Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 82
James Howard "Jimmy" Tillman, 65, of Lake Wales passed away Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020 at Advent Health Lake Wales. He was born December 24, 1954 in Bartow to the late James and Juanita Tillman. Jimmy was a purchasing agent for Petersen Industries, working there for over 40 years. He was a lifelong resident of the area and of the Baptist faith. He was an outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing, working on things, and loved his job. Jimmy was preceded in death by his son, John Oliver...
With a possible hurricane headed toward Florida, Polk County is offering sandbags to residents wanting to protect their homes from water intrusion. Sandbags will be provided to Polk County residents at all Roads and Drainage maintenance units and another site in Poinciana from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; Aug. 22 and 23. A maximum of 10 sandbags will be provided to each vehicle to help prevent water intrusion into the home. Beginning Aug. 22, the following locations...
Although Lake Wales leaders don't know the specifics about local COVID-19 cases, those confirmed to have been sickened by the virus are still being closely monitored. Emergency Operations Director Joe Jenkins, who is also the Lake Wales Fire Chief, said while he is not kept updated on each infected person, officials from the Polk County Department of Health monitor them on an almost daily basis. "The Department of Health has that list. They know who those people are. They...
Kaitlyn "KT" Marie Kinard, 22, of Babson Park passed away on Sunday, March 22, 2020 in Vero Beach, FL. She was born January 9, 1998, in Walterboro, SC to Stephen Todd Kinard and Ginny Marie Castle. She has been a resident of the area for 18 years, moving from South Carolina. KT was preceded in death by her father Stephen Todd Kinard, paternal grandparents, Jerry and Gale Kinard and her fur-baby, "JoJo", who passed with her. Survivors include her mother, Ginny; brother Stephen...
Arnold Hans Heinrich Riecken, 92, of Lake Wales passed away Friday, March 13, 2020 at Halifax Medical Center in Port Orange, FL. He was born November 10, 1927 in Brooklyn, NY to the late Arnold and Adele (Wittorf) Riecken and he has been a resident of this area since 1995 moving here from Long Island, NY. He was a retired traffic manager for Bulb Tronics. Arnold was a member of the First Christian Church of Frostproof, American Legion and served in the US Army and US Air Force during WWII and the Korean Conflict. He was...
Gloria Jean Hatten, 70, of Lake Wales passed away Friday, January 17, 2020 at AdventHealth Lake Wales. She was born September 30, 1949 in Kenova, WV to the late Clyde and Virginia L. (Meredith) Scarberry. She has been a resident of the area for 20 years. She was a homemaker and a member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Gloria loved pets, cooking for her family, fishing and Jesus. She is preceded in death by her brother Daniel J. Scarberry, sisters Loa Louise Hatten and Alisha Dare Holt. She is survived by her husband Jackie...
Lake Wales Assistant City Manager Kathy Bangley is asking city commissioners to eliminate the citizen-staffed Code Enforcement Board and Board of Appeals and turn their duties over to a special magistrate. The change would require two public hearings to change city ordinances related to the boards. The first public hearing will be at the Jan. 7 commission meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. in the city municipal building. The current ordinance calls for a Code Enforcement Board...
Rebecca Jean Donadio, 41, of Frostproof passed away Wednesday, Dec.18, 2019 at Advent Health in Sebring. She was born March 31, 1978 in Lake Wales to the late Lawrence T. and Rosemary (Creem) Donadio. She has been a lifelong resident of the area. She was a word processor for State Farm. Rebecca was a former member of a Computer Club, President of Sunray Homes Association and she wrote their newsletter and was a flag majorette in high school. She is survived by her son Ryan...
Kenneth Wade Lanier, 67 of Frostproof passed away Friday, Dec. 13, 2019 at Advent Health Highlands. He was born May 4, 1952 in Frostproof. He has been a lifelong resident of the area. He was a guard for Avon Park Correction. He is preceded in death by his father Ray Virgil Lanier. He is survived by his mother Marjorie B. Lanier of Frostproof, sons Matthew Lanier of MD, Jonathon Lanier of MD, sisters Ollie Clemons of Lake Wales, Margie Herndon of Winter Haven, brother Curtis Lanier of Frostproof, and 2 grandchildren. Family...
Dorothy J. "Dot" Johnson, 94, of Frostproof passed away Monday, Nov. 4, 2019 at the Groves Center. She was born January 12, 1925 in Eynon, Pennsylvania to the late Ambrose and Mary (Borse) Bajkowsky. She has been a resident of the area since 1977 coming from Hollywood, Florida. She was a Homemaker and a member of the Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Dot was a member of the Woman's Club, she enjoyed sewing, crafts, make floral arrangements, fishing and traveling. She is preceded...
Terri Lee Buchanan, 54, of Lake Wales passed away Monday, Oct. 28, 2019 at her residence. She was born April 27, 1965 in Lexington, KY to the late Robert C. and Betty R. (Pennington) Smith. She has been a resident of the area for 27 years coming from Richmond, VA. She was a homemaker and member of Truth Tabernacle Church in Lake Wales. She was the church Secretary. She loved animals, doodling, cooking for her family, family times and her grandbabies. She is preceded in death...
Wanda M. Edwards, 68, of Lake Wales passed away Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019 at Lakeland Hospice House. She was born November 16, 1950 in Lake Wales to the late Harry M. and Josephine (Cox) McCart. She was a lifelong resident of the area and of the Baptist faith. She is preceded in death by her husband Gerald “Buddy” Edwards. She is survived by her daughter Rhonda M. Ducker of Lake Wales, sons Robert Heath Ducker of PA, Joseph M. Ducker of Frostproof, sisters Patricia A. Hawkins (Terry) of Reno, NV, Janet L. Ferguson of Com...
