The Press-Dispatch

A-6 Wednesday, March 24, 2021 The Press-Dispatch OBITUARIES Submit obituaries: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: obits@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Deadline: 5 p.m. on Monday Social Security Matters By Rusty Gloor Claiming Social Security now to preserve savings e family of Arbutus "Jean" Higdon would like to thank you for the love, calls, prayers, cards, flow- ers, meals and help during our mom's illness. I know she could feel the love. Special thanks to Deaconess Chancel- lor Center, Dr. Ko- dali and Dr. Taylor, and your wonderful staff. Also to Com- monwealth Pain Clinic, especially Melody Mar- tin and her staff. To the Heart to Heart Hospice, Lori Crews, Rhonda Robling, Cindy Lagle and anyone from your staff that helped me care for mom. Harris Funeral Home, Nick Henson and all your staff made mom's service very nice. Special thank you to Kathie Grubb for doing mom's hair so nice and Barbara Huffman for the suit. You all made mom look like she used to, beautiful. And to Cindy Lagle for doing mom's service. We really appreciate what you did for our mom, before and aer her passing. As hard as it was to lose her, I know she is not in pain anymore and is with Jesus, singing with the angels. Brenda and Melton Stilwell and family Roger and Kim Higdon and family Charlie Higdon and Mary Thrasher Jerry Higdon Arbutus "Jean" Higdon 1941-2021 PEACE of MIND Let our 130 years of experience aid you in your selection of a meaningful memorial. SCHUM MONUMENTS, INC. Dale, Indiana www.SchumMonuments.com 812-937-4921 Local Representative RONALD WOODS 812-789-2009 DAVID MICHAEL CAPEHART David Michael Capehart, 49, went home to be with the Lord on the evening of March 16, 2021. He had battled stage 4 colon cancer for the past two years and gave it everything he had. His fight with cancer was not the only area in which he gave his all. When it came to helping family and friends, or in any of the various jobs he has held over the years, he tru- ly did everything possible. His heart for people was shown in his dedication to his commu- nity throughout the years. He was a peer tutor in high school and worked closely with the special needs students, served with the Red Cross, worked as an EMT, volunteered for the Jefferson Township Fire De- partment, was a reserve offi- cer for the Petersburg City Po- lice, a 911 Dispatcher, a depu- ty coroner for Pike County, in- vestigator for the Pike County Prosecutor's Office, and most recently, the 911 director for Pike County. Along with these jobs, he has also worked as a laborer in construction and at OFS Brands in Huntingburg. His quality of being involved in many aspects of the commu- nity made him an asset and he became known as "The Best Dave Ever" by his wife and many others with which he worked. Along with his family, he also loved collecting Hot Wheels, reading (especial- ly Stephen King and Dean Koontz), golf, football, fish- ing, 4-wheelers, poker, sudo- ku puzzles, and just general- ly spending time with friends and family. He was saved on October 14, 2009, at First Bap- tist Church in Petersburg and attended Bible Baptist Church in Otwell. He is truly a mem- ber of the community who will be missed by many. He is survived by his par- ents, Michael and Mary Cape- hart; his wife, Leah Capehart; his children, Leanne (Shawn) Lee, Ivy and Canton; sister, Christine Robinson; broth- er, Wesley Capehart; Melis- sa, Kassandra and other rela- tives that live in the Ft. Wayne area; and many other uncles, aunts, cousins, and nieces and nephews, all of whom he loved dearly. He was preceded in death by a brother, Dean Capehart; Mamaw Doris Capehart and Papaw Ivan Capehart; Granny Martha Wilkins and Grandpa Henry Wilkins; and his moth- er-in-law, Brenda Cummings. Funeral services were at 1 p.m. EDT on Saturday, March 20, 2021, at O.D. Harris Funer- al Home, with Pastor Scott Fulcher officiating. Burial fol- lowed at Iva Public Cemetery. Visitation was from 2-8 p.m. on Friday and from 9 a.m. un- til service time on Saturday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Dave and Leah Capehart Family Financial Fund at Go- FundMe.com. Online condolences may be made and the link to Dave's memorial fund is at odharris- funeralhome.com. O.D. Har- ris Funeral Home is honored to serve our friend, Dave, and the Capehart family. DANIEL R. BREWER Daniel R. Brewer, 59, of Winslow, entered rest on March 11, 2021, at his home. He was born on June 11, 1961, in Oakland City, to Don- ald and Vivory (Brittingham) Brewer. He was a member of Car- penters Union and