Honoring Arthur Moniz

"I try to convey a feeling of quiet and calm in a world of noise and fast pace: a peacefulness that comes from being alone but not lonely. I like the structures which seem to stand with dignity, the test of time, the textures of old wood, the bark of trees, rocks and such."

Mr. Moniz was born in 1945 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He attended school in New Bedford and then went on to Massachusetts College of Art and the Museum School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. His paintings depict a wide range of interests, from Florida to Japan and of course the New England area, where he still lives with his wife and business partner, Cheryl. His other passions are his two children and four grandchildren.

His style of painting is a combination of graphite drawing with transparent watercolor washes over the highly detailed renderings. This style of "graphite and watercolor" has evolved over the years and creates images which are soft and subtle yet show remarkable details and textures. He also works in oils and pen and ink to create works of art with the same attention to the fine details and textures of the subjects.

He was a brilliant artist and a humble man who was loved and admired by many. He will be greatly missed.

Honoring Lonn Taylor

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Lonn Taylor, a Smithsonian Institution historian who was an authority on “The Star- Spangled Banner” — both the national anthem and the flag that inspired it — and later became known as a colorful storyteller about life in Texas, died June 26 at his home in Fort Davis, Tex. He was 79.

He had complications from diabetes, his wife, Dedie Taylor, said.
Mr. Taylor, whose academic expertise ranged from Southwestern furniture to Asian culture to vexillology (the study of flags), began his museum career in Texas and came to Washington in 1984 as a historian and director of public programs for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Garrulous, given to laughter and often dressed in a bow tie, Mr. Taylor was a lively presence during his 18 years at the museum on the Mall. He had a major role in

preparing several of the history museum’s permanent exhibits, including “Within These Walls,” which opened in 2001.

The exhibit examines 200 years of the nation’s history through the prism of an 18th- century house from Ipswich, Mass., and the people who lived in it: British colonial subjects, anti-slavery activists, Irish immigrants and transplanted Kansans.
“An exhibit is actually a manipulation of concept, artifacts, labels and design elements into sequential visual elements,” Mr. Taylor told the Victoria Advocate, a Texas newspaper, in 2006. “Developing the concept is the hardest part. You have to boil your story down to basics.”

One of Mr. Taylor’s most renowned projects involved the U.S. flag that flew at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry after a battle in the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key, a Washington lawyer, was aboard a British ship during the battle, attempting to negotiate the release of a prisoner.

By the dawn’s early light on Sept. 14, 1814, Key saw the 30-by-42-foot flag waving triumphantly and began to write the words of what he eventually named “The Star- Spangled Banner.” When the Smithsonian was given the flag in 1907, its size had been trimmed to about 30-by-34 feet by souvenir hunters. One of its 15 stars had been cut out.

Mr. Taylor did much of the primary research on the history of the flag, which was sewn by Mary Pickersgill of Baltimore, and on Key’s composition of what became the national anthem. He published a book about the flag in 2000 and delivered a lecture, which he called “Stalking ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’: An Adventure in Research.”

For years, the Fort McHenry flag greeted visitors near the entrance of the Museum of American History, but it grew increasingly faded and fragile with time. After an eight- year preservation effort, the flag was put back on display in 2008 in a climate-controlled chamber with low lighting and interactive screens.

Although he was long retired from the museum, Mr. Taylor appeared on “The Colbert Report” in 2014 on the 200th anniversary of the Fort McHenry battle. Just in case host Stephen Colbert asked, Mr. Taylor memorized all four verses of Key’s “The Star- Spangled Banner.”

Lonn Wood Taylor was born Jan. 22, 1940, in Spartanburg, S.C., where his father was working as a highway engineer. (“If I had been born in Texas,” Mr. Taylor told the Lone Star Literary Life website in 2018, “I would be a fifth-generation Texan.”)

He moved in 1946 with his parents and a grandmother to the Philippines, where his father found work. After nine years, the family returned to the United States, and Mr. Taylor completed high school in Fort Worth.