Cidell Joan Bullwinkel, 89, of Lake Wales passed away Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 at Grace Healthcare. She was born January 23, 1930 in Jeffersonville, OH to the late Clyde and Maude L. (Thompson) Stockwell. She has been a resident of the area since 2002 coming from Ohio. She was a secretary for the American Red Cross and of the Lutheran faith. She was previously an active member and secretary at Zion Lutheran Church in Ohio, loved music and dancing especially the waltz and...
20, Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President, prohibition had gone into effect, the United States Congress approves the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, World War I ends, The Florida Keys Hurricane killed 600, and Polly Stephens was born in Sumner, GA on September 18, 1919. Polly recently turned 100 and her family and friends celebrated at a Lake Wales restaurant. 100 years, 10 decades - however you want to slice it - that is a long time. Businesses, as rare as they...
Charles William McCullough, 72, of Frostproof passed away Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019 at his residence. He was born July 3, 1947 in Brunswick, GA to the late Horace G. and Louise (Kersey) McCullough. He has been a lifelong resident of the area. He was a truck driver. He was a member of the National Guard, Moose Lodge, American Legion, and he loved to fish and spend time with his grandkids. He is preceded in death by his brother, Jackson McCullough. He is survived by his lifelong companion Linda Sanland, daughters Joyce...
Born Peter Stepanovs in Latvia, he ultimately immigrated to California after surviving through the trials of WWII Germany and by the grace of sponsorship from the Catholic Church; Peter Wayland found his home in South Florida. On September 9, 2019 Peter passed at his residence in Lake Wales. He came here from Miami/Key Largo area in 1983 with his family. He was a retired Department of Agriculture employee and a veteran of Vietnam, serving in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper. He...
When the company was having difficulty finding qualified electricians, their maintenance managers decided to work together to find a solution. Six years later, one of those solutions has been implemented locally and is helping one local teen prepare for his first full-time job at Nucor Steel Florida Inc. in Frostproof, about 20 miles south of Lake Wales. Tommy Massey, maintenance manager at Nucor Steel Florida, said the pool of talent for industrial electricians who could work...
The Triple Canopy Ranch concert venue 20 miles east of Lake Wales will take on new life in 2020 as a resort with over 1,000 sites for manufactured homes and RVs and a full range of resort style amenities. The developers say the Resort at Canopy Oaks should be built out with a grand entrance on CR 630 within a year and ready for its first full season in the fall of 2020. "It's going to be a big, big project – a multiyear deal," said Tristan Farrell, president of the Resort a...
Overcoming significant challenges of language and poverty, the Lake Wales Charter Schools maintained or improved their 2019 school grades released July 11 by the Florida Department of Education. "We are very, very proud of their improvement and success, of the work that's being done," said charter schools Superintendent Jesse Jackson. "What we have done over the years is try to build a system for success. . . create a structure. Personalities come and go, but we're building a...
Jose Adan Medina, 59, of Frostproof passed away Sunday, July 28 at his residence. He was born August 2, 1959 in Ucareo Michoacan, Mexico. He has been a resident of the area for 37 years coming from Texas. He was a machine operator for Boral and was of the Catholic faith. He is preceded in death by his mother Bibiana Pasinclo. Survivors include his wife of 39 years Beatriz Medina, daughters Marivel Medina Ochoa of Minneola, FL, Juanita Medina Garcia of Lake Wales, FL, sons...
Hot, hot, hot. That's what experts are calling the Polk County real-estate market, where inventory of existing houses remains low and homebuilders are busy. Various reports rank the local real-estate market in the Top 5 among major metropolitan areas, continuing a trend that started in 2018. Realtor.com places the Lakeland-Winter Haven MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in this case is Polk County) as the No. 1 hottest market in the country, followed by Grand Rapids, Mi...
Kathy M. Barber, 78, of Lake Wales passed away Thursday, May 30, 2019 at her residence. She was born June 26, 1940 in Michigan to the late William H. and Sarah J. (Lindsey) Rowston. She has been a resident of the area since 1967 coming from Pontiac, Michigan. She was an administrative assistant for Florida's Natural and of the Presbyterian faith. She loved to make jewelry, sing, play the organ and was an animal lover. She is survived by her daughter Teresa Bruce and husband...
About 100 business and community leaders, elected officials and educators gathered Thursday morning, May 16, to rally support for continued funding of the Lake Wales J.D. Alexander Center of Polk State College. Rather than include $2.5 million for the Lake Wales campus in its regular budget, the Florida Legislature placed it as a separate line item, making it subject to a potential veto by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Polk State President Angela Garcia Falconetti reminded the crowd that...
Marty Griffin, 66, of Babson Park passed away Wednesday, May 8 at his residence. He was born October 31, 1952 in Adel, GA to the late Carson and Sally F. (Greene) Griffin. He has been a resident of the area for seven years coming from Georgia. He attended elementary and high School in Frostproof. He was employed as a boat loader and was of the Baptist faith. Marty liked wrestling, video games, motorcycling and fishing. He loved the Lord and his Momma, and he would always check on everyone by phone every day. He is survived...
The Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council at its annual awards gala May 9 presented two local companies with Carl F. Durso Excellence in Business Awards. The small business winner was Capo Security and the larger business award went to Grow Healthy. Durso was a longtime Lake Wales supporter and Chamber executive director. Criteria for the award includes length of time in the community, number of employees, growth or expansion of the business...
