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Kenneth Bree
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Archived Dec. 14, 2004
LINCOLN -- Kenneth Bree, 67, of Lincoln, died Sunday, Dec.
12, 2004, at 7:20 a.m. at Maple Ridge Care Centre.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Hurley
Funeral Home in San Jose. His funeral will be at 11 a.m.
Wednesday at the funeral home, with the Rev. H. Curtis
McCallister officiating.
Burial will be in Hartsburg Cemetery.
Mr. Bree was a career racehorse groom.
He was born May 23, 1937, at Lincoln to Roy and Opal Taylor
Bree.
He is survived by two caregivers, his cousin Bill Bree and
aunt Vivian Bree of rural San Jose; one daughter, Krista Bree
of Monroe Mich.; one granddaughter, Anna Bowers of Monroe,
Mich.; one brother, Raymond (and Linda) Bree of Lincoln; and
three sisters, Elaine (and Jim) Singleton of Loves Park,
Shirley (and Ron) Miller of Horseshoe Bend, Ark., and Ruth
Anne (and Tom) Sparks of Lincoln.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Kenneth Bree
Memorial Fund at Farmers State Bank of Emden.
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Kenny Bree, career groom
Kenny Bree was born 18
miles northwest of Lincoln, Ill., in San Jose. As a
child Kenny went with his farm family to the Logan
County Fair, where he was bitten by the harness racing
bug.
Get in a conversation
with Kenny Bree and he would tell harness racing stories
from 40 years ago like they happened yesterday -- about
his famous equine charges Meadow Skipper and True Duane
and how he was at the Red Mile in 1953 when they set up
a carnival in the parking lot for filming the movie
"April Love," with Pat Boone there.
Kenny's first job
rubbing harness horses was working for Iowan H.H.
Alcorn. In 1957 Kenny found employment with Illinois
Hall of Famer Edgar Leonard and headed south to
Florida's Ben White Raceway with the 20-horse stable. In
the spring of 1958, Kenny shipped to the Big Apple with
Jimmy Jordan, also an Illinois native. For Jordan, Kenny
rubbed invitational pacer Senator Byrd, a son of Poplar
Byrd.
In the fall of 1961,
Kenny switched employment and began a long alliance with
Hall of Famer Delvin Miller by rubbing stakes winner
Tarport Boy.
In August 1962 Kenny
took over as caretaker of a horse that changed harness
racing history: Meadow Skipper. After racing at
Lexington, Meadow Skipper and Kenny shipped west to
Hollywood Park, where Meadow Skipper took his 2-year-old
mark of 1:59.4. Kenny took care of Meadow Skipper during
his 3-year-old campaign, although the horse was sold in
June of that season to Norman Woolworth's Clearview
Stable and changed trainers from Delvin Miller to Earle
Avery.
When asked what made
Meadow Skipper a great horse, Kenny replied, "The
leather hobbles Earle Avery put on Meadow Skipper as a
3-year-old made him a faster, better horse." Today
leather hobbles are used about as often as old-fashioned
race bikes, but in the 1960s weight was often needed for
pacers to find their gait. Both Meadow Skipper and his
son Most Happy Fella and many offspring of both sires
raced with leather hobbles.
When asked what was
Meadow Skipper's best race, Kenny said it was winning
the Cane Futurity in 1:58.4h at Yonkers after being
parked to the half in a minute, beating his archrival,
Overtrick. Kenny recalled that Meadow Skipper also beat
Overtrick in 1:55.1, winning the trophy at Lexington
that fall.
Meadow Skipper also won
the American Classic in California as an aged horse, but
without Kenny, as Kenny returned to Delvin's stable
after Meadow Skipper's 3-year-old season.
Kenny rubbed a
three-quarter brother to Skipper, Tarport King, who won
in 1:58.4 and raced against Bret Hanover as a
2-year-old.
In 1996, Michigan owner
Richard Oldfield called Kenny and asked him to take over
as caretaker for a nice colt he had who had earned
$24,000 and took a 1:59.1 mark as a 2-year-old. Again,
Kenny rubbed a colt that changed harness racing history:
True Duane. True Duane won $101,000 and won in 1:56.4 at
Lexington as a 3-year-old for trainer-driver Chris
Boring. The time was the third fastest mile by a
3-year-old. That fall True Duane earned his place in
history when the 3-year-old upset 4-year-old Bret
Hanover at Hollywood Park in world-record time in Bret's
final race.
