Wilmer Vernon Chewning
SUWANNEE -- Wilmer Vernon Chewning died Sunday at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Lake City. He was 87.
He was a lifelong resident of Suwannee.
Mr. Chewning served in the U.S. Army and worked with furniture. He loved to work in his garden and fish. He was a member of Salt Creek Baptist Church.
Survivors include four daughters, Dolores Grinstead and Sue Hall, both of Dothan, Ala., Beverly Trautmann of Sedona, Ariz., and Cheryl Miller of Suwannee; two sisters, Vernera William of Jena and Thelma Hilson of Jacksonville; five grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
Henry F. Dylla Jr.
MACINTOSH -- Henry F. Dylla Jr. died Saturday at his home in MacIntosh. He was 74.
He was born in Irvington, N.J., and moved to MacIntosh in 1989.
Mr. Dylla graduated from Cornell University and retired as a businessman. He was a veteran of World War II.
He was active in local and civic affairs, including the Boy Scouts of America and the Lenape Regional High School District Board of Education in Medford, N.J., and the Marion County Library Board.
Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Frances Farnsworth Dylla of McIntosh; a daughter, Linda Dyer of Medford; three sons, Fred Dylla of Poquoson, Va., Doug Dylla of Ithaca, N.Y., and Dan Dylla of Micanopy; and seven grandchildren.
Expressions of sympathy may be made in the form of donations to the Hospice of Marion County.
William B. Evans
WILLISTON -- William B. "Chuck" Evans died Monday at his Williston home after a long illness. He was 55.
He was born in North Carolina and moved to Williston 25 years ago.
Mr. Evans was a salesman. He was a member of the Pentecostal Cornerstone Assembly of God.
Survivors include his wife, Martha Jean Evans of Williston; two daughters, Tammy Horton and Leah Evans, both of Williston; two sons, Darrin Cavalletti of Williston, and Dean Clarke of Winston-Salem, N.C.; a sister, Annette Smith of Fayetteville; a brother, Mark Evans of North Carolina; and two grandchildren.
Patricia S. Hammill
Patricia Suomela Hammill of Gainesville died Sunday at Shands at AGH in Gainesville. She was 62.
Ms. Hammill, a retired legal secretary, moved from Vero Beach to Gainesville in 1993.
She was a Protestant.
Survivors include a daughter, Vicki Sabins of Vero Beach; two sons, Glenn Sanders of Vero Beach and Kenneth Sanders of Gainesville; her parents, Eino and Golda Suomela of Belle Vernon, Penn.; and three brothers, Marvin Scales, Rodney Scales and Harry Scales, all of Pennsylvania.
Lt. Col. Bernard B. Potthoff
Lt. Col. Bernard B. Potthoff of Gainesville died Saturday at his home. He was 83.
Lt. Col. Potthoff was retired from the U.S. Army, serving with the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II and earning a Bronze Star.
He was born in Houston and moved to Gainesville three years ago from Hilltop Lake, Texas.
He participated in the D-Day Normandy invasion in 1944 and served in campaigns in northern France, the Rhineland, the Ardennes and Central Europe.
For his service in Normandy, he was also awarded the Liberty Medal.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Faye Potthoff of Gainesville; a daughter, Rebecca Mitchell of Gainesville; two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Mary Lillian Scott
WILLISTON -- Mary Lillian Scott died Sunday at the Hospice House in Gainesville. She was 68.
She was born in Jackson, Tenn., and moved to Williston from Miami eight years ago.
Mrs. Scott was an assembly line worker.
She was a Baptist.
She was also an associate member of the Pink Ladies Auxiliary and she served as a volunteer for the meals on wheels program for seven years.
Survivors include her mother, Flora Martindale of Williston; her brother, Jewel Smith of Williston; and her nephew and caregiver, Kevin Burke of Williston.
Expressions of sympathy may be made in the form of donations to the Hospice House of Gainesville.
Allen George Smajstrla
Dr. Allen George Smajstrla of Gainesville died Sunday at North Florida Regional Medical Center. He was 50.
Dr. Smajstrla was a professor of agriculture and biological engineering at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
He came to Gainesville 22 years ago after graduating from Texas A&M; University in Bryan-College Station, Texas.
As a young professor, Dr. Smajstrla was awarded the Nolan Mitchell Young Extension Worker award by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.
This year, the same group awarded him the 1999 Distinguished Achievement Award for service to the society and the profession.
Dr. Smajstrla was also active in the Irrigation Association, the Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida and the Florida Horticultural Society.
He had been a coach for YMCA soccer for several years and was named coach of the year in 1997.
He was a member of the University City Church of Christ.
Survivors include his wife, Linda Smajstrla of Gainesville; a daughter, Shiloh Smajstrla of Gainesville; two sons, Michael Smajstrla and Adam Smajstrla, both of Gainesville; his parents, George H. and Lena Stark Smajstrla of Victoria, Texas; two brothers, John Smajstrla of Victoria, Texas, and James Smajstrla of Sugarland, Texas; and two sisters, Judy Elliott of Victoria and Jean Smajstrla of New Haven, Conn.
Priscilla Thomas
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Priscilla Thomas of San Antonio, Texas, died Aug. 6 after an extended illness.
She taught school for 31 years and upon retiring from teaching, she became a licensed professional therapist.
She received her bachelor of science degree from Texas Christian University and her master of arts from St. Mary's University.
Survivors include her sister, Penny Thomas Cherry of Gainesville; and three nephews, including Ellis Cherry of Gainesville.
Expressions of sympathy may be made in the form of donations to the American Cancer Society.
Roswell "Bill" Munson Jr.
Roswell "Bill" Munson Jr., a lifelong Gainesville resident and noted daylily grower, died Sunday at 70 after a brief illness.
Mr. Munson was a retired architect and campus planner for the University of North Florida. He was a graduate of P.K. Yonge school and University of Florida School of Architecture, class of 1953.
Mr. Munson was a well-known hybridizer of daylilies, having won 156 national titles. As a hybridizer, he gradually refined the flowers' color, brightness, form and pattern by mixing varieties over generations.
"The ultimate test of what's the right combination of characteristics is what the public likes and enjoys, " he once told a horticultural journal.
Mr. Munson served as president of the American Hemerocallis Society in 1976.
He was a Baptist.
He is survived by a sister, Betty Hudson of Gainesville, and a brother, Joseph T. Hudson, also of Gainesville.
The family requests that expressions of sympathy be in the form of contributions to the William E. Monroe Endowment Fund Trust, American Hemerocallis Society, care of Pat Mercer, executive secretary, P.O. Box 10, Dexter, Ga. 31019.
Michelle Lynn Blankenship
HAWTHORNE -- Michelle Lynn Blankenship of Hawthorne died Monday at the Hospice House in Gainesville after a long illness. She was 17.
Miss Blankenship was born in Jacksonville and moved to Hawthorne nine years ago. She would have been a member of the Interlachen High School class of 2000. She was a member of the Interlachen Marching Band and the Symphonic Band and Southeast U.S. Honors Band in 1998. She attended her grandfather's church, Melrose Calvary Temple Church of God, and sang gospel music, including contemporary and Southern gospel music.
Survivors include her parents, Kenneth Blankenship and Susan Judd Blankenship, both of Hawthorne; a brother, Benford Allyn Blankenship of Hawthorne; her paternal grandfather, the Rev. Ben Blankenship of Hawthorne; and her maternal grandmother, Frances H. Judd of Boynton Beach.
