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OBITUARY

BERNARD, S. Parker, 11, of Bellbrook, Passed away Friday February 10, 2012 surrounded by the love of his family and friends. Parker left a gift of life for others by participating in the organ donor program at Children’s Medical Center.

 Parker was preceded in death by a sister , Olivia Rose.  Left to cherish his memories are his parents Sheila Schurman Bernard and Scott Bernard and a sister, Peyton Elizabeth; his grandparents Carla and Jim Schurman, Margie and Bruce McKinney and Rosalie and Stan Bernard. In addition, he was loved by many aunts, uncles and cousins.

 Parker was a sixth grader at Bellbrook Middle School where he loved history and participated in football and basketball programs.  In addition, he played basketball at the Kroc Center for the Salvation Army.

He loved all sports from sharing University of Dayton basketball season tickets with his father, to catching the most and the biggest fish at his Rod and Reel club birthday party each year. 

Parker had a special fondness for his first sweetheart, Molly, and a great friendship with his buddy, Blake and numerous other dear friends.

 This enthusiasm for life, his caring for others, and his sense of humor were gifts that will be cherished and remembered by everyone who knew and loved him.

 A celebration of Parker’s life will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, February 17, 2012 at the Bellbrook Middle School, 2600 Feedwire Road, Bellbrook, Ohio.  The Bellbrook Middle School teachers are providing refreshments following the service.

 In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to the S. Parker Bernard Scholarship Fund c/o Bellbrook Sugarcreek Education Foundation, 3757 Upper Bellbrook Road, Bellbrook, Ohio  45305.

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Our darling little Stanley "Parker" Bernard was pronounced brain dead today.  (2/10/2012)  Organs will be harvested to donate to others and then all life support systems will be shut down.  Needless to say, we are heartbroken.  We feel so blessed to have had Parker these 11 years.  He was smart, athletic, funny, handsome, and seemed to have such a wonderful future ahead of him.  He went into the brain surgery totally unafraid and joking with the doctors and modeling the funny hats he would wear back to school since they would have to shave his head.  We are so blessed to have had him in our family.  Parker left us today but will never be far away.  The love remains.

Thank you again for your kind words and thoughts and prayers.  We will never forget your kindness.  As Parker would say, "You were all cool dudes."

Rosalie & Stan

New Novel by Foreign Service Retiree Bruce Gray
(Husband of Kaarn Weaver)

Retired Foreign Service Officer Bruce Gray has just published his first novel, Distant Water, a political thriller set in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in 1976 during the month following the death of Mao Zedong. This is particularly notable since Bruce is a 19-year survivor of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Following are a brief description, bio sketch and availability information.

American Bryan Paton has chosen the worst of times to join Hong Kong’s top law firm. His client’s daughter, Fiona Li, is dead, and he must bring the body home from Beijing. Aware that a tug of war is raging between moderate and radical factions to fill the void created by Mao Zedong’s death, Bryan has no way of knowing that his involvement with the Li family will land him in the thick of it.Unknown to Bryan, General Zhu Fangguo, a central figure in the moderate’s plot to restore Deng Xiaoping to power, is searching for Fiona. Bryan’s connection to Fiona and, through her, to Zhu, ensnarls him in a deadly game of survival and a web of secrets closely guarded on both sides of the Hong Kong-China border for nearly 30 years.

Bruce Gray was born in Santa Monica, California and grew up in Los Angeles and Frankfurt, Germany. He earned his B.A. and J.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, and was for twenty-six years a career U.S. diplomat specializing in Chinese Affairs. He speaks six languages, including both Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese, and lived in Beijing, Hong Kong and Taiwan on official postings for eight years. His Foreign Service career ended prematurely when he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He lives with his wife and former diplomat, Kaarn Weaver, in Naples, Florida where he continues to write.

Distant Water is available online now from Amazon.com ($14.95) and will shortly be available from Barnes & Noble.com and from all major eBook platforms ($5.99), i.e., Kindle, Nook, Apple iBook, Google, Kobo, Sony, BLIO.

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