True Duane won another
$167,000 as a 4-year-old and raced only four times as a
5-year-old, winning $72,000, before popping an osselet
and being retired to a lackluster stallion career at
Castleton Farm in Lexington and then being shipped off
to Australia.
True Duane sired the
dam of Richard Oldfield's star pacer Final Cheers,
p,4,1:50.1.
Asked what made True
Duane great, Kenny said True Duane was an honest
racehorse and that great horses are born, not made.
Kenny made $120 a week
grooming True Duane in 1966, which was top pay for a
groom.
After True Duane, Kenny
got married and went west to California, where his
daughter was born in 1971. Kenny worked for reinsman
Jack Williams Jr., who is now a presiding judge in
California. Then Kenny moved to Ohio, where he farmed
and worked in a factory part time because racehorse pay
alone would not support a family. He still worked part
time with racehorses around Adrian, Mich., and Wauseon,
Ohio.
When his marriage broke
up, in the 1980s, Kenny went east and worked for Lana
Lobell farms and prepped yearlings for Alan Leavitt and
Dr. Ken Seeber. During those years, Lana Lobell stood
prominent stallions Speedy Crown, Speedy Somolli and
Nero.
In 1991, Kenny returned
to work for Delvin Miller, shipping around the grand
circuit during the summers and to the Ben White Raceway
in Orlando for winter training. Kenny stayed with Delvin
until Delvin's death in 1996. During Delvin's final
drive, Kenny was the last man to check a horse for him
-- a 1996 qualifier.
Kenny said Delvin paid
him $250 for taking care of two head, $375 for looking
after three horses and $265 for rubbing one horse racing
in stakes, which was the best-paying job Kenny ever had.
In the four following
years, Kenny spent winters grooming colts in Orlando and
summers at Scioto before shipping to Delaware, then
Lexington's fall meet and then hopping a horse van south
to Florida.
When asked how a
groom's daily routine has changed in the past 40 years,
Kenny said that in the olden days he had to walk joggers
for 30 minutes until they cooled out.
Asked the best thing
about grooming horses, Kenny replied, "Having a good
horse to take care of."
He enjoyed the travel,
and his favorite tracks to visit were Hollywood Park,
now a thoroughbred track, and Brandywine Raceway, now
closed. Grooming harness horses enabled him to travel
coast to coast.
When asked if he would do
it all again and be a career racehorse groom, Kenny said
he would, and by grooming racehorses he always had a job
and never went hungry. |
Garnett Lewis
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Archived Dec. 13, 2004
MASON CITY -- Garnett Cargill
Lewis, 78, of Mason City died Sunday, Dec. 12, 2004, at 2:25
a.m. at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield.
His funeral
was scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Hurley Funeral Home in
Mason City, with the Rev.
H. Curtis McCallister officiating. Visitation was on Monday at
the funeral home.
Burial is in Mason City
Cemetery.
Mr. Lewis retired from the
Illini Central School District as a custodian. He had
previously owned Lewis Upholstery in Mason City. He had also
worked for Funk Brothers Seed for 15 years.
He was a World War II veteran
and served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946.
He was born Aug. 25, 1926, at
Mason City to Hubbard and Nellie Wilson Lewis. He married
Elsie Bustle on Nov. 8, 1946, in Mason City.
He is survived by his wife;
two sons, Robert (and Connie) Lewis of St. Peter, Mo., and
Mark (and Mona) Lewis of Litchfield; one daughter, Monica (and
Roger) Banister of Mason City; four grandchildren and three
stepgrandchildren; six great-grandchildren and three
step-great-grandchildren; and one sister, Margaret (and
Donald) Swaar of Mason City.
He was preceded in death by
his parents, one brother, one sister and one grandson, Troy
Lewis.
He was a member of the First
Baptist Church of Mason City, to which memorial contributions
may be made.
Gene Howe
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Archived Dec. 13, 2004
MOUNT PULASKI -- Gene B. Howe,
84, of Mount Pulaski, died Saturday, Dec. 11, 2004, at 9:58
a.m. at Vonderleith Living Center.
His funeral was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at
Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Mount Pulaski, with Bill Shanle officiating.
Visitation was on Monday at the funeral home.
Burial, with military rites,
was in Lake Bank Cemetery, Latham.
