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Date of these obituaries: 09-23-1998
Student, poet Aaron Hoffman, was "courageous, special' kid
In Aaron Shon Hoffman's childhood, he did all the things any healthy, active boy likes to do: he played Little League baseball, Booster League football and was a member of Northern Kentucky's Junior Pro Basketball team.
The only difference was Hoffman suffered from Evans Syndrome, a disease that severely impairs the immune system.
Before any game, he had to have a blood test at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati to make sure he had enough platelets - the blood component that promotes clotting - so that he would not bleed to death if he was injured.
"We tried to treat him no different than any other kid that wasn't sick," said Hoffman's father, Terry Hoffman of Fort Mitchell.
But by his late teens, Aaron's disease had progressed to where he could not walk across Northern Kentucky University's campus, where he was a sophomore studying biology, because it was too difficult to breathe.
In the last three months, the Fort Mitchell youth underwent nine surgeries - including a bone-marrow transplant in July - to help him regain his health. But Monday, he died at Children's Hospital after a virus attacked his weakened immune system and damaged his lungs.
He was 20 years old.
"He was a courageous kid," Terry Hoffman said. "I guess every father thinks of their son that way, but this kid, he was special. He could relate to people, he never said anything bad about people, he was all the things that, as a dad, I wanted him to be."
Hoffman grew up in Taylor Mill, and graduated from Scott High School in 1996. He was a member of the National Honor Society and regularly attended First Baptist Church of Cold Spring.
Terry Hoffman said he regrets that his son could not live to fulfill his dreams of becoming a doctor and having a family.
The youth had a special relationship with God, his father said, and he wrote beautiful poetry.
"Since Aaron was 5 or 6 years old, he was always thinking on greater terms than kids around him," he said.
For about six months, Aaron Hoffman worked as a bank teller at Providence Bank in Fort Mitchell. In January, doctors told his family he would not live long without a bone-marrow transplant. His sister, Jennifer Hoffman of Fort Mitchell, was the donor.
Other survivors include his mother, Linda Hoffman of Fort Mitchell; brothers, Terry Hoffman of Independence and Brian Hoffman of Fort Mitchell; sisters, Kristina Willett and Sherri Andes, both of Erlanger.
Services will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church of Cold Spring. Visitation will begin there at 4 p.m. Thursday. Burial will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Evergreen Cemetery, Southgate. Memorials are suggested to the church, 4410 Alexandria Pike, Cold Spring, Ky. 41076. Radel Funeral Home, Highland Heights, is handling arrangements.
Herma May Adkins, 88, of Covington, died Tuesday at St. Luke Hospital West, Florence.
Arrangements are pending at Catchen and Son Funeral Home, Covington.
Aloysius William Alerding, 90, of Fort Thomas, died Tuesday at Veterans Administration Hospital, Cincinnati. He was a retired owner of Bud's Dry Cleaning, Bellevue, a member of Bellevue Vets and a Marine Corps veteran of World War II.
Survivors include his wife, Dorothy Alerding; a daughter, Joette Whitmore of Bellevue; a stepson, Barry Roberts of Fort Thomas; and a grandson.
Mass of Christian burial will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Bernard Church, Dayton. Visitation will be from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Dobbling Funeral Home, Bellevue. Burial will be in St. Stephen Cemetery, Fort Thomas. Memorials are suggested to Lions Club International Eye Donation Program, 300 22nd St., Oak Brook, Ill. 60521-8842.
Clyde G. Crawford, 86, of Walton, died at 6:45 a.m. Monday at his home. He was a retired employee of Newport Steel Co. and a member of Visalia Baptist Church and Lost Chord Club of the American Cancer Society.
Survivors include his wife, Mary E. Tarvin Crawford; a son, Clyde E. "Butch" Crawford of Walton; daughters, Judith Campbell of Canton, Ga., and Mary Lou Crawford of Visalia; a brother, Claude Crawford of Ocala, Fla.; seven grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Connley Bros. Funeral Home, Latonia. Visitation will begin there at 11 a.m. Thursday. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery, Fort Mitchell. Memorials are suggested to St. Elizabeth Hospice Unit, 401 E. 20th St., Covington, Ky. 41014.
Jessie J. Jolley, 33, of Covington, died at 4:38 a.m. Monday at St. Elizabeth Medical Center South, Edgewood.
Survivors include her mother, Vernie Doughty of Covington; and a brother, Manuel "Rick" Sartorio of Covington.
Services will be at the convenience of the family. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery, Fort Mitchell.
Memorials are suggested to Northern Kentucky Easter Seals, 212 Levassor Ave., Covington, Ky. 41014. Linnemann Funeral Home, Erlanger, is handling arrangements.
