Victimized?



Cecil and Nora Jacobs are afraid that their children might be taken away by Child Protection Services after they refused to sell their house to the Fort Defiance Housing Authority. They allege the agency then made false reports of neglect and abuse to CPS.



Gallup Central High School teacher Lou McCall watches a video segment with student reporter Jaunita Delgado which will air Sunday on Channel 13 news as part of its ``News 101'' segment, featuring students from across the state.

Photo by Jeff Jones

 

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Ex-city worker claims race bias

S.J. Ludescher
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A former city employee is suing the City of Gallup for discrimination on the basis of race and retaliation.

According to the complaint, Native American Robert Lieb believed he was treated "differently and less favorably" than non-Native American employees. When he pointed up these differences and attempted to complain, he was ignored.

Statements from a deposition transcript by former City Engineer Barbara Bovee may support some of the allegations. One city official, who is still employed by the city, "told me (Bovee) that they were trying to prohibit development within the city because they didn't want the Native American population to move in and get the vote and take over City Hall."

The Bovee deposition also stated that a comment about Lieb had been made by the same city official: "She was sorry she had hired him, that you can't give an Indian any education, it goes to their head and they get an attitude."

Bovee claimed throughout the deposition that this attitude was prevalent and comments like this commonplace. "We were driving ... and there were native persons next to the road, and she just said they were here for a handout and they were a detriment to the city ... because of the alcohol problem."

Lieb had been hired as zoning administrator. Even though his experience and educational credentials were superior to his predecessor, he claims he was paid less and he was also paid less than his successor, who had less experience and inferior credentials. Neither was he considered for positions that non-Native Americans with less experience and education were considered for and even awarded.

Lieb said this happened throughout the city and it was not just his experience. "Non-Native Americans were hired at higher grades and paid more than comparable Native American employees," his statement reads. "Non-Native Americans were treated favorably with regard to promotions, including the positions of assistant personnel director, supervisor of senior citizens center and risk manager."

When Lieb applied for the risk manager position a job he believed he was qualified for the job was posted three times without another qualified candidate applying. "The position was finally filled by a non-Native American," he said.

"Under the direction of City Manager David Ruiz, Hispanic and Anglo city employees advanced more quickly than Native Americans," the complaint states.

Lieb also makes the allegations that non-Native Americans were allowed to fail certification exams but were still retained by the city while Native Americans were not.

Prior to being hired, Lieb received assurances that he would be eligible for educational benefits in order to pursue a master's degree. During his first year with the city, it was provided. After that, however, Leib claims he was denied these benefits. He also claims that training and enrichment opportunities were denied to him.

When it became known to the city that Lieb had filed Equal Employment Opportunity claims with the federal government, the complaint cited that Stanley Henderson, public works director, had threatened Lieb with disciplinary action if he continued to pursue the claims. The EEO later ruled that Lieb had adequate reasons to file a lawsuit.

Lieb says he was harassed as a result of those complaints.

He also contends that personnel policies were applied "inconsistently" between Native Americans and non-Native American employees throughout his employment with the city.

Due to an ankle surgery, Lieb applied for a medical leave under the federal Family Medical Leave Act. While on leave, Lieb learned that the city officials had scheduled a hearing to discuss his "job abandonment."

"When the hearing was rescheduled, the charges were changed from "job abandonment" to "poor work performance." As a result, he was suspended from his job for three days. Prior to the leave, he claims, he had been given above average ratings on job performance.

In addition, the leave time was subtracted from his vacation leave, "in order to deny his wages and to retaliate," the complaint states.

Finally, Lieb was notified of a hearing with the stated purpose of firing him for "insubordination and poor work performance."
Henderson, as spokesman for the city, would not comment on the litigation.

Leib is no longer living in New Mexico and could not be contacted for further comments.

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Children in tug of war
Family questions threats to take kids

Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer

FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. — Behind Miss Muppet Daycare in the Rio Puerco Acres subdivision, a confrontation-in-the-making looms between Navajo Child Protective Services and a married couple who contend that threats to take away their kids stink of an ulterior motive.

The couple is Cecil "Jake" Jacobs, a respiratory therapist at Fort Defiance Hospital, and his wife, Nora Jacobs. They rent an older home in the subdivision, sharing it with their four children. The trend at Rio Puerco has seen new houses constructed for prospective owners.

