By John Rittenhouse
Two teams and one individual from the Star Herald coverage area will compete at the Minnesota State Class A Cross Country Championships in Northfield Saturday.

That fact became a reality in Slayton Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Section 3A Championships.

Both the Luverne girls' and Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton boys' varsity squads will make their first appearance as teams at a state meet after turning in strong performances in Slayton.

The Luverne girls placed second out of 15 complete teams, making the cut by one as the top two teams in section competition advance to the state meet.

H-BC-E-E's boys became the winning the section team champions.

Jake Studer, a Luverne High School senior, also earned a trip to state individually. The top 10 individual finishers in section competition advance to the state meet. Studer finished 10th Thursday.

All of the area athletes will be running at the state meet at St. Olaf College Saturday. The Class A girls race is slated for 10 a.m., with the Class A boys' run to follow at 11 a.m.
Cardinal coach Bruce Gluf will probably be a better-rested person when the state meet rolls around.

Gluf admitted he didn't sleep well during the nights leading up to the section meet because he knew getting past the section meet wouldn't be easy.

His restlessness was justified when Cardinals found themselves in a title battle for second place in the team competition, but LHS did nip Martin County West 91-93 to claim runner-up status.

Canby-Minneota-Lincoln HI won the girls' team championship with 58 points.

"I finally can relax a little bit," Gluf said Thursday night. "We knew from Day 1 that we had a state-caliber team, and we were setting our sights on this section meet for a long time. I just can't say enough about these girls. They wanted it, they worked for it and now they've qualified for the state meet. It's just incredible."

Luverne needed five solid races to edge MCW in the team standings, and it received them from seventh-grader Lexi Heitkamp, freshmen Victoria Arends and Kelsey Dooyema and sophomores Amanda Saum and Sadie Dietrich.

Heitkamp, the youngest member of the squad, turned in the team’s best performance. She stunned her older competitors by placing fifth individually with a time of 15:45.

Saum and Arends cracked the Top 20 by finishing 11th and 19th with respective 16:10 and 16:34 times.

Dooyema and Dietrich placed 26th and 30th in 16:53 and 17:05.
Jessica Willers and Brianna Studer ran in the varsity race without influencing the scoring. Willers placed 92nd in 19:38. Studer was 94th in 19:45.

No matter what happens in Northfield Saturday, all seven of the LHS runners will have their names etched in school history for becoming the first team to make it to the state meet.

"Our program has come a long way," Gluf said. "Last year, our girls placed eighth in the section. They moved up to second place this year. I'm really proud of this group, and that goes for the boys as well as the girls."

The Cardinal boys also were in contention for berth in the state meet as a team, but they came up two places short after finishing fourth with 88 points.

H-BC-E-E (63 points), C-M-LH (64) and Jackson County Central (73) led the.

"I can't say enough about our boys," Gluf said. "They came up short in qualifying for the state meet, but they had a great season."

Studer's season will be extended for the second consecutive year as he placed 10th individually with a time of 17:26.
Studer placed seventh at last year's section meet and finished 54th at the state classic.

Others contributing to Luverne's effort as a team in Slayton include Jesse Kuhlman (12th in 17:39), Ruston Aaker (21s in 17:58), Dusty Antoine (23rd in 18:02) and Jesson Vogt (25th in 18:03).

Nick Otten and Travis Halfmann placed 29th and 49th in 18:10 and 19:03 without influencing the team scoring.

Studer will run against seven H-BC-E-E boys and others during the state meet.

The Patriots met their pre-season goal of getting to the state meet, but winning a section title was more than what they wished for.

"We just wanted to be in the Top 2," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "To win the section championship was a bonus. Right now we're excited to be going to state. The kids know that they have been blessed, and they are thankful for it."

Top 10 performances by Tyler Bush and Zach Hadler led the Patriots to victory.

Bush placed third with a time of 16:46. Hadler finished eighth in 17:12.

Greg Van Batavia, Kale Wiertzema and Lee Jackson turned in equally important performances that contributed to H-BC-E-E's winning team tally.

Van Batavia placed 16th in 17:44, Wiertzema 17th in 17:49 and Jackson 22nd in 18:00.

Patriots Todd Alberty and Derek Haak finished 26th and 38th with respective 18:10 and 18:43 times without influencing the team scoring.

