The obituaries published daily in the Butler Eagle usually list the accomplishments of those individuals. These hundreds of obituaries,

when taken as a whole, reveal a wide range of Butler County residents who led interesting lives and who accomplished a great deal. Here are snapshots of just some of the people who died in 2007 in the county and the unique contributions they made.———Charles R. Sarver, 79, of Freeport, served in three wars: World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He died Jan. 3.———Butler native John Anthony "Tony" Gregory, 66, of Knoxville, Tenn., died Jan. 2.In the 1960s and 1970s, he was a booking agent for the William Morris Agency and the International Famous Agency and worked closely with Dinah Shore, Pearl Bailey, Jimmy Durante and Milton Berle and signed 1960s music stars the Box Tops and Gary Puckett and the Union Gap.He also as the first investor in "Grease" and was instrumental in getting New York producers to consider taking the show to Broadway.———Francis A. "Ike" Burkett, 84, of Hooker, had been a blacksmith for 36 years. He died Jan. 21.———Elizabeth Binkerd Bailey, 89, of Perry Township, Armstrong County, died Jan. 22. The East Brady High School alumna had to travel to school each day by row boat and then train.———Bernadette Wilson, 80, formerly of Cranberry Township, died Feb. 1. She was the first woman recipient of the St. George Award for Scouting.———Clair J. Steighner Sr., 92, of Herman died Feb. 14. He started Steighner Excavating in 1935; just before the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was hired to build the first runway at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport.———Butler native T. Scott Kennedy, 57, of Shrewsbury Township, N.J., who died Feb. 15, worked on the lunar landing project.———M. Gretchen Schaffner Butler, 89, who was raised in Butler, died Feb. 6. She worked for one president, at least three bishops and a variety of government and community groups. In 1941, while working for the Navy Department, she was one of a select group who transcribed war plans for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.———Joshua Dean Critchlow, 26, of Harrisville died Feb. 28. Although he battled cystic fibrosis his entire life and had undergone a double lung transplant, his involvement with the Harrisville EMS and fire departments was a lifelong passion and he became a firefighter at age 17.———H. Brown Jr., 62, of Butler, died March 2. He was one of the first black Pennsylvania State Troopers.———Olga Ram, 78, of Belmont Road died March 26. She was born in Dhamtari, India, and taught English and geography in India, England and Australia.———Margie L. Hillwig Latshaw, 81, of Bradys Bend Township, Armstrong County, died April 1. A 1943 graduate of East Brady High School, she worked for the LCB from 1955 to 1975 at the East Brady State Store and was the first woman to manage a state store in Pennsylvania.———Dorothy Crawford Sinkevich, 89, of Butler died April 18. During World War II, she worked in Washington, D.C., for the Office of Strategic Services, which became the CIA.——-Wesley C. Pietz, 50, of New York, N.Y., formerly of Saxonburg, died May 7. He was a graduate of the American Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, N.Y., and had been a chef in France and Washington, D.C., before settling in New York City, where he was a chef in many well-known restaurants.——-Butler native John D. Starr, 84, of Quincy, Ill., died May 8. He had worked with antennas and transmitters for several companies, including GE. While with GE, he installed transmitters on top of the Empire State Building and the Sears Tower.——-Dr. Leland Marlowe Read, 87, of Renfrew died May 13. He was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, and had served in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He was a veteran of the Canadian Army in World War II and a surgeon for the Royal Canadian Navy Reserves.———Henry J. "Hank" Borkowski, 81, of West Freedom died May 15. He served several decades as an usher at Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium.———Homer Merle Renick, 84, of West Sunbury died May 19. He owned and operated The Renick's Tree farm, which was established in 1950.———Dolores C. Stehle Evans, 87, of Butler died May 18.After graduating from Butler High School, she studied at the Art Institute in Baltimore and worked in St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Seattle, where she was one of the first female draftsmen for World War II defense contractors. She later was an interior designer for Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann, where she designed the Butler Intermediate High School.———Ernest Charles "Ernie" Bonanni, 69, of Springfield Township, Mercer County, died May 19. At the time, he was the oldest survivor of cystic fibrosis in the United States.———Margarete "Hilde" Ahlbrecht, 82, of Zelienople died June 11. She met her husband, Elmer, in 1947, while he was serving in the U.S Army. However, they were not permitted to marry in the U.S. until 1955, when a German citizen was granted the right to marry an American citizen.———Edward P. Cwenar, 83, of Lancaster Township, died July 13. He was a former minor league baseball coach.———Suzanne Emilienne Godfrin Steele, 84, of Slippery Rock died July 14. Born in Paris, France, she was part of the French Resistance during World War II when she met her husband, Leslie.———Everett A. Filges, 91, of Oakland Township, died July 25. He was well known for the many ponds he built in the county.———Peter J. Curdo, 83, of Rimersburg, formerly of the Karns City, died Aug. 1. After being wounded during World War II, he was hospitalized with Mickey Rooney, while Rooney was being treated for frozen feet.———Steven Joseph Yamnitsky II, 85, died Aug 6. During World War II, he fought with the Army's 98th Signal Battalion in the South Pacific. He helped secured the island in advance of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's historic return and witnessed the general's walk on shore. He also was part of the occupation force that entered Japan after its surrender and witnessed the surrender ceremonies beside the Battleship Missouri.———James L. Wahl, 51, of Butler, formerly of Zelienople, who died Aug. 15, had been a captain and pilot of a tow boat for river barges.———John E. "Ed" Mincer, 95, of Mars died Sept. 20. He was a dowser.———James J. "Jim" Kaufman, 54, of Parker, died Oct. 18. His love of fine woodworking and stringed instruments led him to serve an apprenticeship in violin-making. He returned to Parker and operated his own instrument and antique furniture repair workshop before relocating to Southhampton, N.J., where he continued a singing career while working as the acting manager at an historical multifaceted hardware store in Long Island.———Gary R. Kistner, 66, of Fombell died Oct. 26. The Navy veteran was a captain of a cruise ship in the Caribbean.———Myra "Dorothy" Crozier, 87, died Oct. 31. She married her husband, Richard Joseph Crozier, in Kodiak, Alaska, where they were both missionaries.———J. Marie Dickey, 84, of Slippery Rock Township, died Nov. 16. She and her husband, John Charles "Chuck" Dickey, were married in a Waco cabin plane flying over the family farm in Slippery Rock Township.———Dean A. Risch, 80, of Sarver, died Nov. 19. The retired Sarver postmaster developed the house number address system for Emergency Management of Butler County.———Rhoda L. Montag, 82, of Butler died Dec. 6. She was employed by the U.S. government and was among the last group of U.S. officials airlifted during the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War.———Ruth Maleski, 90, of Butler, died Dec. 8. She built and was the co-owner and operator of the Castle Roller Rink in Butler for 45 years.———Zita M. Worst King, 90, of Middlesex Township died Dec 13. Mrs. King and her family were founding members of Holy Sepulcher Roman Catholic Church in Glade Mills, where she hand-embroidered baptismal cloths for hundreds of infants over the years.———Eleanor Painter Kerven, 91, of Butler died Dec. 19. She worked for the U.S. Government as a special assistant to U.S. Ambassadors in Iceland, Greenland, New Zealand, Greece and Turkey.