He graduated in 1961 from Texas Christian University and entered a graduate program in Southeast Asian studies at New York University. After a year, he moved to Austin,

renting a garage apartment next to a group of musicians, including singer Janis Joplin, with whom he became friends.

Mr. Taylor abandoned his academic studies, dabbled in journalism and wrote speeches for politicians. He made a failed attempt at running a pecan orchard.

He finally found his niche when he helped prepare exhibits for HemisFair, a world’s fair held in 1968 in San Antonio. Two years later, he became director of the Winedale Historical Complex, a group of historical buildings affiliated with the University of Texas. He later became a curator at the Dallas Historical Society and, from 1980 to 1984, was deputy director of the Museum of New Mexico. He published books on historic furniture of Texas and New Mexico and was the guest curator of a 1983 exhibit at the Library of Congress about the American cowboy.

His marriages to Mary Lou Mueller and Diane Greene ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife of 31 years, the former Edith “Dedie” Uunila, a longtime editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education, of Fort Davis.

After he retired from the Smithsonian in 2002, Mr. Taylor moved with his wife and 14,000 pounds of books to Fort Davis, about 20 miles from the artsy West Texas town of Marfa. He began to write a weekly column, “Rambling Boy,” about Texas history, writers and humor, published since 2003 in the Big Bend Sentinel.

He developed a wider following by reading his columns on Marfa’s public radio station, KRTS, delivering them in a scratchy tenor drawl.

“Lonn was, clearly and indisputably, the best storyteller Texas had,” writer Joe Nick Patoski said in an interview. “The power of storytelling came very naturally to him.”
Mr. Taylor collected many of his columns in books, including “Texas, My Texas,” “Turning the Pages of Texas” and “Marfa for the Perplexed” — a title chosen because of tourists who “came to Marfa because they read about it in the New York Times, and now that they are there they can’t figure out what the town is all about.”

Shortly before his death, Mr. Taylor completed a memoir about his childhood in the Philippines.

“I have spent countless hours listening to oddballs tell me their stories in bars, cafes, bus stations, and on the porches of country stores,” Mr. Taylor wrote in the introduction to his 2014 book, “Texas People, Texas Places,” “and for the most part they have been rewarding hours.”

Honoring Bill Frasor

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Bill was born in Spring Valley, IL, to William "the Buzzard" and Mary "Grandma Sam" Frasor. He was the oldest of seven children. 

Bill went on to have three of his own children - Brian, Charlie and Megan. 

Bill’s professional life saw him enjoy a stint with Lockheed-Martin, before establishing a successful career with the American Trucking Association. During his tenure at ATA, he consistently set and broke nearly all annual sales records. Bill was an Army Veteran, having served honorably in the Vietnam War for the 3rd Infantry, and achieved the rank of 1st lieutenant. Bill was also hand-selected to serve in the “Old Guard” and was stationed at Arlington National Cemetery. He was a member of the American Legion and VFW and enjoyed reading, camping, hunting, horseback riding, golf, and spending time with his family and friends.

Honoring Linda Russin

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On April 17, 2019, Linda Kay Hamlin Russin, loving and dedicated member of the Key West community, passed away unexpectedly from natural causes.

Linda was born on Dec. 23, 1949, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, to Robert and Bernis (Bivins) Hamlin. She received her English/Journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1968. Linda taught English, journalism and cheerleading at Westminster Christian School in Miami, and was a trade journal editor before becoming the Public Relations Director at Victoria Hospital in Miami. She then became the Public Relations Director at Memorial Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, where she met her husband, Dr. John Russin. John and Linda married in December 1987 and raised their daughter, Alissa, who is a mechanical engineer in Boston.

John and Linda acquired Key West’s WIIS-FM Island Radio in 1995, and Linda began working at the station full-time in 2008. Linda was the owner, operator, station manager, sales representative, DJ, community outreach coordinator, news director, programmer, weatherman, maintenance manager and cleaning crew for Island 106.9 and one of her greatest thrills was when she went to a business and heard that they were playing her radio station for customers.