"Our boys ran awesome," Goehle added. "There's no other better way to say it. All seven of them ran their fastest times of the year, and most were by a pretty considerable margin."

Four Patriot girls ran at the section meet without earning trips to state.

Amanda Tilstra led the way by placing 58th in 17:55.

Mya Mann, Erika Fransen and Corinna Braun finished 65th, 72nd and 96th with respective 18:12, 18:20 and 20:07 times.

"We didn’t have a complete girls' team, but I was happy with the way our girls competed. They all ran their best times of the season. I was happy they went out running their best races," Goehle said.

Adrian's boys' and girls' teams ended their 2002 seasons at the section meet.

The Dragon girls placed eighth out of 15 teams. The AHS boys placed ninth out of 13 teams.

"Our goal was to get into the Top 10 as teams in both the boys' and girls' standings," said Dragon coach Doug Petersen. "I was really happy that we were able to accomplish those goals."

Krissi Thier and Kelly Banck led the Adrian girls by placing 41st and 45th with respective 17:20 and 17:23 efforts.

McCall Heitkamp (51st in 17:39), Megan Henning (61st in 18:02) and Kaitlin Leinen (83rd in 19:09) rounded out Adrian's performance as a team.

"This was the first time we had a full varsity team on the girls' side this year. To finish eighth was awfully darn good," Petersen said.

Brandon Bullerman and Paul Honermann paced the boys by finishing 30th and 34th in 18:20 and 18:31.

Ethan Wieneke (50th in 19:03), Chad Janssen (54th in 19:17) and Aaron Mormann (76th in 20:30) round out the team scoring for AHS.

Kelly Seeman and Dustin Lonneman placed 84th and 91st in 21:32 and 22:31 without influencing the scoring.

"There was some good running on the boys' side. Six of our seven boys had their personal best times," Petersen said.

Here is a look at the boys' and girls' team standings from the Section 3A meet.

Standings: H-BC-E-E 63, C-M-LH 64, Jackson County Central 73, Luverne 88, Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin 108, Southwest Christian 182, Redwood Valley 197, Windom 210, Adrian 227, Yellow Medicine East 292, Bold 305, Southwest Star Concept-Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster 374, Martin County West 378.

Girls’ standings: C-M-LH 58, Luverne 91, MCW 93, Windom 101, JCC 105, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 123, Murray County Central 169, Adrian 227, RWV 243, Bold 276, Springfield-Cedar Mountain-Comfrey 285, YME 289, SSC-SV-RL-B 303, ML-B-O 374, Renville County West 378.

By Lori Ehde
Three additional land acquisitions will more than double the size of Touch the Sky Prairie northwest of Luverne.

Touch the Sky Prairie was dedicated last summer after 355 acres were purchased from Bob and Barb Loosbrock for the purpose of restoring and protecting original local tallgrass prairie.

It’s owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System, but the local Brandenburg Prairie Foundation took the initiative to secure timely negotiations and transactions.

"U.S. Fish and Wildlife purchased the land, but it would have never happened without the Brandenburg Foundation," said Luverne' Randy Creeger, a foundation board member.

The Brandenberg Prairie Foundation was started in February 1999, by community members and photographer Jim Brandenburg to "educate, promote, preserve and expand native prairie in southwest Minnesota," according to the mission statement.

The Brandenburg Gallery on Luverne's Main Street is one result of - and vehicle for - that mission. Touch the Sky Prairie is another.

Creeger and fellow board member Dave Smith couldn't wait to announce the most recent additions to Touch the Sky Prairie Monday.

"Touch the Sky Prairie now totals 809 acres of restorable prairie. In time, this will be a beautiful prairie much like our forefathers found as they moved west," Creeger wrote in a prepared press release.

Milo and Loretta Konz sold 237 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Betty Mann sold 55 acres and the fourth tract of 162 acres was purchased from Arnold and Mardella Hansen, with help from their children Diane Vandenhoek and Dan Hansen.

"This land is now public land for you and me to enjoy and generations to follow," the release states.

"The fact that it's part of the Wildlife Refuge System means that this is forever," Creeger said. "It will last for generations."

Touch the Sky Prairie is a large block of unbroken prairie with unique rock outcroppings, which have protected much of it from being plowed for cropland.