Oakland City Eagles, where he has served as vice-president. He is survived by a daugh- ter, Mallory Ann Snyder, of Evansville; his parents, Don- ald and Vivory (Britingham) Brewer, of Oakland City; and his sister, Donna Vieke, of Haubstadt. Private family graveside services were on Sunday, March 21, 2021, at Blackfoot Cemetery near Coe. Lamb-Basham Memorial Chapel is honored to assist Daniel's family. Family and friends may send messages of comfort to www.lambbasham.com. DARREL B. MCDOWELL Darrel B. McDowell, 66, of Patoka, passed away on Sun- day, March 21, 2021, at Dea- coness Midtown Hospital in Evansville. He was born on January 9, 1955, in Evansville to Robert and Alice (Purcell) McDowell. He was a truck driver and had worked for Snap On Tools, as well as owning his own business. He enjoyed spend- ing time with his family, and fishing and hunting, especial- ly deer and rabbit. He is survived by his mother, Alice McDowell, of Fort Branch; children, Nick (Misty) McDowell, of Peters- burg, and Courtney ( Josh) Mason, of Pike County; three grandchildren; brother, Don- nie (Deb) McDowell, of Hous- ton, Texas; two nieces; and two nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, Robert "Bob" McDowell; and brother, Den- nis McDowell. A graveside service will be at noon on Friday, March 26, 2021, at Centenary Cemetery in Evansville. Burial will fol- low. Military Honors will be performed by Retired Mili- tary Veterans. Visitation will be from 10 - 11 a.m. on Friday at Colvin Fu- neral Home in Princeton. Memorial contributions may be given to the Retired Military Veterans, 7291 S. SR 65, Owensville, IN 47665. You may light a candle in memory of Darrel or leave a message of sympathy to the family at www.colvinfuner- alhome.com. Colvin Funeral Home is honored to serve the McDowell family. MICHAEL R. MEHRINGER Michael R. Mehringer, 61, of Milwaukee, Wisc., formerly of Ireland, Ind., passed away at 4:08 p.m. on Saturday, March 13, 2021, in Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisc. He was born in Jasper on February 15, 1960, to Rich- ard and Helen (Heeke) Meh- ringer. He was a 1978 graduate of Pike Central High School. He then earned his bachelor's de- gree from Purdue University and his master's degree from Benedictine University. He loved farm life and spent his career in the farming in- dustry and working in agri- cultural equipment. This al- lowed him to live in and expe- rience many parts of the coun- try and foreign travel. He was a very intelligent individual and valued his close friends and family. He loved watch- ing all sports and was an avid fan of the Purdue Boilermak- ers, St. Louis Cardinals, Indi- anapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers. He also enjoyed hunt- ing and fishing. He is survived by one sister, Lynn Mehringer, of Ireland. Preceding him in death are his parents, Richard and Hel- en Mehringer. A Mass of Christian Burial was at noon on Friday, March 19, 2021, in St. Mary's Cath- olic Church in Ireland, with burial to follow in the church cemetery. A visitation was from 10 a.m. until service time on Fri- day at the church. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Mary's Catholic Church or to a favor- ite charity. Online condolenc- es may be made at www.be- cherkluesner.com. R ANDALL MCCLELLAN Randall McClellan, 61, of Vincennes, formerly of Peters- burg, passed away on Friday, March 19, 2021, at Good Sa- maritan Hospital. He was born on February 2, 1960, in Washington, to Mil- lie (Grove) Ellis and Herman Randall McClellan. He loved being a mechanic and work- ing on cars, especially build- ing street cars, and loved spending time with his kids and grandkids. He is survived by his wife, Christi (Norrick) McClellan, who he married December 31, 2010 ; his father, Randall ( Jan- ice) McClellan, of Evansville; son, Dustin McClellan; two daughters, Kristina (Marin- da) McClellan and Brandy Cox, both of Bicknell; broth- er, Shawn (Ashley) McClellan, of Evansville; two sisters, Deb- bie Nail, of Washington, and Cara McClellan, of Evansville; and eight grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his mother and stepfather, Millie and Roger Ellis; and his favorite aunt, Betty Faith. Funeral services will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, 2021, at Ed Lee Mortuary North Chapel in Washington, with Pastor George Faith of- ficiating. