Historical February–March 2017 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Happy New Year everyone!
I sincerely hope that you enjoyed your holidays and are off to a good start on this new year. And now, it is time to catch up with some of our neighbors.
It was a wonderful end to the year when on December 16th the winners of Mayor Francis Slay’s annual Holiday Card Design Contest were honored today at a reception in City Hall in the Mayor’s Office. Included in those honoree’s was Isabella Knese, the daughter of Lenny and Susanne Knese of the 6100 block of Kingsbury. Isabella received an honorable mention in the contest this year. Congratulations Isabella, well done! “Green Acres is the place for me….”, the song must have been running in Kurt Hoefel’s head for some time and now he and his wife have acted upon it! Kurt & Peggy Hoefel purchased a 1910 home in Washington, MO in August and have been trying to get started on a full scale renovation. Typical of such projects, there have been multiple delays in process but things are beginning to get under way.
In the meantime Kurt and Peggy have done little jobs like putting in a new fence, having the claw foot tub reglazed and waterproofing basement walls.
They love staying out there on the weekends and returning to an “urban apartment” during the work week. Their “Green Acres” photo was inspired by Kurt wanting to move to the country and Peggy loving living in the city!
He even gave Peggy a feather boa on their closing date. Kurt is the son of Gene and Delores Hoefel of the 6100 block of McPherson. You can follow their progress on their Facebook page: https://www. facebook.com/HoefelHausWashMO/. And hopefully in the near future, you will be able to book your visit at the Hoefel Haus! Catching up with someone else who grew up on the 6100 block of McPherson, we were thrilled to learn that Page Hereford, son of Dick and Belynda Hereford, just graduated from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Academy in January 2017 from class 2016-02 and is assigned to District 6. Page also served our country in the Marine Corps from October 2008-October 2012 and was in Afghanistan in 2010 with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit from November 2009 to June 2010.
After all that Page graduated from Webster University in July 2015 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science. Congratulations Page and thank you for your service!
Now if you are wondering what our very own In Your Ear columnist, Tom Hoerr has been up to in retirement, we have some scoop! Tom recently published, The Formative Five: Fostering Grit, Empathy, and Other Success Skills Every Student Needs, offering specific strategies that educators, parents, or anyone who interacts with young people can use to help them set goals to develop success skills and overcome obstacles.
The idea of the book is to offer strategies on helping students succeed in school and life. Tom and his wife Karleen reside on the 6100 block of Kingsbury.
We are sad to report the loss of two neighbors and friends from the 5900 block of DeGiverville: Mary Brown and William Kinds. Mary LaVerne Brown and her late husband Jesse had been involved in their block unit for many years, including president of the 5900 DeGiverville Block Unit, Chairperson of the Hamilton Community School, and the Block Unit 1035 Community Garden on the 5800 block of Westminster, across from Lucier Park.
They also took part in numerous SDCC activities.
Most recently Mary was active with the Human Services Committee and their Aging in Place activities.
Her broad smile and good cheer will be missed.
She was also a devoted pet owner.
In October, the Brown family gathered with the Kinds and other neighbors to celebrate the planting of 50 trees in Lucier Park and commemorated their more than 50 years on the 5900 block of DeGiverville.
Then just after the first of the year, we also lost Mr. Kinds. Willie and his wife Rogerene have also been dedicated to neighborhood activities throughout their adult lives in Skinker DeBaliviere.
They were recipients of the MLK Day Award in 2015. Their service extended to St. Roch Church as well, and they served as leaders of the annual parish picnics.
We will miss Mr. Kinds and Mrs. Brown and send our deepest sympathy to Rogerene Kinds and both the Brown and Kinds families, many of whom live in the neighborhood and continue their parents’ lives of service to community. Do you have news to share?
Please send your submissions via email with the subject line News of Neighbors to rachelb@sdtimes.org or drop off a note to the attention of Rachel Boxdorfer at the Skinker DeBaliviere office. Be sure to mark it “News of Neighbors”.
We love to hear about neighbors’ accomplishments, awards, travels, weddings, anniversaries, births, and more!
Original photograph caption
Isabella Knese at Mayor Slay holiday card recognition.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, February–March 2017.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2017_02.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