Now with the additional tracts, the area encompasses much of the ridge, which is one of the highest locations in the county. "Once you get on top you have a 360-degree view," Creeger said. "You can see well into Iowa. It's pretty cool."

For this reason, area Native Americans have told Foundation members that this area was a popular spot for "vision quest" ceremonies.

The location, five miles north of Luverne and a three miles west of Highway 75, is near Brandenburg's childhood home, which is one reason he selected that site.

Creeger and Smith said the land is accessible to the public now, but restoration and development of the property will be an ongoing effort.

Fences and sheds were removed this spring, weeds were sprayed and native prairie grasses were seeded.

The area is currently marked with Wildlife Refuge signs, but eventually a Touch the Sky Prairie sign will be erected, and the 10-acre home site of the Hansen property will eventually serve as a parking lot and visitor center.

Vision 2002 is Nov. 9
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the property, but the improvements need local funding, some of which has already come in the form of grants (from the Southwest Minnesota Foundation and Blandin Foundation).

But the Foundation, a 501(3)c corporation, is always seeking local donations.

The next fund-raiser for Spirit of the Prairie and the Brandenburg Prairie Foundation will be Saturday, Nov. 9, in the Blue Mound Banquet Center, Luverne.

An appetizer social hour will be from 6 to 7 p.m. and the auction starts at 7. Admission is by advance tickets only, and they can be purchased at the Brandenburg Gallery or by calling 283-1884.

While complete prairie restoration is still a distant dream, Brandenburg hasn't wasted time capturing the beauty that already exists there.

His most recent exhibit, now on display at Luverne's Brandenburg Gallery, features Touch the Sky photos, including brilliant sunsets, flowing waterfalls and colorful butterflies on blossoms.

By Lori Ehde
Absentee voters who selected Paul Wellstone in the Minnesota senate race will need to amend their votes or go uncounted in the 2002 general election.

Many absentee ballots had already been filled out and returned by the time Sen. Paul Wellstone died in Friday’s plane crash.

What to do with those ballots prompted a flurry of legal discussion in the Secretary of State and Attorney General offices, and already the DFL party has filed a lawsuit claiming the process is unfair.

Wednesday night, the DFL Central Committee was set to select Walter Mondale to appear on the ballot in Wellstone's place. Once that was done, new supplemental absentee ballots could be printed reflecting new choices.

Absentee voters who chose any of Wellstone's opponents aren't affected. Their ballots will be counted as if nothing had happened.

Absentee voters who haven't yet filled out their ballots can simply write in Mondale's name on the ticket where that option allows, and their ballots will also be treated as usual.

It gets trickier for absentee voters, many of whom are snowbirds and college students, who selected the late Paul Wellstone. Votes for him will not be counted; all other selections in the senate race will be counted as usual.

So, for absentee DFL voters who now want to support Mondale, the law states they must "obtain an official supplemental absentee ballot in person, or through personal delivery."

This rather vague verbiage in state law, according to Rock County Auditor Treasurer Margaret Cook, is raising more questions than it answers.

"Some could say 'The mailman personally delivers my mail.' It's all how you interpret the law," Cook said.

"These laws all look good on paper, until they're put to the test. Who's going to define personal delivery? These are the kinds of things we’re up against."

She said her office had to wait until Wednesday night to know which name to print on the supplemental ballots, and those wouldn't be ready until sometime today.

That doesn't leave enough time for absentee voters to request new supplemental ballots by mail. What this means is most snowbirds and college students who voted absentee for Wellstone will have no options for changing their votes
"I expect a lot of issues on this, and it's not going to be over on election day," Cook said. "I can see both sides of it, but then again, life isn't always fair."

She suggests local voters who are still planning to vote absentee should wait at least until Saturday, if they can, to come and do so. "Hopefully by then, we'll have all the questions answered."

As of Tuesday, she had responded to 181 requests for absentee, and 112 had been returned.

If an absentee voter goes to the polls to vote, their absentee ballot will be pulled and will not be counted.

Absentee voters who come to the auditor's office in person to amend their vote, will receive a supplemental ballot to participate in the U.S. Senate race only.

Minnesota law says a voter cannot vote twice, so with this process the voter will be "amending his ballot," Cook said.
She said the ballots set aside will never be opened, unless the information is subpoenaed in litigation.

