Published: May 02, 2008 11:24 am         

Friday, May 2, 2008

Mardoqueo Evaristo Picazo
1925-2008

Rev. Mardoqueo (Mardy) Picazo, retired missionary radio engineer, passed away on April 24th, 2008. He had lived at the former Overstreet farm near Hayes Crossing in Rowan County, Kentucky, since retirement in 1992. He died at the home of a granddaughter in Knoxville, Tennessee, where his family had moved him, in failing health this March, following the death of Rachael Overstreet Picazo, his wife of 62 years.

Mardy is survived by five children: a son Esteban Picazo (Brenda) of Springville, New York; a son Daniel Picazo (Celia) of Bethel, Alaska; a daughter Rachel Jenkins (George) of Morehead, Kentucky; a daughter Paula Boren (Jim) of Noblesville, Indiana; and a daughter Suzanna Hardin (Tom) of Boise, Idaho. Also surviving are Mardy’s sister Ruth Escobedo (Oscar) of El Paso, Texas; a brother, Rev. Samuel Picazo (Gloria) of Fort Worth, Texas, twelve grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, ten nieces and three nephews.

Born in Marfa, Texas on January 3rd, 1925, to the late Rev. Evaristo and Delores Santos Picazo, Mardy was a US Navy WWII veteran, broadcast engineer, minister, missionary, and radio personality.

He was the first chief engineer of Lexington, Kentucky’s WVLK radio, and of Vancleve, Kentucky’s WMTC, before traveling to Haiti in 1952 to work with missionary radio station 4VEH, where he was to spend the next four decades. Throughout his long years of ministry Mardy and his wife were affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the Kentucky Mountain Bible Institute (now KMBC), the East and West Indies Bible Mission, and OMS International (from 1958 until his passing) along with its Haitian partnership churches.

Friends and family of Mardy Picazo are invited to a celebration of his life at Wesley Hall in the United Methodist Church on 227 West Main Street, Morehead, Kentucky, at twelve o’clock noon, Tuesday, May 13, 2008. A memorial service will take place at one o’clock in the Methodist sanctuary with the Rev. Bruce Nettleton officiating. Following the service there will be a military honors burial ceremony at Lee Cemetery in Morehead, with a fellowship meal in Wesley Hall after the ceremony.

Mardy’s late wife Rachael compiled an excellent historical account of the first 50 years of Radio 4VEH titled Let the Rocks Cry Out which is available from OMS International, Box A, Greenwood, Indiana 46142. Please direct any gifts of remembrance on Mardy’s behalf to Radio 4VEH, in care of OMS International.

Arrangements are under the direction of Northcutt & Son Home for Funerals. More biographical details are available at www.northcuttandson.com

If you wish to contact the family in the future, please direct initial communication to Esteban Picazo, 135 Newman Street, Springville, NY 14141, email: edpicazo@verizon.net

Beth Ramey
1917-2008

Beth Eula Basford Ramey, age 91, of Sunset Locust Road, Hillsboro, Kentucky, passed away Tuesday, April 29, 2008, at the Fleming County Hospital in Flemingsburg.

She was born February 20, 1917, in Hillsboro, Kentucky, and was the daughter of the late James and Arizona Dickerson Basford. Her husband, Estell Wade Ramey, passed away April 23, 1999. She was also preceded in death by three brothers, Howard, Lucian, and Clayton Basford; three sisters, Lillian Whitton, Edna Mae Reed, and Hazel Saunders; two sons, Estell Wade Ramey, Jr., and Charles Kenneth (Charlie) Ramey; and one daughter, Dorothy Lee Ramey.

Mrs. Ramey is survived by two daughters, Lou Ellen Johnson and husband Billy and Bertie Ann Cooper and husband Charlie, all of Flemingsburg, Kentucky; one son, Lucian Eugene (Sam) Ramey of Hillsboro, Kentucky; one daughter-in-law, Susan Ramey of Elizaville, Kentucky; 14 grandchildren; 17 great grandchildren; and one great-great grandchild.

Mrs. Ramey was a homemaker and member of the Hillsboro Methodist Church.

Funeral services will be conducted 1 p.m. Friday, May 2, 2008, at the Hutton Funeral Home with the Rev. Billy Harmon and the Rev. Gail Skaggs officiating. Burial will follow in the Hillsboro Cemetery. Grandchildren will serve as pallbearers.

Visitation is after 6 p.m. Thursday, May 1, 2008, at the Hutton Funeral Home, Hillsboro, Kentucky.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are suggested to the Hillsboro Christian Church; Hillsboro Methodist Church; Pioneer Trace Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Flemingsburg, Kentucky; or Hospice of Hope, Maysville, Kentucky.