Dean French, 83, of Bluffton, died Dec. 12, 2020, at Bluffton Hospital. Dean was born March 31, 1937, in Mercer County, Ohio to the late Harold French and Martha (Fuhrman) French Stober. On Feb. 14, 1959, he married Connie (Adams) French, who survives in Bluffton.
Dean served with the United States Army and for many years was Allen County Auditor.
Richard "Dick" Wayne Shoemaker, 95, died Dec. 15, 2020, at the Heritage in Findlay. Dick was born May 18, 1925, in Pandora to the late George and Naomi (Crawford) Shoemaker. On Sept. 17, 1949, he married Ruth Burkholder Shoemaker who survives.
Reviewed by Robet McCool
It's a simple idea – take what you normally spend for Christmas, or even less, and go on a Caribbean cruise. In John Grisham's 2001's Skipping Christmas (Doubleday ISBN 0-385-50583-3) that is the premise, and how horrible it could be.
Luther and Nora Krank see their twenty-three year old daughter Blair off for a two year tour with the Peace Tour, and Luther goes home with a new idea. With Blair gone he totals up what they spent last Christmas, and how much chaos and frenzy the holiday brings to his life.
For more information about "Bluffton Anthology" click here. "I had a flashback the other day when driving down Bluffton's Main Street. I was in the Green Hornet (our 1957 Nash) and pulling into the D&E Sinclair station at the corner of Main and College Avenue, where our public library now stands.
As I pulled up to the gas pump, Dean Nonnamaker, with a big smile on his face, ran out to the car before I could roll down the window.
By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Visiting Bluffton finished the game on a 17-5 run to avoid an upset bid by winless local rival Ada and pull out a 55-52 victory in the Northwest Conference boys basketball opener.
The Bulldogs led 47-38 with under six minutes remaining to play after junior Cayden Murphy followed up a miss inside for a basket.
But then the Pirates began pounding the ball inside to reel off an 11-0 flurry and take a 49-47 lead.