Meanwhile at the polls…
Since Tuesday's ballots have already been printed, election judges will have to somehow strike the senate candidate section from each ballot before handing it to voters along with a supplemental sheet containing the new candidate information.

Voters will not make choices in the senate race on the original ballot, but will do so on the supplemental ballot.
The original ballots are counted by machine, but in the senate race, those supplemental ballots will have to be hand-counted.

Cook said she's trained nearly 130 election judges for all of Rock County's precincts, but she said emergency training can be conducted at the last minute if needed.

The phone number for the Rock County Auditor-Treasurer's Office is 283-5060.

Minnesota mourns loss
Local DFL Chairman Ben Vander Kooi said rural Minnesota residents lost an effective voice in Washington when Wellstone died Friday.

"We really got to know him during the farm crisis of the mid-1980's," said Vander Kooi, who worked on Wellstone's former campaigns. "He rallied to get farmers together to act with one voice."

Vander Kooi and many others remember when Wellstone spoke to middle school and high school students in Luverne in 1996.

"That's a tough audience, and he kept them spellbound," Vander Kooi recalled.

He said in addition to his efforts for Minnesota farmers, Wellstone will be remembered for his contributions to rural telecommunications, veterans and to improving mental health benefits.

Vander Kooi said he thought Walter Mondale will be a good replacement for Wellstone on the ballot, despite his age. "He's 74, but Strom Thurmond is 100," he said. "He's from southern Minnesota and fits the area very well. He very much understands this part of the Minnesota."

By Sara Strong
Rock County Auditor-Treasurer Margaret Cook expects the Tuesday general election to get a high voter turnout rate.

Considering the primaries drew 30 percent of the registered voters, Cook expects the general election to be 80 percent or more because of the concentration of local races on the ballots.

The sheriff and auditor-treasurer races haven't seen a contest for years, and the Luverne Mayor candidates have gotten attention this year. School boards and county-wide competition in other city elections will also increase voter turnout.

The 2000 elections, which included U.S. president, brought 90 percent of registered voters to the polls.

Because both Rock County auditor-treasurer candidates work in that office now, they will be kept from the ballots Tuesday to avoid the appearance of possible tampering.

To vote on Tuesday, Nov. 5, township polling places open at 10 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Polling locations within the cities of Rock County will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

To vote by absentee ballot, the Auditor-Treasurer's Office in the Rock County Courthouse will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2. Regular office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

To review Star Herald election coverage:
Visit our Web site at www.star-herald.com and click on the red Rock County political coverage buttons on the left side of the home page for local races.
Or see print editions of the paper that carried articles on the election: Oct. 17, school board candidates from Luverne, Ellsworth and Adrian, and state house and senate candidates; and Oct. 24, Rock County Sheriff and Luverne mayor profiles.

By Lori Ehde
Oh, the places he's gone and the people he's seen.

Jake Boyenga turns 100 Sunday, and he doesn't know where to start when people ask him what it's like to be that old.

"Oh, the changes," he said Monday. "I never expected to get this far."

Of all the advances in the areas of technology, transportation and even household efficiency, Boyenga is still enthralled by the telephone.

"I was 7 years old when they put those poles in the ground and they put a phone in the house," he said.

"And that crazy thing rang, and people talked. What a miracle. I could never get over that. My parents let me listen to the voices. Boy, was that something."

That was the same year his parents, Meinert and Rika Boyenga, started farming in Kanaranzi Township.

"It was March 1, 1910, when we landed in Ellsworth (at the train station). They picked us up by bobsled and horses," he said.

"There were no automobiles, there were no tractors, there were no airplanes, there was no television and there were no telephones."

Nation of colonies
Boyenga's father was 10 years old when he came to the United States on a ship from Germany. "My grandmother used to tell me how sick they got on the boat coming over," he said.

Like many immigrants arriving at the turn of the century, the Boyengas settled into one of their own ethnic communities Ñ in their case, German.

"When I was a boy going to country school, our nation was a nation of colonies," Boyenga said.

He remembered communities of Dutch, Norwegians and Swedes in Rock County, who spoke primarily in their native languages.

Subsequently, their children encountered the same language challenges Boyenga did when they became school-age.