The couple claims that the on-site manager of Fort Defiance Housing Corp., a nonprofit housing provider, made a complaint to a Child Protective Services officer that they have abused their 9-year-old daughter. The complaint alleged that they whipped their daughter with an extension cord, that she was "unkempt," otherwise neglected and at one point even forced to sleep outside in a van.

Cecil Jacobs said those accusations are mean-spirited, harassing and something no family should have to put up with.

"They want us out so they can tear this place down and put a new house in here," he said. "I've been telling them to leave us alone."

The situation is so tenuous that Jacobs said Shirley A. McKinley, a Child Protective Services social worker, has asked them to sign an agreement agreeing not to have alcohol or drugs in the home. Otherwise, they face the specter of having their children placed into temporary protective custody with a foster family or residential home for children.

The real issue, Jacobs said, is that they won't move out of the 20-plus year-old home they rent for $450 monthly and hope to buy from their landlord, who lives in Prescott, Ariz.

"The child protective person is rolling with it, even though these accusations aren't true," he said. "We can't afford a lawyer, so they might get away with it (taking our kids)."

"We'd love to buy this house," Jacobs added. "I've got to get my student loans caught up."

On Jan. 16, Jacobs received a letter from McKinley, which said: "This is to request that you contact this office as soon as possible to discuss the care and protection of your children." They are Nesbah Jacobs, 9, Isaiah Mitchell, 13, and Burney Hampton, 15. A fourth and older boy also lives in the home.

Rio Puerco site manager Shirley Yellowfeather said she made the call to McKinley, but not because of any ulterior motive to have the family move so the house can be razed and a new one constructed.

Yellowfeather said she was concerned for the welfare and safety of Nesbah, after her own daughter, Nizhoni, 9, talked with her peer and heard that Nesbah had been whipped with an extension cord and forced to sleep outside. Yellowfeather said Nesbah was also found to have dirt or some other material matting her hair.

"There have been a lot of incidents happening with (Nora's) kids, neglect going on," said Yellowfeather, who lives in a new home just two lots away from the Jacobs.

She said the Jacobses have also been asked if they were interested in moving into a new home at Rio Puerco.

Cecil Jacobs said his daughter was "unkempt" on the night in question because she had hair dye on her head for Halloween. Whippings with any type of cord have never occurred, he said.

Jacobs said he has yet to receive a second visit from McKinley, and has not signed any agreement. There are no illegal drugs used in the home, he said, while adding that he brings home a "12 pack or so" of beer "every other weekend." That hardly constitutes alcohol abuse, Jacobs said.

"I'm having to deal with a government agency that wants to take my kids, and it's all falsehood."

Social worker responds

McKinley said that as the agency that enforces the Navajo Nation Children's Code, Child Protective Services is faced every day with the prospect of placing children into foster homes or residential settings due to intolerable home environments. The agency uses case findings built from police reports, neighborhood watch groups, schools, and other sources.

Any agreement a family is asked to sign serves to gain accountability from that family, she said. For example, an agreement could specify that in addition to no drugs or alcohol in the home, parents could be asked to attend AA meetings and parent-teacher conferences.

The agreements are temporary.

Taking children from a home is no delicate matter and comes only when proof of neglect or abuse is substantiated, McKinley said. The intent is to stop permanent physical or psychological damage to the children involved.

"I'm not out to incriminate anybody," McKinley said. "I'm out to investigate and either substantiate or unsubstantiate statements, and go from there. This (temporary protective custody) is done daily. Intakes come in daily."

The 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act prohibits removing Native American children from their cultural ties. McKinley said when temporary protective custody is necessary, the first choice is to place a child with an immediate relative, with the second choice
being a Navajo family. A foster family or group home is not the preferred scenario.

Regarding the Jacobses' fate, McKinley would only say that "They have been difficult to work with."

"I don't buy lies," she said. "I don't buy blame, and I don't buy denial. I know where I stand. I speak for the kids. My mission is to protect children."

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The truth, the facts and the debt that won't ever go away

Walter Howerton Jr.
Managing Editor

There are the facts of a life and there is the truth of a life and they are not always the same thing.

I wrote a column a couple of weeks ago about an unpleasant incident in which the wife of the president of the Navajo Nation was asked to leave a Gallup restaurant where she was waiting to have lunch with her husband and backhandedly accused of being a sneaky Indian jewelry peddler besides.

Some people liked it and some people didn't. That's fine. It's the best a writer can hope for.

