The Billings Gazette from Billings, Montana • 10

10-A Saturday, Feb. 5, 1983 The Billings Gazette Obituaries Continued stories 1 Couple From Page One LOCAL DEATHS Orlin C. Brewer, 74, of 3105 Montana Ave. George Arthur Schlehofer, 67, San Diego, formerly of Billings Richard W. Baker Sr.

SPOKANE, Wash. Richard W. Baker Sr. was in the advertising business for more than 25 years in Montana, a World War II veteran and a member of Eagles Lodge. Mr.

Baker, 55, died Thursday in Spokane of natural causes. 1 He was born in Billings, a son of Richard A. and Ruth Baker. In 1954 he came to Spokane, where he was a building maintenance man. Survivors include his wife, Gloria; two sons, Richard W.

Jr. of Tacoma, and David P. of Spokane; two daughters, Bonnie Baker of Manhattan Beach, and Debra A. Thrash of Spokane; two sisters, Dorothy Crow of Hayden Lake, Idaho, and Virginia Miles of Miners Oak, and four grandchildren. Services will be 2 p.m.

Saturday in Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home with burial in Holy Cross Cemetery. Frank H. Nies EKALAKA Frank H. Nies came to Ekalaka with his parents in 1913, and lived on a homestead until 1966. He was an early-day BLM member and a 4-H leader for many years.

Mr. Nies, 89, died Friday in his home after a long illness. Born in Wayne, he was a son of Charles and Louica Nies. On Sept. 21, 1918, he married Clara Berg in Plevna.

Survivors include his wife; four sons, James and Roger, both of Ekalaka, Bernard of Hamilton and Robert of Mill Iron; three daughters, Thea Powell of Ekalaka, Harriet Spellmon of Mill Iron and Willa Nies of Trona, three sisters, Eulalee Parker and Mrs. Marjorie Gundlach, both of Ekalaka, and Mrs. Ona Caton of Spearfish, S.D.; a brother, Ted of Draper, S.D.; 34 grandchildren; and 42 great-grandchildren. Rosary will be recited 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Stevenson and Sons Chapel.

Mass will be celebrated 11 a.m. Monday in St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church with burial in Odd Fellows Cemetery. was 'I've got a plan, I've got something worked Mrs. Zieske and the manager of the Just One More, who asked not to be identified, said they could not remember Peters being in their establishments immediately before his death.

However, the medical examiner's report indicated that he and his wife had high levels of alcohol in their blood at the time of their deaths. When the Peterses were evicted, they moved in with their 26-year-old son, Mark, and his wife in neighboring Oak Lawn. Their youngest daughter, 16-year-old Doris, moved in with another child, Paul, 24, of suburban Alslip. Another son, Carl, 21, lives in Chicago. The living arrangement ran into problems from the beginning.

"They were living with me for two months, then I realized that they had to leave for their own good," Mark Peters said. "The day after Christmas they came home stumbling drunk at about 1 a.m.," Mark recalled, "and I told them they would have to leave." His mother checked into a hospital and attended its Alcoholics Anonymous program. "She needed to dry out and replenish her nutrients. My father went to a meeting with her." "In the hospital, they seemed to be doing real well," he said. "I told them that if they wanted to stay with me again they could but that I thought it best that they got a place of their own.

The couple checked out of the hospital Dec. 31 and told their son they would stay with friends or at a motel. It was the last time any of the Peters' children heard from their parents. It was four days later that a passerby noticed the couple in the station wagon and called the authorities. Peters lay on the front seat and his wife on the rear seat.

The ignition was turned on but the vehicle had run out of gas. "I think everything culminated into an attitude by them that 'there is no way we can win, so why fight Mrs. Tillotson said. "There were more than 150 friends and family members at their wake," she said. "I only wish they could have known how many people cared about them.

I don't think they did." They also had dreams for their children, who say their upbringing was strict. Some of the children said their biggest fear every day was that their mother would tell their father their conduct had been less than satisfactory. "Times were always hard and my dad often had trouble getting work," said Mrs. Tillotson, who lives in neighboring Cicero with her husband and three children. "The fact that they sent us all to Catholic school and that they had a child with serious birth defects added to the financial problems," she said.

