ShowMeBlog

Ben Breedlove

“Ben Breedlove On Christmas night, our son, Ben Breedlove received a gift greater than any we could have given him. He stood in the presence of his Lord and Savior and felt the peace that surpasses all understanding. Ben's 18-year-old heart may have been afflicted with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, but his physical limitations didn't keep him from experiencing the things he loved---in fact, he found extraordinary ways to expand on those experiences and take us all along for the ride. He had a curiosity for learning (remember the drum kit?), and his quick, analytical mind sought ways to be the best at whatever captured his attention. He loved wakeboarding, shooting, and playing Call of Duty. His claim to fame was when he and little brother, Jake, beat Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley in an online match. And they did it gleefully! There are so many ways to describe Ben: he was witty, sharp and funny, and his pranks were legendary. Just ask the unsuspecting drivers on City Park Road! He knew how to operate outside the system, while accomplishing his goals in an honorable fashion. While Ben never seemed to take anything seriously, his happy- go-lucky nature was matched with a warm, loving and candid personality. His YouTube channel gives witness to what his legion of female admirers thought of him! And now the world has come to know our Ben. He was a genius at using the Internet to reach and influence his peers. Through his brilliance with maneuvering the capabilities of YouTube, Ben has left a message for his generation. In the weeks prior to his death, he had faced some scary situations with his health, but had been given an amazing gift that he was determined to share; first with us, his family, and then, not surprisingly (and generously) with his YouTube audience. We know the Lord used the amazing life of our precious son to reach a weary world on Christmas night, just as He did over 2000 years ago with his own Son. We invite you to visit YouTube, and just enter "Ben Breedlove" and receive the gift that Ben hoped would change your life. Ben was abundantly loved by his devoted family: parents, Shawn and Deanne; sister, Ally; and brother, Jake. Waiting to start the party in Heaven were both his grandmothers, Jan Breedlove and Sue Raine. Ben left grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, countless friends of the family, fellow students at Westlake High School, and members of the Internet Generation to mourn the loss of his creativity, wittiness and beautiful smile. Ben has left a lasting impression and legacy far beyond his 18 years. While the pain of losing Ben will never be far, his life is serving a greater purpose. You were always full of surprises, Ben, and this is the best one yet! "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord." Memorial services will be conducted at three o'clock in the afternoon, Thursday, the 29th of December at Gateway Church, 7104 McNeil Drive, Austin, Texas 78729. Tributes may be made at www.cookwaldenfuneralhome. com”

Teen leaves message after death

  Ben Breedlove died on Christmas Day from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, but left a message behind. KXAN reports.

Robert B. Ross

“ROBERT B. ROSS   |   In loving memory of our Dad and Grandpa, Robert B. Ross (USA Major Ret) who joined Dottie, the love of his life for over 50 years on December 11, 2011. Best remembered for his amazing Christmas Hat Creations, his passion to design Stained Glass and his Ababian Horses. Now they can truly be "Heaven's New Food Critics." He is survived by daughters, Valerie Hervert and husband, Lyle Olathe, KS, Carol Baker and Shawn Burns, Overland Park, KS, 9 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. Graveside Service, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, 2:15 PM at Leavenworth Nat'l Cemetery, 150 Muncie Rd, Leavenworth, KS 66048. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to: Wounded Warriors, AUSA(in memo line WSF-Ross), PO Box 134, Manhattan, KS 66505. Kansas City Funeral Directors 913-262-6310. Published in Kansas City Star on December 28, 2011”

  The above is all the information that I have about the death of Robert B. Ross.  But I feel sure that it is the Robert B. Ross that I knew and that I worked for at Trinity Lutheran Hospital for almost six years.
  I began working there in 1975.  During that time I learned to like Mr. Ross.  We had a lot of fun times.  He had a great sense of humor.  We had problems with each other but I respected him and liked him.  He drove me crazy many times. 
  He was very smart.  I met his wife and saw her at TLH a number of times and talked with her.  She was a very nice woman. 
  Even when he fired me I was never mad at him.  Truth is I was happy to get away from there because I liked him but he was driving me crazy.  He had set it up that I was to transfer to the BioMed department as soon as they had an opening but I could not hold out even the few short days or weeks until they had an open spot. 
  We had more good times than bad times.  I always “had my ducks inline.” He had a great sense of humor but he never knew when I was kidding him and I sent him into screaming rages a few times and I never told him I was joking with him.
  I always respected him and I could understand what made him the person he was but he could still drive me crazy.
  I was sent back a couple of times to work at TLH after he fired me.  The hospital that I was working for then had taken over TLH.  I also exchanged a couple of emails with him.
  When I meet up with him one day it will be fun to tell him all of the times that I was joking with him and that he did not know it.  We will have some laughs with each other.
  I hope if he did not find who he was looking for before his death I hope that now he has found them in heaven. 