Linda was currently serving as secretary of The Rotary Club of Key West and was slated to become president for the 2020-2021 Rotary year. Serving her Key West community through Rotary since 2005 was one of Linda’s greatest passions and she dearly loved the Rotary family she had joined.

Linda was interested in history and genealogy and was a standing member of the Cherokee Nation. She loved Southern-style cooking, Oklahoma Sooners football, exercising, reading mystery books, keeping in touch with friends through social media, and helping anyone in need.

Always up for an exciting adventure, Linda went skydiving with the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights, made a tailhook landing on aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, flew in the U.S. Navy Blue Angels C-130 “Fat Albert” and went to Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island.

Linda was preceded in death by her father, Robert, her mother, Bernis, and her brother Steve. She is survived by husband John, daughter Alissa, brother John (Margaret), sister Jane (Nick) and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. Linda will be laid to rest next to her parents at the Ramona Cemetary near her beloved hometown of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on Monday, April 29.

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Honoring Hetty Speelziek

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In honour of my beautiful Mother whom passed away September 10th, 2012.

Immigrated from the Netherlands to Canada, after WW2 with her parents and 3 siblings. Met and married my Dad in 1960, and had four children, Brenda, James, Debby and Edward.

My Mother was a feisty, strong-willed Dutch girl whom instilled the same in her children. My Mother fought thru Alzheimer’s for almost six years.

I miss her terribly, as does our family. Love you Mommy, till we meet again. 💔

Honoring Loretta Detmer Tulacz

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Loretta Detmer Tulacz, a first generation Polish American, was born in 1921 and unlike the expectations for women of her day, Loretta embraced adventure. At age 21 she enlisted into the Women’s Army Corps during WWII, left her hometown of Poughkeepsie, NY, and traveled to Florida for basic training. Upon completion she boarded a Navy transport ship and sailed to Italy where she served with the 40th WAAC HQ and the 1847th WAC, reaching the rank of Technical Sergeant. She was stationed throughout Morocco, Italy, and Egypt, working as a stenographer, chaplain’s assistant, and chief clerk.

She became a jeep driver for a General officer and was promoted to classified courier for the American Embassy in Cairo. Loretta told numerous stories of her many exciting experiences overseas including being in active combat zones, living in bombed out buildings, and traveling with top secret documents handcuffed to her wrist. She was highly decorated and has her name included at the Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C.

After the war she worked for IBM, got married, and had two children. She remained active through involvement with extended family and organizations such as the local bowling association, the Catholic Church, the American Legion, and the VFW.

Her hobbies included roller skating and she often competed in figure-skating and couples skate- dancing. She was an accomplished seamstress, making her own clothes and skating costumes.

Loretta and her husband Ed moved to Florida in 1979 and enjoyed an active retirement. Loretta loved to oil paint and regularly sold and donated her artwork. Having loved the warm Florida weather, she took up cycling and accumulated over 12,000 miles on her bicycle. She had a full long life passing away gracefully at the age of 95.

Honoring David Alan Graves, Jr. aka "Big Daddy"

David Alan, aka Big Daddy, loved life. He lost his life to a heart attack at the age of 34. He loved his 2 boys, Michael and Wesley, most. He would do anything for anyone. He loved to drive his race car and he loved to drive his semi trucks. He will forever and ever be loved and missed by all. He is now in heaven with his daddy and Dale Earnhardt whom he loved as well.

Honoring Raymond and Cecilia Rath

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Married for 71 years, Ray and Ceci had a fulfilling and adventurous life together. After 20 years in the Air Force and raising 6 great kids while living in MN :-), they set out on a 6 year sailing odyssey which took them half way around the world. Upon returning to dry land and becoming landlubbers once again, they took up residence in northern MN on 1200 acres of prime forest and farm land. Ray spent the next 30 (or so years) indulging in his second love of gardening, while Ceci spent her time preserving the fruits (and vegetables!) of his labors. Ray and Ceci (94 & 93 respectively) are missed very much by their 6 children, 10 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.