Allen Manzer Funeral Home

MSteecker Published 2:15 PM EST Nov 30, 2017 When Kurt Eschbach began working in the death care industry in Binghamton in the late 1980s, about 10 to 13 percent of the families he sold funeral care services to requested cremations. Eschbach, who now owns Hopler & Eschbach Funeral Home, said 60 percent of the services he currently sells involve cremation. ...

Obituaries appear in print and online here.  December 8 *Niefer, James M., 88, Endicott, 4-Dec, Bangs Funeral Home O’Sullivan, Barbara A., 61, Groton, 5-Dec, Zirbel Funeral Home December 7 *Bandavanis, Dean “Deany,” 7, Ithaca, 3-Dec, Bangs Funeral Home *Hartz, Merritt Edward, Deposit, NY, 4-Dec, Andrews Mortuary Ruhmel, III, John J., 80, Ithaca, 2-Dec, Herson Wagner Funeral Home December 6 *Cramer, Lewis R., 85, Harford, 04-Dec, Perkins Funeral Home Johnson, Nathan S., 64, Ithaca, 01-Dec, Perkins Funeral Home Niefer, James Mead, 88, Endwell, 04-Dec, Bangs Funeral Home * Stout, Karen A., 63, Ithaca, 03-Dec, Bangs Funeral Home December 5 Bandavanis, Dean Gregg, 7, Pickerington, 3-Dec, Bangs Funeral Home Cramer, Lewis R., 85, Harford, 4-Dec, Perkins Funeral Home *Humerez, Ronald Marcos, 66, Ithaca, 21-Nov, Perkins Funeral Home *Marks, Alice M. Bush, 78, McLean, 1-Dec, Shurtleff Funeral Home *Smith, Ronald F., 85, Genoa, 2-Dec, Shurtleff Funeral Home Stout, Karen, 63, Ithaca, 3-Dec, Bangs Funeral Home December 4 *Bialek, Frances, 91, Chittenango, 1-Dec, G.F. Zimmer Funeral Home Gates Jr., Walter Collins, 80, Cayuga Heights, 2-Dec, Bangs Funeral Home *Hunter, David Charles, 79, Spencer, 29-Nov, Allen Manzer Funeral Home December 3 Eller, Robert F. Jr., 75, Itha...

Our pastor, Sabrina Slater, and her dance partner, Merlin Joseph, won the Dancing with the Starz competition!  We all stood up and cheered! Sabrina and Merlin were the Judge’s Choice winners for dancing a high-energy salsa Saturday night at Tioga Downs. Sabrina is such a fun pastor. She makes every Sunday’s worship so special that we always look forward to coming. She and 10 other couples who danced raised over $30,000 for the Tioga United Way, and we could not be more proud of her. The event was livestreamed so even her parents in Spokane, Washington, were able to watch and cheer her on. What other church can claim a dancing Star as their pastor? We feel so blessed to have her. Graduates of Distinction I promised more details about our two S-VE Graduates of Distinction in my last column. Don Brock is from the Class of 1975. He grew up working on a Christmas tree farm and ended up making that his life’s career, despite a brief detour into data processing. He loves to work outdoors and hires a good number of local kids to trim trees. He donates Christmas trees and boughs to local organizations, including the boughs made into wreaths by S-VE High School students each year on Community Service Day. ...