, and removed to the residence on Sanderson avenue, recently taken by Mr. Sprague.
Gracious and kind and gentle, she had endeared herself to numberless people who sympathize with the family in this exceptionally cruel bereavement.
Three years ago Mr. and Mrs. Sprague suffered the loss of their other daughter, Grace, who in convalescense after a surgical operation, was believed to be out of danger.
Mrs. Osborne is survived by her husband and two little children, Betty, aged seven, and constance, eight.