But one of my newsroom colleagues had a very unsettling response. "We like it better," she said (and I am sure it was the famous editorial "we" she was invoking), "when you write your more personal stuff." That shook me a bit.

I will admit that I have filled this space with lots of "stuff" about my life, especially my life in Gallup, but the column about what happened to Marie Begaye was as personal as it gets.

When I heard about what happened to her, I felt as if I had come face to face with a living relic from the civil rights museum of my own past, like something evil that comes to life in the darkness of a forgotten shipping crate in the museum basement in a horror movie, something believed long dead that rises up and has to be dealt with all over again.

And it was something to do with a restaurant and someone who wanted to eat there.

That is the truth.

I grew up in the segregated South. It was so segregated that everything came in pairs.

Black people and white people didn't drink from the same water fountains, wait in the same waiting rooms, use the same
restrooms, attend the same schools, get treated at the same hospitals or eat in the same restaurants.

(When the polio epidemic came in the 1950s, they allowed black children and white children to be sick and fitted for braces and iron lungs in the same polio hospital. But that was a terrible and special time and, besides, it didn't last past polio vaccine.)

Black women came into our homes as maids (nobody had to be rich to afford a maid; black labor came cheap down South back then and almost anyone white who wasn't dirt poor could afford one). They cleaned. They ironed. They cooked. They looked after me and my siblings (my friends had maids to look after them, too). In the afternoon these women went back to wherever they came from (we never knew), sitting heavily at the back of the bus, looking as if dealing with white people was just about the most wearisome thing a body could do (there was more truth in that than I could possibly have understood at the time).

Black women often were the cooks in our school cafeterias. Black men were the janitors who swept our floors. I had no idea where their children went to school (I knew it wasn't at my school). But that was not the sort of thing anyone asked about.

Black people were everywhere and nowhere, as much a part of the landscape of my youth as those red cliffs would be to someone who grew up around Gallup. Nobody asks many questions about the red cliffs. There they are and that's the way it is. That is how I grew up, seeing and not seeing all at the same time. Red cliffs. Red people. Brown people. Black people. Who
notices? People everywhere do it.

It is an amazing thing to wake up one day and see the cliffs and all the rest and realize you have been raised half-blind. But I did wake up.

Things started happening around the South in the 1950s. Those black women grew tired of riding at the back of the bus for one thing. Other black people wanted to go for a swim in the local pool (white people closed the pool). They wanted to know why black people and white people had to have separate schools, water fountains, bathrooms, waiting rooms at the bus station. What
came to be known later as "soul food" is nothing but good old Southern cooking. So, why did we have to eat it at separate
restaurants? I began to wonder about the same things in a vague and abstract sort of way.

Then something happened in my hometown, Greensboro, North Carolina, that took all of the abstract out of the question and
brought it right on home and changed my life.

It happened on Feb. 1, 1960. I was 15 years old (I just realized I am writing this on Feb. 1, 2001, and I am 41 years older, but still in awe of what happened that day).

Four young black men from the local (black) university showed up at the Woolworth's store (what we used to call the dime store) and sat down at the lunch counter. I could understand that. The Woolworth's lunch counter was a wonderful-smelling place to sit down and eat a sandwich. It was one of the highlights of any downtown shopping trip with my mother in those days
before shopping malls. I had eaten there my whole life, but I never noticed who wasn't there.

The four men Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair (later known as Jibreel Khazan) and David Richmond (who is now
dead) were refused service (ironically by a black waitress who called them an embarrassment to their race). They sat there until
closing time and nobody brought them anything to eat. They called it a sit-down demonstration. The next day they came back
with 25 more students. The day after that, there were 85 students. Within a few weeks, students, people not much older than I
was, people I began to realize were not really all that different from me, sat amid the taunts of wearisome white people at
Woolworth's and at other places all across the South. By then they called them sit-ins.

By July, the lunch counter at Woolworth's was integrated. But those students were hungry for a lot more than lunch at
Woolworth's. And they were willing to put themselves in danger to get it. They made me proud to be a Southerner from the same
South they were, even if they were black and I was white.

Now, I did not sneak off to Woolworth's and take a seat beside them right away (that was a few years off), but after that, I was
wide awake. And the bravery of those four young men has kept me awake for 41 years. I owe them a debt. They were heroes. I
just try to do what I can.

Why be wide awake if I cannot have the waking pleasure of their company, or Marie Begaye's company, anywhere any of us or
all of us decide to sit down together to eat?

