Stories from Friday, January 4, 2019

VAN BUREN, Mo. - Gary Vernon Freeze, 78, died January 3, 2019 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Visitation will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 5 at the McSpadden Funeral Home in Van Buren. The funeral will follow at 1 p.m. in the funeral home chapel with Rev. Scott Reynolds and Bill Orr officiating. Burial will be in the Van Buren City Cemetery...

Donald Wayne Watson, 73, of Poplar Bluff, passed away on January 3, 2019 at his residence. He was born on August 12, 1945 to Christopher and Francis (Earnhart) Watson at Paragould, Arkansas. He was retired from General Motors after 31 years. On August 12, 1964 he married Brenda Zook at East Prairie Mo...

Gayle ‘Edward’ Garrett, 71, of Poplar Bluff, Mo., died Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. He was born on Dec. 4, 1947 in Poplar Bluff to the late Glen and Helen Nichols Garrett. Mr. Garrett was U.S. Marine having served during the Vietnam War. He retired as a crew car driver for the railroad and loved hunting, collecting guns and watching sports on TV...

Tony Hawkins, 62, of Poplar Bluff, passed away on Monday, December 31, 2018 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. He was born on October 2, 1956 in Poplar Bluff and adopted by Clifton and Elsie (Schenewerk) Hawkins as an infant. He graduated from Poplar Bluff High School in 1974 and later enlisted in the United States Army and served in Germany...

DEXTER, Mo. - Charles Lee Brigman, 61, formerly of Bloomfield, Mo., died Dec. 30, 2018 at the Marian Cliff Manor in St. Mary, Mo. Visitation will be after 11 a.m., Monday Jan. 7, until time for services at 1 p.m. at the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Dexter...

Angela Kay Ruark, 51, of Fort Worth, Texas, died Wednesday, January 2, 2019 at the Cardiac Center at Harris, in Fort Worth. Angela was born May 22, 1967. She was a member of Gateway Church in Fort Worth, TX. She enjoyed spending time with family, arts and crafts, as well as games...

City firefighters responded at 11:09 p.m. Thursday to a report of a structure fire at the 2564 Roxie Road residence owned by Angela Towner. According to the report, firefighters were told en route that it was a flue fire. Upon their arrival, firefighters found the homeowners had remove the wood from the wood stove...

The first walls of the courthouse that sits in the heart of Van Buren were erected when Carter County was still in its infancy. The wood was cut and hand-planed nearly 150 years ago by the residents who would one day register their marriages there, the births of their children and the homes that would shelter their families...