The child, a boy born about 15 years ago, she said, underwent reconstructive surgery nine times but died within his first year. "The cost of the operations led them to bankruptcy," Mrs. Tillotson said. "They barely had enough for his burial and could not afford a gravestone." The Peters worked through their depression over losing the child but financial difficulties persisted. They took out a second mortgage on their home.

Peters had long been a drinker, according to members of his family and neighbors, though it did not interfere with his ability to work, according to his children and associates. But it was the source of occasional friction between him and his wife. "Mother was big on creating a Christian environment and would not allow any liquor in the house," Mrs. Tillotson recalled. "My dad would stop off at a tavern before coming home from work and that became a big issue when they had "I am not going to say he did not drink, because he did," she said, "but I never saw him drunk except on holidays." Family members said they could not pinpoint precisely when their father's drinking turned to excess nor when their mother began to drink.

But they suspected it was when they were faced with the prospect of losing their home. "My mother was in a panic but dad said we should not worry, that he had a plan," she said. "It was probably the phrase he used most," said Joan Zieske, manager of Kedzie Liquors, another tavern Peters frequented about two blocks from the place he and his wife favorite saying The Peterses had never known more than a lower-middle-class existence where the acquisition of a house and establishment of a family were the yardsticks of success. But they were proud of what little they had: the five children, the station wagon and one of the dozens of look-alike pitched roof homes that define the neighborhood around Lawndale Avenue and 87th Place. Peters, who was 54 years old last July, worked as a machine mover for trade shows for 26 years.

His wife, who was 59, was described by some of her children as a fastidious housekeeper, almost to the point of fanaticism. At $10 an hour, the money Peters earned was good. The hitch was that work was sporadic in the best of times and much rarer in the past four years because of the poor economy. Last November things stopped working out. They were evicted from their home, a badly weathered, dark pink eyesore on the otherwise neatly kept 3700 block of 87th Place.

Unknown to other family members, the couple had not met their mortgage payments for more than a year. The house was sold at auction for $6,900 after being advertised by the Cook County sheriff in an obscure newspaper given away free of charge. Family members did not see the paper. Court records show the house was bought by George B. Javaras, who identified himself as a tax lawyer, and Frank Skach, whose identity could not be learned.

Javaras said that he had no knowledge of owning the house and that it was probably purchased in his name by his brother, Paul, a lawyer involved in real estate, "for corporate reasons." The couple had about $20,000 equity in the house, according to Norma Tillot-son, who at 27 was their oldest child. "Their big dream was to own their own home," she said. Chester A. Biffle LAUREL Chester A. Biffle had owned Laurel Board of Trade Bar and Palace Lanes and Billings Monte Carlo Club.

A member of Park City Senior Citizens, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, bowling and working in his yard. Mr. Biffle, 77, died Thursday in St Vincent Hospital. Born in Camp Crook, S.D., a son of Robert Lee and Henrietta Biffle, he graduated from Baker High School and married Edna Col ton on Jan. 5, 1927, in Moorhead, Minn.

She died in 1974. He married Josephine Renner Moon on May 6, 1978, in Laurel. Survivors include his wife; a son, Lee Robert of Eugene, two stepdaughters, Mrs. Joe (Dar-lene) Farrell of Bismarck, N.D., and Mrs. Roy (Audrey) Linger of Molt; two brothers, Chauncey of Kalispell and Jim of Baker; a sister, Inez Wheeler of Bellingham, eight grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.

Services will be 2 p.m. Monday in Laurel United Methodist Church with burial in Laurel Cemetery. Smith-Cashmore Memorial Chapel is in charge. Peter Henrick Sinsel, 48, of 1134 Central Ave. George R.

Moore, 79, of 2051 Hickory Drive Tod O. Nelson, 20, of 1250 Lake Elmo Drive Earl D. McKelvie, 76, of 4104 Duck Creek Road AREA DEATHS Bessie Hines, 93, Joliet Richard W. Baker 55, Spokane, Wash. Nora Nell Petersen, 85, Lewistown Frank H.

Nies, 89, Ekalaka Chester A. Biffle, 77, Laurel Michael P. Travis Before coming to Billings in August 1982 to be a student at Eastern Montana College, Michael P. Travis worked as an accountant in Sterling, Colo. Mr.