Back in Greensboro, there are people who want to turn that long-abandoned Woolworth's into a civil rights museum. Let them. Fill up the museums with facts. But there are some debts we can never repay. Still, we have to try if our lives are to have any truth
at all.

And that is as personal as it gets.

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Grants pulls off OT thriller

Abelita Rose Freeland
Staff Sports Writer

GRANTS — Grants knocked off fifth-ranked Cobre 48-46 in overtime Friday night in a crucial District 3AAA matchup.

"What a great game!" Grants coach Gerald Horacek said. "If we would have made our free throws in the last minute and a half of the game we would have won in regulation with no problem. Missed free throws (7-for-18) cost us. They have a lot of heart.
They just play hard every night and we know that. We play hard every night."

Cobre was leading 31-30 going into the final quarter. However the Pirates were able to take the lead with an assist from Wayne Smith to Joe Ross with Ross finishing the three-point play at the line, but Indian Stan Montoya tied the game at 33-all, hitting a jump shot.

Grants took the lead again on a steal from Smith taking the ball to the basket for a layup and Ross with a trey, putting the Pirates up by five, 38-33.

Behind 42-37 and with 40 seconds left in the game, Cobre tied the game with Tony Arzola hitting with a three-pointer and Roman Madrid taking advantage of a bad pass from Grants to drive the ball to the basket, tying the game at 42-42.

Ross' attempt at winning game on a last-second jump shot failed when his shot rolled out of the basket at the buzzer, forcing the game into overtime.

The two teams continued to fight for the lead in four-minute overtime.

Pirate Roshaun McKinney converted one of two free throws but Indian Paul Garcia sank a jump shot, giving Cobre a 44-43 lead.
Ross then made a drive to the basket, but Madrid retaliated with a jump shot with the Indians still in the lead, 46-45.

The Pirates took a 47-46 lead on an offensive rebound from McKinney.

But Cobre lost its winning opportunity on a steal from Garcia, but Grants' McKinney was able to snatch a loose ball and was promptly fouled.

McKinney sealed the win going 1-for-2 at the line with one second left on the clock, giving the Pirates an exciting 48-46 victory.

Cobre took a 14-8 lead over the Pirates by the end of the quarter. The Pirates played catchup in the second quarter outscoring the Indians, 11 to 7.

Pirate Kyle James opened on a jump shot and McKinney was 1-for-2 at the line, but Cobre's James Woods grabbed a steal for a layup and Arzola sank a trey, leaving Cobre up, 19-11.

But the Pirates closed the lead on an eight-point run.

Pirate Smith made back-to-back baskets, McKinney and James added a pair of layups, tying the game at 19-19.

The Indians took the lead into halftime on a jump shot from Madrid, giving Cobre a 21-19 lead.

The teams continued to battle for the lead in the third quarter with Grants scoring 11 to Cobre's 10.

Pirate Smith started with a jump shot in the first seconds of the quarter.

The Pirates tough defense didn't allow the Indians to attempt to score with Cobre trying for almost two minutes. The Indians finally lost the ball on a bad pass.

Pirates James sank one of two free throws but Cobre's Shawn Ryan answered with a basket to give Cobre a 23-22 lead.

Grants came right back with Smith going 1-for-2 at the line and McKinney with a drive and going 1-for-2 at the line, giving Grants a 26-23 cushion.

Cobre didn't stay down for along with a basket by Woods assisted by Montoya and Peter Parra with a basket, putting Cobre back up 27-26.

Leading 29-28, Indian Madrid sank a basket and Pirate Smith answered back with a basket, still allowing the Indians to lead 31-30 into the fourth quarter.

"We did great," said senior captain Kyle James who tallied 13 points, 11 rebounds and two steals. "Our team has so much heart and so much character. We were down and we didn't make our 1-and-1's but everybody just stayed together. This whole team is about fist, that means we are all together. It doesn't matter how many points we score we were all together. We are all as one, as
long as we get that 'W.' It was a great game and our goal right now is to win district."

"Our team did great," said senior guard Wayne Smith who led his team with 15 points and two steals. "We have a lot of heart, it's all about heart. It's all about team unity. We have good chemistry between us and nobody is out of place we are all one. We are
looking forward to finishing district. Our goal is to be district champions. This win is going to give us more confidence and
Grants is going to be the team to beat."

Pirate McKinney and Ross both walked away with 10 points each and two steals.

