Obituaries for the week of August 1, 2024

Lt. Col. Donald W. James

Lt. Col. Donald W. James (USMC Ret.) died on July 22, 2024, after a brief illness. Don was born on July 29, 1940, in Chattanooga, TN. He was brought up on Lookout Mountain, TN. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1957 and over the next 28 years earned his way through the enlisted and officer ranks, ending his career with a Pentagon posting, giving briefings for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was deployed in Morocco, Viet Nam (42 combat months) and Central America. He retired from his beloved Corps in 1985. During his time in the Corps, Don served as an intelligence officer for many years, then as a tactical intelligence officer. He attended language school (Monterey, CA), where he learned to speak French and Vietnamese. He spent 38 weeks in a postgraduate intelligence course in 1974. He earned many citations during his service, including Bronze Star with Combat, Legion of Merit and multiple Purple Heart citations. One of his favorite memories of intelligence service was as a defense briefer during the Carter Administration. Another favorite memory was his invitation to President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in Washington, DC, in 1981.

After retirement from the Corps, he worked for BAE Systems, a Department of Defense contractor, until retirement in 2005.
He married Lynne Murphy in Alexandria, VA, in 1986. They lived in Annandale, VA, until 2014. They bought a small house in Sun City Center in 2004 as a vacation home and moved permanently to Sun City Center in 2014.

Don was active in the SCC community as commander of the Leathernecks Club, a group of Marines who live in SCC. Don worked with Walt Cawein and the group who designed and dedicated themselves to our gorgeous Veterans Monument on the south campus. Don enjoyed his work on the committee, which planned the community’s yearly military ball, including the cake cutting ceremony in honor of the Marine Corps Birthday, a yearly tradition among all Marines.

Don and Lynne enjoyed travel with frequent trips to France to tour the vineyards in both Bordeaux and Burgundy and the wonderful restaurants in Paris and Lyon.

Don is survived by his wife, Lynne Murphy, of Sun City Center; two nieces, Suzy James, of Ft. Pierce, FL, and Merle James of Richmond, VA; several in-laws, including Nancy and Danny Sheehan, of Salisbury, MA, and Martha Ouellette of Nashua, NH. He is also survived by many friends from his years in the Marine Corps, Washington, DC, and here in Sun City Center.

Leifur G. Petursson

Leifur G. “Pete” Petursson, of Sun City Center, Florida, and, formerly, Northern Virginia, passed away on Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Catlett, Virginia, surrounded by his loving family and his two beloved dogs.

Leifur was born March 21, 1934, in Copenhagen, Denmark, as Leifur G. Haslund. He and his younger siblings moved to Iceland in 1947 where his last name was changed to Petursson due to Icelandic name laws that still exist today. It is in Iceland where he would meet his future wife, Elsa. Married in 1960, Leif and Elsa immigrated to New York in 1961. Leifur moved to Virginia in 1973, buying a house in Arlington, VA, and raised his family with Elsa.

A man of many talents, he had worked as a machinist, bus driver, mechanic, business owner, big rig driving instructor; taught diesel mechanics; and was a shop foreman for many years. In his private life, he loved his remote-control airplanes, motorcycles, music, karaoke, playing the organ and, of course, RV’s, which became his great passion for many years. In retirement, he traveled the US and Canada, making friends at every stop.

After a few years as a snowbird, spending winters in Florida and the rest of the year in Northern Virginia, Leif and Elsa found their retirement paradise in Sun City Center in 2010. As the unofficial mayor of the neighborhood golf course/dog park, Leif knew everyone and their dogs; they gathered every afternoon to let their dogs play. He started going to the gym in his 70s and was a fixture at Monday night Bingo. He retired as a captain of the Sun City Center Security Patrol. Retiring to this community was one of the best decisions he ever made, he liked to say.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Elsa; son, Peter; daughter, Christine; daughter-in-law, Barbara; grandsons, Robert and Erik; granddaughters, Samantha and Rachel; his extended family in Iceland and Sweden; and his enormous circle of friends around the world.

Leif will be remembered at a Celebration of Life on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Catlett, Virginia. A funeral service and burial will be held on Aug. 16, 2024, at Kopavogur Church and Solland Cemetery in Reykavik, Iceland.