Travis, 41, of 524 N. 23rd died early Thursday morning in Harlowton, an apparent suicide. Born in Imperial, he was a son of Glen and Eleanor Travis. Survivors include his parents of Sterling; and a son, Brian of Miles City. Services and burial will be in Sterling.

Dahl Funeral Chapel is in charge. Nora Nell Petersen LEWISTOWN Nora Nell Petersen and her husband lived in the Mosby and Winnett areas for many years. She moved to Billings in 1980. Mrs. Petersen, 85, died Thursday in a Billings nursing home after a short illness.

She enjoyed quilting and gardening. Born in Aliceville, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hetrick, she came to Montana in the early 1900s. On Sept.

19, 1917, she married Dave Petersen in Lewistown. He died in 1967. Survivors include a son, Carl of Cat Creek; three daughters, Mrs. Robert (Florence) Eike of Melstone, Mrs. Russel (Fern) Kesterson of Sumatra and Mrs.

Elsie Hunter of Winnett; a sister, Lizzie Jorgenson of Morgan Hill, 28 grandchildren; and 32 great-grandchildren. Services will be 2 p.m. Monday in Cloyd Chapel with burial in Sunset Memorial Gardens. George Arthur Schlehofer SAN DIEGO, Calif. Former Billings, resident George Arthur Schlehofer, 67, died in his home Jan.

29. He was born in Billings, a son of Frank and Theresa Holy Schlehofer. In 1943 he moved to San Diego, where he operated George's Nite Cap for many years until retiring in 1982. He enjoyed traveling and fishing. Survivors include his wife, Geraldine, and a daughter, Georgette, both of San Diego; a half brother, Frank T.

Holy Sr. of 125 Monroe Billings; two sisters Mrs. Seniado Ronquillo of 2714 Ninth Ave. Billings, and Mrs Joe Briceno Jr. of 605 S.

28th Billings; and two grandchildren. Cremation has taken place. Peter Hendrick Sinsel Peter Hendrick Sinsel drove trucks, worked on oil rigs and in construction. He enjoyed reading westerns, making truck models and doing crossword puzzles. Mr.

Sinsel, 48, of 1134 Central died Thursday of a heart attack. He was born in Boise, Idaho, a son of Frank and Louise Sinsel. On Dec. 27, 1981, he married Dorothy Briere in Billings. Survivors include his wife; his mother; five daughters, Mrs.

Mary L. Novak of Phoenix, Mrs. Mary C. Boyer and Mrs. Audie Bancroft, both of Billings, Mrs.

Carol Lippert and Mrs. Linda Soper, both of Havre; a son, Dave of Fargo, N.D.; a sister, Mrs. Sally Covington of Wimberly, Texas; and 13 grandchildren. Services will be Monday in Edwards Funeral Home, Chinook. Tod O.

Nelson Tod O. Nelson, 20, of 1250 Lake Elmo Drive, died of a gunshot wound Thursday in his home. Born in Hettinger, N.D., a son of Roland and Wanda Nelson, he came to Billings with his family when he was 4'2 and attended Billings schools. Survivors include his parents; grandparents, Mrs. Margaret Nelson of Hettinger and Mr.

and Mrs. Harold Miller of Prairie City, S.D.; and a brother, Monte of 2224 Highway 87 E. Memorial services will be 1 p.m. Monday in Atonement Lutheran Church. Smith Downtown Chapel is in charge.

George R. Moore George R. Moore worked for the Union Pacific Railroad in Portland, for 35 years, and was a member of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He returned to Billings a weKk ago from Boulder, Mont. Mr.

Moore, 79, of 2051 Hickory Drive, died Wednesday in St. Vincent Hospital. A son of Mr. and Mrs. John Moore, he was born in Augusta, Wis.

He had lived in Billings, in Bozeman and in Australia. Survivors include a brother, Clifford of Lewis-town and a sister, Pearl Tumm of Augusta, Wis. No services are planned. Smith Downtown Chapel had charge of cremation. five intensive-care group homes serving 32 severely handicapped people.