Madrid led his team's effort with 12 points. Montoya added 10 points and grabbed two steals.

Coach Horacek didn't want to leave anybody out of their team's success especially the fans.

"Without them we don't have the success that we've had without the rowdy student body," coach Horacek commented.

Grants, 4-1 in district, will play away at Socorro on Tuesday.

"If we can win Tuesday night, we will finish first or second in the district," Horacek concluded.

KC boys take control of race

Michael Peretti
Staff Sports Writer

KIRTLAND — The Kirtland boys and girls are both in first place in District 1AAAA, after they picked up wins Friday night against Farmington.

The boys remained undefeated in district with a 4-0 mark and improved to 16-1 overall by beating Farmington 55-41.

The Lady Broncos avenged their only district loss of the year, and improved to 19-3, 4-1 in district, defeating Farmington 50-41.

The Kirtland teams will play at Aztec tonight.

Boys Kirtland 55, Farmington 41

It looked like the Broncos were going to run away with the game early, but Farmington climbed back in it and kept it interesting until late.

"The kids wanted this game really bad," said Kirtland head coach Steve Scott. "They have a lot of pride, and they played very
hard."

Scott said that there were a few times where the team had some problems, but they survived.

Kirtland, ranked fifth in class AAAA scored the first six points of the game and with 4:32 Farmington was still without a point.
Farmington finally got on the board when Adam Grimes hit a shot and then Nick Saiz hit one of his two first quarter baskets to pull Farmington within 6-4.

Kirtland ended the first with a 15-8 lead, but ran into problems in the second quarter.

Farmington opened the second with a jump shot right away and then Jeremy Soto hit a three to get Farmington within two, 15-13. Pat Crawford answered with a three for Kirtland, but then the Scorpions went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 18-19.

The two teams exchanged baskets twice and Farmington went into the locker room with a 23-22 lead.

After allowing a basket to open the third, Kirtland scored six straight points to take a 28-25 lead.

Soto hit a jumper to get Farmington within one, but Crawford struck again, hitting a three to put the Broncos up 31-27.

Kirtland had another mental lapse late in the quarter and Farmington took advantage of three straight turnovers to take a 33-31 lead.

After a Soto three put Farmington up 36-33 Kirtland went on a 17-0 run to take control of the game for good. With a minute to go in the third Tarren Worthington hit a shot to start the run, which did not end until he picked up his fifth foul with under four minutes left in the game.

Devon Manning, Crawford and Kenny Smith each had four points during the run.

Farmington ended the run when Nat Dezwood hit 2-of-3 from the line, but Kirtland was too far ahead for Farmington to do anything. Soto would hit a three for the Scorpions' only other points in the fourth quarter.

"We play them in a few weeks, at their place, and it should be a good game," Scott said. "But we won't think about that until it gets here, we got a game tomorrow at Aztec and it will be another tough road game."

Kirtland was led by Pat Crawford, who finished with 12 points. Tarren Worthington scored 10.

Farmington was led by Jeremy Soto, who scored 16 points, 12 coming off three pointers.

Girls Kirtland 50, Farmington 41

The two teams met a week ago and Farmington won to take over first place in district 1AAAA, but the game Friday night belonged to the Lady Broncos, as they improved to 19-3 and 4-1 in district.

Farmington and Kirtland are now tied for first place in district, both with a 4-1 record.

"Our outside shooting was not on very early in the game," said Kirtland head coach Dan Scroggins. "But we just had to keep at it and they started to fall. For two weeks we have been thinking about this game, and it feels good to get the win."

The first quarter went back and forth between the two, but tied at eight midway through the quarter Kirtland took over, scoring five points to take a 13-8 lead into the second.

Kirtland did not trail after the first quarter, and led by as many as 12 in the second quarter.

Though Farmington did not hold a lead the rest of the game, they kept the game close, pulling within 31-28 with two minutes left in the third and got as close as 44-41 in the fourth.

Kirtland looked as if they were pulling away in the third, getting a 31-24 lead but Farmington came back with baskets from Shantel Adams and Sam Roberts.

With a 38-30 lead in the fourth, Kirtland allowed Farmington to get back in the game with three turnovers that resulted in six Scorpion points to get the score to 38-35.

Kirtland scored six points to get back to a 44-35 lead, but Farmington came right back with a three-pointer by Roberts and 3-of-4 shooting from the line by Shantel Adams.