Kim Jong-il dead

     “Kim Jong-il, also written as Kim Jong Il, birth name Yuri Irsenovich Kim (according to Soviet records)^[2][3][4][5] (16 February 1941/2 – 17 December 2011),^[6] was the supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). He was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, the ruling party since 1948, Chairman of the the National Defence Commission of North Korea, and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, the fourth-largest standing army in the world.

In April 2009, North Korea's constitution was amended to refer to him implicitly as the "Supreme Leader".^[7] He was also referred to as the "Dear Leader", "our Father", "the General" and "Generalissimo".^[8] His son Kim Jong-un was promoted to a senior position in the ruling Workers' Party and is heir apparent.^[9] In 2010, he was ranked 31st in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People.^[10] The North Korean government announced his death on 19 December 2011.^[6]…”

Christopher Hitchens dead at 62

“(CNN) -- British-American author and essayist Christopher Hitchens died Thursday from complications of esophageal cancer. He was 62.

Hitchens was known for his wry monthly columns for Vanity Fair magazine.

"There will never be another like Christopher. A man of ferocious intellect, who was as vibrant on the page as he was at the bar," said Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter. "Those who read him felt they knew him, and those who knew him were profoundly fortunate souls."

Hitchens was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1949 and graduated from Oxford University in 1970…”

 

    I was not a fan of Christopher Hitchens.  I have family members and friends that loved him and will feel like he is a saint now.  There is no question that he had a God given ferocious intellect. 
    I just think it was a sin shame that such a great writer used all that great talent to attack Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  
   Christopher Hitchens was violent, irrational and intolerant of religion.  He was, of course, anti-Catholic but then he was born and education in England so it was to be expected.  He went out of  his way to attack the faith of others.  He made his living attacking the faith of people.
   

    
“…In the question and answer session following a speech Hitchens gave to the Commonwealth Club of California on 9 July 2009, one audience member asked what was Hitchens' favorite whisky. Hitchens replied that "the best blended scotch in the history of the world" is Johnnie Walker Black Label. He also playfully indicated that it was the favorite whisky of, among others, the Iraqi Baath Party, the Palestinian Authority, the Libyan dictatorship, and "large branches of the Saudi Arabian Royal Family". He concluded his answer by calling it the "breakfast of champions" and exhorted the audience to "accept no substitute"…[154]”   Wikipedia

Harry Morgan 04/10/1915 - 12/07/2011

  “Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsberg,^[1][2][3] sometimes written as Harry Bratsburg^[4]; April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor. He was widely known for his roles as Pete Porter in both December Bride (1954–1959) and Pete and Gladys (1960–1962), Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet (1967–1970), Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey (1972–1974), and Colonel Sherman T. Potter in M*A*S*H (1975–1983) and AfterMASH (1983-1984). Additionally, Morgan appeared in more than 100 films…”

Smokin’ Joe Frazier RIP

“(CNN) -- Former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier died Monday, after he was diagnosed with liver cancer, his family said in a statement.

Frazier was 67.

"We The Family of ... Smokin' Joe Frazier, regret to inform you of his passing," the statement said. "He transitioned from this life as 'One of God's Men,' on the eve of November 7, 2011 at his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."

He fought fellow boxing legend Muhammad Ali three times, including the famous "Thrilla in Manila" fight in 1975.

"He's a true gentleman," personal and business manager Leslie Wolff said Saturday when confirming Frazier's illness. "Along with Muhammad Ali, (he is) one of the two most recognizable athletes in the world."

Fans and well-wishers were encouraged to post their thoughts and prayers on a Facebook page at joefrazierscorner.com…”

 

  I was never a fan of boxing but I did see some of his fights.  He was on hell of a boxer. 