H. Charles Jones, 87, of Bradenton, Fla., formerly of Kenton Hills, died at 5:04 a.m. Monday at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton. He was a retired president and chairman of the board of Hickman, Williams & Co. in Cincinnati, a former director of the Covington Trust and Banking Co. and former chairman of William Booth Memorial Hospital, Florence. He was a former member of Fort Mitchell Baptist Church and a member of the board of directors of the Fort Mitchell Country Club, where he was a club champion. He was a former member of the board of directors of YMCA of Northern Kentucky and a past president of the Downtown Cincinnati Kiwanis Club.
Mr. Jones was also a former member of the CPA of Ohio, an investment analyst with City National Bank and Trust Co. and treasurer of the Federal Home Loan Bank, both of Chicago. He was a member of the Kirkwood Presbyterian Church, American Legion Post No. 24, Elks Lodge No. 1511, and the Bradenton Country Club, all in Bradenton, Fla.
He served in the Navy during World War II.
Survivors include his wife, Norma J. Ward Jones; a son, Charles D. Jones of Birmingham, Ala.; a stepson, Roger L. McClintock of Bradenton, Fla.; a daughter, Margaret L. Jones of Deland, Fla.; stepdaughters, Gloria Newman of Knoxville, Tenn., and Susan Lockwood of Bradenton; a sister, Frances J. Court of Bradenton; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His first wife, Loretta S. Jones, died in 1979.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Middendorf-Bullock Funeral Home, Ludlow. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Entombment will be in Highland Mausoleum, Fort Mitchell. Memorials are suggested to Fort Mitchell Baptist Church, 2323 Dixie Highway, Fort Mitchell, Ky. 41017.
Jacob Miller, 82, of Fort Thomas, died Sunday at Moses Cone Memorial Hospital, Greensboro, N.C. He was a partner in the F. A. Kamp floor-covering installation company in Newport and a Navy veteran. He was a member of Robert Burns Masonic Lodge No. 163 in Newport, Churchill Seniors, the Fort Thomas Retired Men's Club, Queen City Umpires Association, the Covington Scottish Rite and Southgate Super Seniors.
Survivors include his wife, Emma E. Miller; sons, Donald Miller of the state of California, and Wayne Nelson of Gibsonville, N.C.; and five grandchildren.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Paul United Church of Christ, Fort Thomas. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 tonight at Dobbling Funeral Home, Fort Thomas. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Southgate. Memorials are suggested to St. Paul United Church of Christ, 1 Churchill Drive, Fort Thomas, Ky. 41075.
Charles Harvey Readnour, 78, of Covington, died Tuesday at St. Elizabeth Hospice Unit in Covington. He was a home construction worker and a World War II veteran.
Survivors include his wife, Thelma Ashcraft Readnour; and sisters, Anna Belle Moore and Ethylene Readnour, both of Walton.
Services will be at noon Thursday at Stith Funeral Home, Florence. Visitation will begin there at 10 a.m. Thursday. Burial will be in IOOF Cemetery, Carrollton. Memorials are suggested to Multiple Sclerosis Society, 4460 Lake Forest Drive, Suite 236, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242.
William Roden, 63, of Union, died at 5:50 p.m. Tuesday at St. Luke Hospital West, Florence.
Arrangements are pending at Don Catchen and Son Funeral Home, Elsmere-Erlanger.
Eva Rose, 73, of Augusta, died Monday at University Hospital, Cincinnati. She was a homemaker.
Survivors include her husband, Virgil Rose; sons, Virgil David Rose of Brown County, Ohio, Jerry Rose and John Rose, both of Augusta, and Dennis Rose of Covington; a stepson, Chester Aires of Cincinnati; and a daughter, Barbara Rose of Augusta.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Metcalfe-Hennessey Funeral Home, Augusta. Visitation will begin there at noon Thursday. Burial will be in Mount Zion Cemetery, Bracken County.
Timothy Lee Tomlin, 36, of Lexington, formerly of Grant County, died Tuesday at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington.
Arrangements are pending at Elliston-Stanley Funeral Home, Williamstown.
Mabel R. Wiggins, 89, of Daytona Beach, Fla., formerly of Covington, died Saturday at Atlantic Hospital in Ormond Beach, Fla. She was a retired cleaning woman with Dixie Terminal, Cincinnati.
Her husband, Mark Wiggins Sr., died in 1953.
Survivors include sons, Mark Wiggins Jr. of Daytona Beach and Norman Wiggins of South Carolina; and six grandchildren.
Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary Cemetery, Fort Mitchell. Middendorf-Bullock Funeral Home, Covington, is handling arrangements.