With a 44-41 lead, Kirtland put the game away by scoring the final six points of the game, a pair of free throws by Jaimey Tanner, 1-of-2 from the line by Nadia Begay and a three pointer as time expired by Kym Simpson.

Kirtland was led by Kym Simpson with 13 points followed by Jaimey Tanner with 11. Nadia Begay and Cary Moore each had nine.

Farmington was led by Shantel Adams with 14, followed by Sam Roberts with 12.

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Tribe delays action on gaming plan

Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation Council has postponed action on a compromise gambling ordinance, fearing a future challenge if it didn't go through the usual review process

Thursday's 38-17 vote meant 33 of the 88 delegates were absent. The vote directed sponsors to make presentations to the five agency caucuses within the council.

The issue was delayed until the spring session in April.

Delegate Ervin Keeswood (Hogback Chapter) pointed out during the debate that the resolution which Speaker Edward T. Begay ordered read into the record in an effort to save time was substantially different than the resolution commented on by reviewers in the Title 2 Section 164 process...

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Central High students take message about trash to TV

Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The video students at Central High School are at it again.

This time the focus of their inquiry is Gallup's trash problem and once again, area students have an opinion of the seriousness of the problem as well as the need for someone to do something about it.

Area residents will get a chance to see how teen-agers feel about the trash problem because the video class' latest news story will be shown on Channel 13 sometime during the 5:30 p.m. Sunday news program.

With Juanita Delgado in front of the camera as reporter, Gayzhay Hudson, Erica Delgado and Marshall Begay helped shape the report that will be the second time that the school's video class managed to get a report on the news program...

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Deaths

Anita Martinez

GALLUP — Memorial services for Anita Martinez, 68, will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, at Rollie Mortuary-Palm Chapel.
Martinez died Jan. 30 in Gallup. She was born Nov. 6, 1932, in Gallup.

Survivors include her husband, Nabor Felix Martinez of Gallup; sons, David Martinez of Gallup and Nabor Martinez of Selah, Wash.; daughters, Colleen Armijo, Debbie Martinez and Dolores Martinez, all of Gallup; brother, Edward Merayo of Borger, Texas; sisters, Bernice Espinosa of Farmington and Dolores Johnson of Albuquerque; 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Martinez was preceded in death by her parents, Augustine and Eloisa Merayo; brothers, Pete Merayo, Boni Sherman and
William "Bill" Sherman; and sisters, Emma Martinez, Angelina Merayo and Louisa Merayo.

Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Benson Geno Chester

CHINLE, Ariz. — Services for Benson Geno Chester, 18, will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 5, at Chinle Catholic Church. The Rev. Blane Grein will officiate. Burial will follow at a private family cemetery, Spider Rock, Ariz.

Chester died Jan. 30 in Chinle. He was born Nov. 8, 1982, in Fort Defiance, Ariz., into the Giant People for the Red Running into the Water for the Salt People Clan.

Survivors include his parents, Gabriel and Nettie Chester, both of Spider Rock, Ariz.; brothers, Alvin Chester, Marcus Chester and Gabriel Chester, all of Spider Rock, and Sorrell Shirely of Utah; sisters, Gabriellene Chester and Jophina Chester, both of Spider Rock; and paternal grandparents, Elsie Chester and Arthur Chester, both of Cornfields, Ariz.

Chester was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, George E. and Gerturde Smith Yoe.

Pallbearers will be Benjamin Begay, Alvin J. Chester, Art Chester, Eugene M. Yoe, George Yoe Jr. and Larry Yoe.

Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Joseph Tony Stradged

TUCSON, Ariz. — Military services for Joseph Stradged, 86, were held Jan. 27 at East Lawn Palms Mortuary. Burial followed at East Lawn Palms Cemetery.

Stradged died Jan. 17. He was born April 24, 1914 in Aguilar, Colo.

Stradged served in the U.S. Marines during World War II. Before moving to Tucson, he lived in Gallup and was employed with
Fort Wingate Depot as an explosives foreman. He was a member of the S.N.P.J., 120 Lodge, Sacred Heart Cathedral and St.
Francis De Sales, Tucson.

Survivors include his son, Joseph A. Stradged of Tucson, and sister, Mary Rutar of Gallup.

Stradged was preceded in death by his wife, Margueritte Stradged; parents, Joseph and Rose Stradged; brother, Frank Stradged;
sisters, Antonia Woolfe, Ann Ary, Pauline Pugnetti, Emma Coz; and a nephew.