RIP: Andy Rooney

“Andrew Aitken "Andy" Rooney (January 14, 1919-November 5, 2011) is an American radio and television writer. He is most notable for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney", a part of the CBS News program 60 Minutesfrom 1978 to 2011. His final regular appearance on 60 Minutes aired October 2, 2011…

 

Family life

His wife, Marguerite "Margie" Rooney (née Howard), died in 2004 of heart failure, after 62 years of marriage. Rooney later wrote, "her name does not appear as often as it originally did [in my essays] because it hurts too much to write it."^[34] He has four children, including a daughter, Emily Rooney, who is a TV talk show host and former ABC News producer; she currently hosts a nightly Boston-area public affairs program, Greater Boston, on WGBH. Emily's identical twin, Martha, is Chief of the Public Services Division at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. The third daughter, Ellen, is a photographer based in London. His son, Brian Rooney, has been a correspondent for ABC since the 1980s. Rooney was hospitalized on October 25, 2011 for developing postoperative complications. As of October 26, the 92-year-old Rooney was listed as in stable condition.^[35]

Rooney currently lives in the Rowayton section of Norwalk, Connecticut^[36] and in Rensselaerville, New York,^[37] and is a longtime season ticket holder for the New York Giants.^[38]…”

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, has died!

  CNN web site just reported that Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, has died at age 56.  He had a number of health problems.  It has been reported that he had pancreatic cancer.

 

“Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011^[6]) was an American entrepreneur and inventor. He was co-founder,^[7] chairman, and former chief executive officer of Apple Inc.^[8][9] Jobs also previously served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. He was credited in Toy Story (1995) as an executive producer.^[10]

In the late 1970s, Jobs, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Mike Markkula,^[7] and others, designed, developed, and marketed one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series. In the early 1980s, Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of Xerox PARC's mouse-driven graphical user interface, which led to the creation of theMacintosh.^[11][12] After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985,^[13][14] Jobs resigned from Apple and foundedNeXT, a computer platform development company specializing in the higher-education and business markets. Apple's subsequent 1996 buyout of NeXT brought Jobs back to the company he co-founded, and he served as its CEO from 1997 until 2011. In 1986, he acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd which was spun off as Pixar Animation Studios.^[15] He remained CEO and majority shareholder at 50.1% until its acquisition by The Walt Disney company in 2006.^[16] Consequently Jobs became Disney's largest individual shareholder at 7% and a member of Disney's Board of Directors.^{[17][18][19][20]}

His aim to develop products that are both functional and elegant has earned him a devoted following.^[21]

On August 24, 2011, Jobs announced his resignation from his role as Apple's CEO. In his letter of resignation, Jobs strongly recommended that the Apple executive succession plan be followed and Tim Cook be named as his successor. Per his request, Jobs was appointed chairman of Apple's board of directors.^{[22][23][24][25]}

On October 5, 2011 Apple announced that Steve Jobs had died at the age of 56. ^[26]…”

‘Electron Boy’ Erik Martin dies

  The world has  lost a super hero with the death of Erik Martin.

 

“Credit: Make-A-Wish Foundation

As Electron Boy, 13-year-old Erik Martin of Bellevue grabs his "lightning rod" and prepares to do battle with the evil Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy on Thursday, April 29, 2010.”

 

“SEATTLE -- A Bellevue boy who got his wish last year when he was turned into a superhero for a day has lost his battle with cancer and other health problems.

Erik Martin died Friday morning at Seattle Children’s hospital, The Seattle Times reports. He was 14.

In April 2010, the Make-a-Wish foundation granted Erik’s wish by making him a superhero. As Electron Boy, Erik was escorted by police in his superhero DeLorean back and forth across Lake Washington, saving civilians and battling the bad guys.

The Seattle Sounders FC, Puget Sound Energy and "Deadliest Catch" stars Edgar Hansen and Jake Anderson got involved.

The story went viral and made Erik an instant celebrity. A Fans of Electron Boy fan page on Facebook has more than 11,000 fans.”

 

“Uploaded by MakeAWishFoundation on May 17, 2010

Erik, 13, wished to be a superhero. When a dark cloud descended upon Western Washington on April 29, he sprang into action as Electron Boy. Electron Boy spent the day using his powers of good to defeat the evil mayhem created by Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy. More than 350 people from the community helped the Make-A-Wish Foundation® make Erik's wish come true. Thank you, Electron Boy!”