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. until service time on Thursday at the chapel. Condolences can be sent to the family online at www.edl- eemortuary.com. All arrange- ments were entrusted to Ed Lee Mortuary. Pregnant... or think you are? Call:1-877-257-1084 or Locally Call: 1-812-354-2814 • Free pregnancy testing • Free counseling and info. on pregnancy options. • Confi dential counseling for women & men who are suff ering from post-abortion syndrome. • Residential Care • Health and assistance referrals. • Training and education. • Assistance in getting baby and maternity clothes washpcc@sbcglobal.net www.washingtonpregnancycenter.com Obituary Deadline Every Monday at 5 p.m. INTRODUCING OUR NEWEST PHYSICIAN Vetta Higgs, MD Oncology / Hematology Vetta Higgs, MD Oncology / Hematology Now accepting new patients! 520 S. Seventh Street Vincennes, IN 47591 812-886-6565 | gshvin.org Dear Rusty: One of the big pieces of the Social Security puzzle that everyone seems to miss is the protection of other retirement funds. If I did not take SS, I would have to dip into my retirement savings to fund the early part of my re- tirement. I took SS at my full retirement age rather than wait, so I am preserving my retirement account that has historically been getting 8 - 9 percent interest over the last 30 years. Social Secu- rity will never give me any- thing close to those returns. Signed: Smart Investor. Dear Smart Investor: You are, of course, correct that preservation of retire- ment savings is important. It's also correct that every- one's personal financial situa- tion is different. If your retire- ment nest egg has historically provided a return of 8 -9 per- cent over the last 30 years and will continue to do so, then I believe you made the right choice by claiming at your full retirement age (FR A) and preserving those high-return investments. But many are not as fortunate as you and have their nest egg sitting in low interest IR As and bank savings accounts, and those folks may have a different per- spective. They may choose an option to delay claiming So- cial Security to get a higher monthly benefit, initially us- ing some of their low-return savings but allowing them to preserve their overall savings much further into their retire- ment because of a higher SS benefit. And most often, con- tinuing to work provides them added ability to delay claiming Social Securi- ty to get that higher benefit. Personally, I do not advo- cate withdraw- ing from retire- ment funds in lieu of claiming Social Security. But I do sug- gest that waiting past FR A to claim a higher benefit may be wiser than claiming earli- er and investing the SS mon- ey, trying to beat the 8 per- cent yearly benefit growth realized by waiting to claim. It's an unfortunate reality that high-return/low-risk invest- ments are very difficult to find these days, and most se- niors are loathed to put their money in high-risk invest- ments to get higher returns. Again, everyone's situa- tion is different, and each must choose based upon their own circumstances. Many who contact us about their Social Security options intend to continue working beyond their full retirement age. Those folks might adopt a strategy where they delay past their FR A to get a higher SS benefit for the rest of their life, made possible because they are still working and earning (rather than with- drawing from investments). If they're in good health and will achieve at least average life expectancy, they will not only enjoy a much high- er monthly bene- fit, but they'll al- so receive more in cumulative lifetime benefits by waiting longer to claim So- cial Security. Finally, often lost in the argu- ment to claim at or after FR A is that, for a married couple, a sur- viving spouse receives 100 percent of the benefit the de- ceased spouse was receiv- ing at death. That surviving spouse benefit will either be a smaller FR A amount or a larg- er (e.g., age 70) amount, de- pending upon when the high- er earning spouse claimed. Point is, if you are married, when you claim may also af- fect your spouse's survivor benefit, so life expectancy of both spouses should al- ways be included in the deci- sion on when to claim. In any case, from what you've writ- ten I believe that your choice to claim at your FR A in or- der to preserve your high-re- turn investments was a pru- dent move for your person- al circumstances. And I ad- mire the careful thought you put into that decision. To submit a question, vis- it our website (amacfounda- tion.org/programs/social-se- curity-advisory) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfounda- tion.org. yeah, it's that fast! net edition Z M www.PressDispatch.net/Subscribe The Press-Dispatch. No matter where you live.

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