"All I heard as a boy was German, and then they sent me to a school where everyone was supposed to speak English," he said.

At the center of each ethnic cluster was a church.

Boyenga was a member of Stateline Presbyterian Church near Ellsworth for 91 years, and for a good share of that time, the congregation worshipped in German.

"That really didn't change until the children grew up and started running things," he said.

Nothing but dirt paths in tall grass prairie
He remembers when most county highways were nothing but dirt paths between acres of tall grass prairie.

He saw the first county road built in Rock County, County Road 1, the east-west road between Highway 75 and Ellsworth.

Two teams of his father's horses later helped build a small section of road between County Road 1 and the state line.

His family lived two miles south of the rural Kanaranzi country school where he walked until graduating at age 16.

After that, he didn't attend high school because that would have required expensive boarding in Ellsworth, which had the nearest high school at the time.

"There was no transportation in the winter, so those who could afford it stayed in town while attending high school," he said.

Freedom to roam
A long-time bachelor, Boyenga capitalized on later advances in transportation to travel around the country.

He'd hit the road every year after harvest to explore life outside of the Midwest.

"In 1934, three of my buddies and I each had $50 in our pockets and we piled into an old Chevy and drove to Chicago," he said.

"When we got downtown, a police officer jumped (on the running boards) and took us right down Michigan Avenue to a hotel."

The big city offered plenty of excitement for the Minnesota farmers.

"We saw the Board of Trade, we saw the stockyards, we saw the Field Museum, and we took in a show at the Chicago Theater and a double-header White Sox game at Comiskey Park," he said.

"At the end of the week, when I asked what I owed, the hotel clerk said $5. It cost me $1 a day, plus 15 cents a day for a shave."

Today he drives nothing but the latest model automobiles. He's waiting for the 2003 Buicks to hit the market.

Marriage has
its advantages
Boyenga jokes that he dated many women in his life, but he didn't marry until he was 66 years old.

In 1969, he married Hazel (Braa) Schwartz, who is 13 years younger. Her late husband, Ralph, had been Boyenga's good friend.

He gives her some credit for clean living in his later years. "I'll admit, I've chewed Copenhagen, I've smoked a pipe, I've smoked cigars," he said. "But that all went out the window when I got married. I think the reason I lived so long is because I married a Norwegian and she taught me to eat lutefisk," he said.

He added, though, that marriage has had its benefits. "I didn't have to cook for myself or do laundry," he said.

The two, who now live in Luverne, had no children, but the Boyenga family (his nephews and nieces) is now on its fourth generation of farming near Ellsworth.

An open house birthday party for Boyenga will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Blue Mound Banquet Center, Luverne.

By Sara Strong
Dirt work for the new multi-purpose path from Luverne to Blue Mounds State Park is almost complete.

County Engineer Mark Sehr said, "The contractors are doing the initial grading and prep work for gravel surfacing."

Wet conditions have put the project on a slower pace than originally estimated, so paving will probably be completed next spring. Sehr hopes the crew will be able to finish gravel work this fall.

The county is paying 20 percent of the cost, except for work within the state park.

The trail will be paved from the city of Luverne along Blue Mound Avenue and County Road 8 to the lot near the quarry where rock climbers usually park. From there, the trail will be gravel to what is known as the lower lake.

The trail will cross County Road 8 at the Blue Mound Avenue intersection two miles north of Luverne. It will be marked with signs and a crosswalk for biking and walking safety.

Blue Mound Riders
and Striders
Because of the upcoming availability of the new path, a local group is forming to offer support and motivation for fitness opportunities the path will offer.

The Blue Mound Striders and Riders, met Sunday and, with a core group of about 10 volunteers, will meet regularly to plan fitness-related activities and events.

Blue Mound Riders and Striders will offer a forum for local people interested in running, walking and biking.

Organizers Terry and Peggy Nelson said joining the group is free and requires no organizational help or commitments and will be non-competitive. They are both runners and enjoy biking.

Terry said, "We’re looking into getting speakers on things like running shoes."

He said novice walkers and even avid runners could benefit from some educational programs on various topics, including weight training and learning new sports such as cross-country skiing. Renting equipment as a group might be another option that they can explore.

Terry said organizing a local group like this saves athletes from registration and travel costs to participate in distant events. "And how many t-shirts can you really buy?" he said.