Mr. Howe was a retired farmer,
postal employee and auctioneer.
He served in the U.S. Army Air
Corps during World War II. He was a first lieutenant and B-17
pilot with 35 combat missions.
He was born Oct. 2, 1920, in
Lake Fork Township, Latham, to Abner and Maude Buckles Howe.
He married Doris Lourine Maxheimer in Hannibal, Mo., on Feb.
7, 1942.
He is survived by his wife,
Lourine of Mount Pulaski; one son, Lyle (and Marilyn) Howe of
Mount Pulaski; one daughter, Maureen (and Larry) Lyons of
Normal; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; one
brother, Jack Howe of Lincoln; and one sister, Alice Hayes of
Mount Pulaski.
He was preceded in death by
five brothers, Robert, Cletus, Arnold, Jessie and Harry.
He was of the Christian faith.
He was a member of Mount
Pulaski VFW 777, Mount Pulaski American Legion Post 447,
Springfield Shriners, Mount Pulaski Masonic Lodge 87 AF & AM
and a past member of the Mount Pulaski Lions Club and Illinois
Auctioneers Association.
Memorials may be made to VFW
777 of Mount Pulaski, Vonderleith Living Center or a church of
the donor's choice.
Click here to send a note of condolence to the Howe family.
Lynn Hagan
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Archived Dec. 13, 2004
MOUNT PULASKI -- Lynn A.
Hagan, 54, of Mount Pulaski, died Saturday, Dec. 11, 2004, at
7 a.m. at his home.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7
p.m. Tuesday at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Mount
Pulaski. His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home,
with the Rev. Paul Droegemueller and Bill Shanle officiating.
Burial will be in Mount
Pulaski Cemetery.
Mr. Hagan was a service
technician for Mount Pulaski Telephone Company and Frontier
Communications for 29 years and was a former vice president of
the Mount Pulaski Telephone Company.
He was born Oct. 13, 1950, in
Lincoln. He married Diane Lyon in Mount Pulaski on Sept. 18,
1971.
He is survived by his wife, of
Mount Pulaski; three sons, Chris (and Jackie) Hagan of Mount
Pulaski, Eric Hagan of Mount Pulaski and Paul (and Elizabeth)
Fletcher of El Cajon, Calif.; seven grandchildren; his father,
Herbert (and Dorothy) Hagan of Decatur; one brother, Lonnie
(and Wan) Hagan of Shertz, Texas; and three sisters, Donna
(and Jack) Welch of Beason, Sally (and Tom) Rouch of Elkhart,
Ind., and Linda (and Ron) Baldwin of Center, Texas.
He was preceded in death by
his mother, Geneva Pharis.
He was affiliated with Zion
Lutheran Church in Mount Pulaski and was a member of the
Lincoln Sportsman Club.
Memorials may be made to Zion
Lutheran School in Mount Pulaski or the Mount Pulaski
Ambulance Fund.
Click here to send a note of condolence to the Hagan family.
Herbert Bradley
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Archived Dec. 13, 2004
LINCOLN -- Herbert Bradley,
89, of Lincoln, died Friday, Dec. 10, 2004, at 4:50 p.m. at
St. Clara's Manor.
Visitation was on Monday at Holland and Barry Funeral Home.
His funeral was scheduled for 11 a.m.
Tuesday at Lincoln Southern Baptist Church, with the Rev.
Dennis Shaw officiating.
Burial is in New Union
Cemetery, Lincoln.
Mr. Bradley was a truck driver
for W.G. Colburn for a number of years and was an ambulance
and bus driver for the state of Illinois for 14 years.
He was born July 5, 1915, in
Butler County, Ky., to George M. and Nevada Warren Bradley. He
married Bernice M. Wilson on Oct. 22, 1935, in Butler County,
Ky.
He is survived by his wife;
three sons, Kenneth W. (and wife Glenna) Bradley of
Springfield, Raymond D. Bradley of Phoenix, Ariz., and Thomas
L. Bradley of Phoenix, Ariz.; seven grandchildren and four
stepgrandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; a half brother,
Bill Bradley of Lincoln; and a half sister, Charlene Dowell of
Florida.
He was preceded in death by
five brothers, Jake, Nathan, Leyburn, Reggie and Oval Bradley;
an infant sister, Cora; and a half brother, Bob Bradley.
He was a member of Lincoln
Southern Baptist Church, to which memorials may be made.
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