Week of Nov 10 2007 - 7:00pm to Nov 17 2007 - 6:59pm

    Paul E. Simmer, 56, of Clear Lake, died Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 at his home.  Funeral services were held Monday, Nov. 5, at Zion Lutheran Church, Clear Lake, with the Rev. Dean Hess officiating along with Robert Orr of Applington, Iowa.  Interment was in the Clear Lake Cemetery. Military honors were provided by the Clear Lake V.F.W.  The family suggests memorials to the Paul E. Simmer Memorial Fund.
    Paul was born April 30, 1951 in Dolliver, Iowa, the son of Donald and Margaret (Rosander) Simmer.  He attended school in Dolliver and Clear Lake, graduating from Clear Lake in 1969.  On May 29, 1974 Paul married Lorraine Scott in Clear Lake.  He worked at numerous jobs.  He served as a Deputy Sheriff for the Geary County (Junction City) Kansas Sheriffs Dept.  He also served as a police officer for the City of Laurens (Iowa) Police Department and the City of Pocahontas (Iowa) Police Department achieving the rank of Captain.  He served as records clerk and the night shift commander.  Paul worked at Econo Foods as dairy/shift manager and then worked for Dean Snyder Construction Company in Clear Lake.  Due to his health he was forced to retire.  Paul battled lymphoma and leukemia for many years.
    Paul enjoyed tinkering in his woodshop know as “Grandpa’s Hobby Hut.”  He was proud of the swinging cradle he made for his first granddaughter.  He enjoyed planting and taking care of his flowers, putting puzzles together and working crossword puzzles.  He also collected toy emergency vehicles.
    Paul served in the US Army for three years as a military policeman.  He was a graduate of the Iowa law Enforcement Academy, a former Clear Lake Fire Fighter and was the past president of the Pocahontas County Police Officers Association.

    Clarence J. (Ted, Berry, Gramps) Brandt, 95, died Nov. 8, 2007 at Oakwood Care Center, Clear Lake.  A funeral service was held Tuesday, Nov. 13, at Zion Lutheran Church, Clear Lake, with the Rev. Derik Yarian officiating. Interment was Tuesday at Fairview Cemetery, Story City, Iowa.  Memorials will be given to the Cyndi Wiess Women’s Health Initiative at Shaktishifa Health Foundation, a clinic dear to Ted and his great-niece.
    Clarence was born on Nov. 7, 1912, south of Hubbard, Iowa in Grant Township on the family farm.  His birth was in the same room where his son was to be born 30 years later while Clarence was farming the family farm.  Clarence went to elementary school at Mud Swamp School, number 6, on the east edge of the farm.  He farmed south of Hubbard until 1972 when, after his kids were grown, he and his wife bought tourist cottages at Clear Lake.  They moved to the lake to tend the cottages and host the summer guests who became their friends.
    He is survived by his daughter, Karen Black of Clear Lake, and her two children: son, Richard Black of Bellingham, Wash., his wife, Teresa and their children, Amelia, Noah, and Clara; and daughter, Cherylyn Rygg of Lynnfield, Mass., her husband, Odd and their children, Elysabeth and Ian.  He is also survived by his son, Larry Brandt and his wife, Marie Mayer of Ames, Iowa and his two children, son Matthew Brandt of Springfield, Mo., his wife, Manda and their children, Arabella and Bairon; and son, Patrick Brandt of Windemere, Fla.  Also surviving is one sister, Esther Sampson of Hubbard; former daughter-in-law, Rhonda Brandt, and 11 nephews and nine nieces.

    Ralph Roger Mahaffey, 69, of Clear Lake, died Sunday, Nov. 11 at his home of cancer.  Memorial services will be held Friday, Nov. 16, at 2 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church in Clear Lake with the Rev. Derik Yarian officiating.  Visitation will begin two hours prior to the service at the church.  Private inurnment services will be held in the Clear Lake Cemetery.
    Ralph Roger Mahaffey was born June 3, 1938 in Waseca, Minn., the son of Jerome Charles Mahaffey and Margaret Minnie (Kopischke) Mahaffey.  On March 28, 1958 he was united in marriage to Carolyn Glee House at the Olmstead United Methodist Church, Rochester, Minn.
    He graduated from high school in St. Charles, Minn.  He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Minnesota in 1963.  Ralph became a partner in Waggoner, Mahaffey and Bowman Architects and Engineers in Mason City where he was employed from 1963 to 1990.  In 1990 Ralph was employed as Product Development Manager and later as Plant Engineer for Fieldstone Cabinets of Northwood, Iowa.  In 1996 he began working as an architect for Dean Snyder Construction of Clear Lake.
    Ralph was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed hunting and fishing.  Ralph and his son, Mark, competed as a team in walleye tournaments together.  
    In lieu of flowers family suggests memorials be made to Opportunity Village or to cancer research.
    Ralph is survived by his wife, Carolyn; children, Sherri Luick and her husband, David of Lakeville, Minn., Mark Mahaffey of Clear Lake and Michael Mahaffey and his wife, Amy of Clear Lake; seven grandchildren, Dena, Paige, Luke, Michaela, Jordan, Megan and Whitney; one brother, Gary Mahaffey of Minneapolis, Minn.; his mother-in-law, Eleanor House of Stewartville, Minn.; brothers and sisters in-law and many nieces and nephews.
     Ralph was preceded in death by his parents; one daughter in-law; and one grandson.

Thomas E. Priolo II, 24, of Spring Hill, Fla. died Nov. 9, 2007 in a motorcycle accident.  A funeral service will be held Wednesday, Nov. 14, 10 a.m. at Dobies Funeral Home, 8825 Old Hwy CR 54, Newport Richie, Fla.
    Thomas was born Jan. 16, 1983.  He grew up in Clear Lake and graduated from Clear Lake High School.  He then moved to Spring Hill where he was a member of Pipe Fitters and Plumbers Union, Local 123, and Founding member of TRB.
    He is survived by his father, Thomas; mother, Deborah; sons, Thomas III and Logan; the mother of his children, Andrea Bryan; sisters, Gina and Lisa; grandmother, Cecelia.
    He was preceded in death by his grandmother, Betty, and his grandfathers.
    In lieu of flowers, memorials can be given to a trust fund for Thomas’s two young sons which has been set up at  Dobies Funeral Home, 8225 Old Hwy CR 54, Newport Richie, Fla. 34653, 727-372-2550.