The Blue Mound Riders and Striders prompt the following considerations:

oDo people need extra motivation for exercising?

oWould support from others who are knowledgeable about the activity help?

oWould learning about fitness-related events in the area or around the region be of interest?

oAre walks around the block or section, and biking the same road getting boring?

The trail might not be as safe for biking and running during winter months, but snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are other activities the group might lead.

For more information or to share ideas with the Nelsons, call 283-2578. They are gathering e-mail addresses to let interested people know when Riders and Striders events are upcoming.

They ask that they get names and e-mail addresses before Dec. 6.

Although it melted quickly, more than one-half inch of snow fell on the area on Tuesday. This harvest display at the Lonny Bucher home in Beaver Creek seemed to weather the snow just fine.

Photo by Jolene Farley

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton cross country squads locked up team championships during the Red Rock Conference meet ran at the Slayton Country Club Tuesday.

The Patriot boys' varsity team won its second consecutive RRC title during the meet, and the boysÕ junior varsity squad also came out on top of their field.

Patriot coach Tom Goehle was happy with the way his junior varsity boys competed, but he was proud of the way his varsity team performed while repeating as the meet champion.

"These kids have been working awfully hard for two and one-half months for an opportunity to win a conference championship, and you donÕt take something like that for granted just because we won this meet last year. This is a great accomplishment. IÕm really proud of these guys," he said.

H-BC-E-E scored 22 points to best Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin (45), Southwest Christian (80), Adrian (85) and Southwest Star Concept-Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster (123) in the team standings.

The top-10 finishers in each varsity race make the All-RRC team at the league meet, and the Patriot boys locked up five positions on the roster.

Tyler Bush (first in 16:38), Zach Hadler (second in 16:59), Kale Wiertzema (fifth in 17:28), Todd Alberty (sixth in 17:30) and Greg Van Batavia (eighth in 17:38) cracked the All-RRC roster and made contributions to H-BC-E-EÕs winning team tally.

Lee Jackson and Derek Haak placed 15th and 16th in 18:37 and 18:47 without influencing the scoring.

Devin DeBoer led the Patriot boys' junior varsity team to its title by winning the race individually with a time of 16:47.

John Sandbulte (second in 16:57), Jared Drenth (seventh in 17:54), Michael Bos (eighth in 18:30) and Justin Hinks (11th in 21:31) also ran with the junior varsity squad.

Adam Finke and Grant Hoogendoorn placed first and fifth with respective 6:53 and 7:03 times in the boysÕ junior high race.

Mya Mann and Erika Fransen finished 12th and 15th with respective times of 18:21 and 18:36 in the girls' varsity race.

The H-BC-E-E runners will compete at the Section 3A meet in Slayton Oct. 24.

Ben Henry Hector, 88, Ellsworth, died Thursday, Oct. 17, 2002, at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Services were Monday, Oct. 21, at Zion Presbyterian Church in Ellsworth. The Rev. Robert Raedeke officiated. Burial was in Grand Prairie Cemetery, Ellsworth.

Ben Hector was born to Oney and Bertha (Klooster) Hector on Sept. 26, 1914, in rural Adrian. He attended country school in rural Adrian.

He married Anna May Mulder on Oct. 2, 1941, in Ellsworth. After their marriage, the couple farmed all their married life in rural Ellsworth.

Mr. Hector was a member of Zion Presbyterian Church in Ellsworth for 50 years where he served as an elder and deacon. He loved farming, gardening and his pet cats.

Survivors include his wife, Anna May Hector, Ellsworth; one son and daughter-in-law, Larry and Sammie Hector, Decatur, Ala.; one daughter and son-in-law, Donna and Gene Reisdorfer, Southport, N.C.; four grandchildren, Daniel (Diane) Reisdorfer, Victoria (Mark) Schaller, Laura (John) Meisinger and Deborah (Eric) Cottingham; four great-grandchildren, Gabrielle, Anna and Claire Schaller and Leiara Cottingham; one brother, Richard Hector, Ellsworth, two sisters, Grace Mammen and Marion Hector, both of Ellsworth, and nieces, nephews and many friends.

Mr. Hector was preceded in death by his parents.

Dingmann Funeral Home, Adrian, was in charge of arrangements.