DECEMBER 2002

             Captain John T. Petersen, after enjoying 93 years of good health, passed away on October 10, 2002, in Fallbrook, California, after a short illness.  During WWII Captain Petersen was a captain on many of the tugboats used to assist ships through the Panama Canal from about 1942 until his retirement in 1972. 

            Ann Wilson Scheidegg, died October 30, 2002 at Community Medical Center, Toms River, New Jersey, at the age of 69.  She was a homemaker and loved fishing and making ceramics. 

            Former teacher Helen (Patterson) Schrum, 97, of Great Falls, Montana, died of natural causes at a local nursing home.  She went to the Panama Canal Zone where she taught school for 20 years and where she met her husband. 

            Macel Marie Goulet Thomson of Memphis, Tennessee, died at home October 13, 2002.  She graduated from CHS in 1937 and the CZJC in 1939.  She worked in the Canal Zone Administration Building in Balboa Heights and later in the Ancon Court House.  She married J. Morton Thomson, Jr., in July 1946 at the Rodman Navel Station chapel.  In 1950 the Thomson’s returned to the Canal Zone and remained there until leaving in 1966. 

            Carmen R. Valencia went to a better world October 14, 2002 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.  She moved with her family to Margarita, Canal Zone in 1953, where she spent most of her life.  While there she worked in the Coco Solo Hospital for over 30 years, mainly in the OB/GYN clinic. 

            Charles M. Wicks, Sr., 72, of Cleveland, Georgia, died September 26, 2002 in Gainesville, Georgia.  He retired from Miraflores Locks in June 1988 as a Senior Lockmaster.

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