It also would mean that 10 handicapped Billings residents would lose their jobs because they would no longer have the training and supervision they need. Ellery's agency has requested $30.2 million in the upcoming biennium for programs for the developmentally disabled. Included in that amount is $600,000 for a new program of specialized care for 30 severely handicapped clients, and $300,000 for salary increases for group-home workers. By contrast, the legislative fiscal analyst's budget says that maintaining the current level of programs would cost the state $27 million in the upcoming biennium. Bill Crivello, director of Flathead Industries in Kalispell, said it would be "catastrophic" if the Legislature didn't continue to expand its community-based Programs From Page One the programs open because "there are a lot of handicapped persons out there who need a place to live and a place to work." Another young woman, Patti Waken, said she was happy to be able to learn job skills, how to budget her money, and how to use public services.

Providers and state officials also got into the act. Jack Ellery, administrator of the Developmental Disabilities Division in the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, said his agency foresees "serious problems" if the Legislature adopts its fiscal analyst's budget. That budget, he said, would close And Rena Wheeler, director of the Special Training for Exceptional People program in Billings, said "the system is jeopardized" by proposed funding cuts. Wheeler said one of the main problems is that low pay and benefits for group home workers are causing high turnover that upsets the handicapped. She said the average group home worker in Montana earns $4.39 an hour, or $9,100 annually.

Many of these workers have college degrees and several years experience, she said, and they're expected to do many duties, including training, providing recreation and keeping records, as well as cleaning and cooking. By contrast, Wheeler said, a teacher's aide in Billings now earns $4.48 an hour and a state Capitol groundskeeper makes $6.50. She said the additional $300,000 requested by SRS would only increase group-home workers' pay 17 cents an hour. lahl 1 FUNERAL "iiaUCl 1 Reagan's live birthday irks net works 10 Yellowstone liillinfjs $'i8-8m7 TRAVIS Michael 41, of 524 N. 23rd St.

Funeral services and burial in Sterling, Colo. 708 S. UrCillrn Itetl hxlue 'iW-IXOO MM) Sirilrhr Herving all tailhs witn (Signify Mic helotli Sawyers Mortuary 1001 Alderson Ave. Ph 252-3417 Mortuary Parking Adjacent MEMBER BY INVITATION NATIONAL SELECTED MORTICIANS HELBING Harold, 79, of 2240 Dallas Drive. Funeral services Monday, 2 p.m., at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd.

Funeral services in Wausau, Wis. pending. Interment in Appleton, Wis. Memorials to the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd organ fund. cal.

In this case, there was no major issue at a crucial stage on Capitol Hill, for example, as there had been last December when Reagan made similar appearances twice within a week to offer his views on the MX missile. "This was a different order of thing," Wald said, "He hadn't had a press conference in a little while. There was news about the unemployment picture changing. And we were interested in a couple of points that we could ask questions about." When the nature of the president's appearance shifted with the appearance of his wife, the networks' decision whether to continue coverage was complicated by their not knowing what to expect. "You can never be sure what might happen in the course of something like that," Wald said.

"For all we knew, he could have been ready in a moment or two to resume questions. When it became obvious that he wasn't going to, we ended our coverage. It was no longer a press conference." Still, network officials were unsure they would have acted differently had they been notified of the birthday surprise in advance. "If the White House press office had said they were going to wheel in a birthday cake I would have recommended that we stay with it," Smith said. "It was the president of the United States.

It was a White House ceremony, and it was an event the public would enjoy seeing," he said. suckered," said one network news official who declined to be named. Others were less troubled by the incident. Reuven Frank, president of NBC News, said, "Sure I felt used," he said, but being used by presidents is not peculiar to this administration." For Jack Smith, the Washington bureau chief for CBS News, being caught off-guard was more a nuisance than a crisis. "I was surprised.

I wouldn't say manipulated. It is our choice. We can cut out any time we want to," he said. Nevertheless, other officials said that the failure of the White House to inform them about the nature of Reagan's appearance had the potential of undermining the relationship between the White House and the networks over the proper use of the airwaves for presidential messages. "The administration takes very seriously its job to make the president look good," said the network news official requesting anonymity.