Susan J. Stanis

Susan J. Stanis, 81, peacefully died on July 9, 2024, as she wanted, at home. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 18, 1942. The family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where she graduated from Thomas Carr Howe High School. She went to Indiana University, where she met and married Joseph Smith. After a short stay in Van Nuys, California, they lived in Gary, Indiana. Susan graduated from Indiana University with a B.A. in psychology. She accomplished this, on the Deans List, while being a social worker and raising two sons and two stepsons. They relocated to Traverse City and Port Huron, Michigan.
Susan and her sons moved back to Indianapolis where she worked for Pyromet Silver Refinery. There she met her love, Robert Stanis, and they married in 1975. She then worked for the State of Indiana as director of Child Welfare/Social Services and social policy adviser to the mayor of Indianapolis. She had a strong commitment to child welfare. When she was in Gary, she helped initiate the One Church One Child program for adoption sponsorship.

In Indianapolis, Susan retired and enjoyed gardening, needlework and bread making – to the delight of her friends. Over her lifetime she hosted many feasts. They moved to El Cajon, California, – just East of San Diego. Susan then found a new passion, stained glass. In 2002 she became a sunbird migrating between Sun City Center and El Cajon. When Rob retired, they moved permanently to Sun City Center where she was active in the Sun City Center Stained Glass Club. Her homes and those of her relatives are adorned with her beautiful creations. Susan and Rob liked vacationing in Curacao and taking holiday weekend treks to Las Vegas. Sadly, Rob died shortly after retiring. Susan travelled to Portugal and Spain and Russia and Lithuania with her sister, mom and step-dad.

Susan was a dynamic woman. Health issues shrank her capabilities, and she was ready to leave this life. She was preceded in death by her father, Earl Hannemann; step-father, Lennart Sholund; mother, Elsie Sholund; brothers, Steven and Robert Hannemann; husband, Robert Stanis; and beloved pet dogs. She is survived by sons, David Smith, Ithaca, New York, and George Smith (Pam), Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; grandson, Steven Smith (Liz), Indianapolis, Indiana; sister, Kathy Bizzano, Sun City Center; and nephew, Jeremy Bizzano, Sun City Center.

The family wishes to thank the staffs of Brandon Regional Hospital, Southshore Hospital, Wellmed, Origin, Plaza West, Palm Garden, Visiting Angels and Lifepath Hospice. If you wish to make a donation in her memory in lieu of flowers, please donate to Feeding Tampa Bay, 4702 Transport Drive, Bldg. #6, Tampa, FL 33605-5940, or the Sun City Center Emergency Squad (who helped her many times), 720 Ray Watson Drive, Sun City Center, FL. The family will have a small, private ceremony.
Arrangements by Zipperer’s Funeral Home

Sunny Hobbs

Sunny, 64, passed away on June 25. She now has her angel wings and is reunited with her parents, Frank and JoAnn, and her sister, Cheryl. She is survived by her sister, Linda, and her husband, Charlie; nieces and nephew, Sherry, and her husband, Tito, Daniel, and Nicole, and her husband, Rob; great niece and nephews, Gabriel, Dominic and Sophia.

Sunny served five proud years in the air force, being stationed in New Jersey and Guam. Sunny was known for her love of cats; she rescued many over the years. The cats she rescued received the love we know Sunny had in abundance. Of all the things she did in her life, when asked, she was always the most proud of her family.

There will be a celebration of life on Aug. 6 at 11:30 a.m. at the Eberhardt Room in Sun City Center, Florida.
In lieu of flowers, donations to The Trevor Project (thetrevorproject.org) or Sunny’s church, All Paths to God (allpathstogod.com), are appreciated.

David B. Jenks

David Bruce Jenks died peacefully at the age of 82 on July 24, 2024, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, FL, after a short illness. David retired from Lockheed Martin in 2003 after a 21-year career as a quality control specialist in the aerospace industry. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Johanna.

He was born in Dalton, MA, and lived in Dalton and Windsor, MA, through high school, graduating from Dalton High School. He enlisted in the Army and was stationed in a U.S. Army helicopter facility at Bad Kreuznach, Germany, as a helicopter maintenance technician. David loved music and became a skilled guitarist, playing professionally after hours in a band while serving in the army in Germany.

Upon his honorable discharge from the army, he was employed as a tool maker at General Electric in Pittsfield, MA. He left GE to join Lockheed in Orlando, FL. While working as a quality control specialist there, he went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida Southern College.

Dale Meier

Dale passed away peacefully on May 28, 2024, at the age of 85. He was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia, whom he was married to for 60 years.

Dale was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and after serving in the US Army, he and Patricia lived in California, Arizona and, finally, Sun City Center. Dale loved hiking and bicycling. He played on both softball and bowling teams.

He is survived by his brother, John (Marilyn); his sister, Sue; and several nieces and nephews. There will be a service with military honors on Aug. 6, 2024, at 11 a.m. at the Sarasota National Cemetery.

Obituaries for the week of August 1, 2024 – The Observer News (2024)