"We deal with them on the basis of trust and they were misusing that trust. When they do that, they serve the presidency badly." Reagan's appearance was characterized as a "mini-press conference," and it was called on a half hour's notice. Network officials were told that the president would make a statement about unemployment, and that questions would be taken. In recent months, the networks have made varying judgments on whether to cover these mini-conferences, largely because their purpose seemed overtly politi The New York Times NEW YORK The three commercial television networks were caught by surprise Friday when Nancy Reagan walked in on President Reagan's televised press conference with a birthday cake for him, two days early. All three networks complained to David R.

Gergen, assistant to the president for communications, and they asked him to explain why they were not informed about an event that was obviously well-planned. "What they did was under the general auspices of a press conference they had a photo opportunity and a promotional effort. So you assume the next time they say press conference you have to be careful," said Richard C. Wald, senior vice president of ABC News. Gergen explained that the networks were not informed to ensure that the president would be surprised.

"It is not at all clear had we spread the word it would have been much of a surprise," he said. "I have told them that had we realized it was going to go on as long as it did we would have told them. The early expectation was that it would be brief." The networks stayed with the birthday party for varying lengths of time as they tried to decide what to do. Thus on NBC, for example, what was originally intended as a 10 minute interruption ran more than 23 minutes. Afterwards, the incident fueled concern among some network officials who felt they had been manipulated.

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Proceeds to Heart Fund. 24 HOUR UPDATED WEATHER FORECAST CALL (S2-2000 New snowstorm zeroes in on Southwest T. Ta Han Curttf Crematory, Cemetery and Mausoleum 2 Locations in Billings 245-6427 TERRACE GARDENS 304 34th ST. W. DOWNTOWN 120 N.

26th (prkin adjacent) BREWER Orlin 74, of 3105 Montana Ave. Funeral services 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, in Smith Downtown Chapel. Interment 4 p.m.

in Forsyth Cemetery. NELSON Tod 20, of 1250 Lake Elmo' Drive. Memorial services 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 7, in Atonement Lutheran Church.

Memorials to Christikon Lutheran Bible Camp, co Peace Lutheran Church, 1301 Ave. D. LAUREL Smith-Cashmore 1-628-4821 BIFFLE Chester 77, of Laurel. Service 2 p.m. Monday, Feb.

7, Laurel United Methodist Church. Interment Laurel Cemetery. Memorials: Northern Rockies Regional Cancer Treatment Center or Laurel United Methodist Church. RED LODGE Olcott Chapel 1-446-1121 HINES Bessie, age 93, of Joliet. Funeral services are pending in Olcott Funeral Chapel.

Memorials to charity of one's choice. COLUMBUS Smith-Cashmore 1-628-4821 and hay to Navajo Indians and their livestock stranded by a quagmire of mud and snow on the reservation in New Mexico and Arizona. Maj. George Faulhaber, director of the operation, ordered the helicopter pilots to return about 2Vz hours after they left. "We've got a pretty big storm front that looks like it's coming on right now," Faulhaber said.

"So I think we're going to shut it down." He said his men were able to re-supply about 30 to 40 Navajo families. The Arizona Army National Guard was also ordered to help aid the Navajos, but was grounded because of the snow. Kentucky and Wisconsin, two in Michigan and one each in Alabama, New Mexico and Ohio. A foot of new snow fell near Santa Fe, N.M. Visibility in Albuquerque was reduced to one-quarter mile.

Authorities urged rush hour traffic to avoid the freeways in the city because "there's nothing but one accident after another," one police dispatcher said. The Albuquerque International Airport was closed for an undetermined amount of time because of heavy snow on the runways. Near Gallup, New Mexico Army National Guardsmen aboard helicopters battled the latest storm to airlift food, fuel United Press International A foot of snow buried mountain towns in New Mexico and; Arizona Friday and a winter encore steamed into the southern Plains, the latest in a week-long avalanche of storms. Frantic shopping sprees wiped staples from store shelves. Law officers reported violent outbreaks of "cabin fever" in areas hit hard by the onslaught of storms this week.

At least 43 people have been killed in the storms. Since Monday, six deaths each were reported in Kansas and Minnesota, five each in Nebraska and Illinois, four in Iowa, three each in Louisiana, Florida, 6m.