Joe D. Ramos Sr., 83, of Port O’Connor, passed away on Wednesday, November 20, 2013, in Port Lavaca. He was born July 9, 1930 in Port O’Connor to the late Luciano and Dolores Pena Ramos. He was a Catholic who was a member of Saint Joseph Catholic Church and worked in construction/carpentry.

He is survived by his daughters, Patricia Hatcher and Shirley Harper (James), both of Port O’Connor; son, Joseph D. Ramos Jr. (Diana) of Port Lavaca; sisters, Esther Zarate, Rose Bryant, and Geneve Scott; 12 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.
He is preceded in death by his parents; wife, Dorothy S. Ramos; sisters, Elvira Ragusin, Rita Breeden, Lola Trent, and Lena Jaycox; and grandsons, Michael Harper; Sy Velasquez, and Dallas Ramos.

Funeral Mass was held on November 25, 2013 at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Port O’Connor. Burial followed at Port O’Connor Cemetery.

Pallbearers were Leslie Stringo, Mark Stringo, Christopher Harper Jr., Ricky Scott, Parick Ragusin and William Ragusin. Honorary pallbearers were Joe David “Trey” Ramos III, Joe David Ramos IV, Nathan Marshall, Cody Hatcher, and Tony Dominquez.

Elias L. Olivarez, 49, of Seadrift, passed away on Monday, November 18, 2013. He was born September 21, 1964 in Port Lavaca to Gregorio “Greg” and Josefa “Josie” Jimenez Morales of Seadrift. He was a commercial fisherman who greatly loved to fish and hunt. He also adored his grandchildren.

He is survived by his parents; wife, Irma Olivarez of Seadrift; daugthers, Laura Lee Olivarez and Monica Ann Henson (Kyle), both of Seadrift; sisters, Sylvia Morales Posada of Bloomington and Erica Olivarez of Victoria; brothers, James Ray Morales of Seadrift and Andrew Vasquez of Placedo; and grandchildren, Ariel Nicole Henson and Jordan Michael Pena.

He is preceded in death by his brother, Ronnie Morales.

Funeral service was held on Thursday, November 21, 2013 at Artero Memorial Chapel. Burial followed at Morales Cemetery in Long Mott.

Pallbearers were Andrew Vasquez, Steven Vasquez, Oscar Jimenez, Rudy Morales, Tommy Edwards, Herbert Edwards Sr., Roy Morales III, and Benny Vasquez. Honorary pallbearers were Benjamin Morales, Homer Morales, Victor Morales Jr., Amador “Joe” Morales, and Kyle Henson.

Henry “Hank” Byars, Jr., known as “The King”, age 69, of Port O’Connor passed away on Friday, November 29, 2013.

He was born on April 30, 1944 in Yoakum to Henry and Mary Pavlica Byars.

He was a self employed owner of Western Sundries and was a Catholic.

Survived by his wife, Phrona Byars; daughter, Terri Smirak and husband August of Halletsville; grandchildren, Jacklyn Meismer and husband Kyle and Wesley Smirak and wife Rachael; great-grandchildren, Ava Smirak and Brayson Meismer; brother, Harry Byars of Houston; niece, Dorothy Moore of Magnolia and a nephew, Marc Byars of Yoakum.

Hank was an avid outsdoorsman who loved his family and friends. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, and playing dominos. All those that were embraced by his presence knew that he lived life to the fullest.

Funeral Mass was celebrated on December 2, 2013 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Yoakum with Rev. Matthew Huehlefeld officiating. Burial was at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery.

Pallbearers: Marc Byars, Clay Raesz, Richard Marbach, Norman Kaiser, Shane Cretors and Kyle McCord.

T-Bo & the Smoker Bells

Saturday, November 23, 2013, dawned chilly and overcast, but that didn’t stop a group of enthusiastic chefs entered into the Third Annual Turkey Cookoff as sponsored by Eloisa Newsome of Josie’s. Five official entrants plus 1 unofficial (Joe Newsome) braved the somewhat inclement weather to prepare their prize winning or almost prize winning turkeys as the air teemed with the aroma of turkeys plus all kinds of wood & hickory smoke. Fun seemed to be the overwhelming aim of each cook and helper as they all joked back and forth with each other and sampled some of the ribs and jambalaya, that were waiting to increase the viability of each cook.

Besides of having a great deal of fun and amusement and sending delightful aromas into the air, this was all for a good cause as the entry fees along with visitors’ donations were sent to our Volunteer Fire Department. AND the cooked turkeys were then sent to the Benevolence Fund to be distributed in Thanksgiving Baskets. So no one loses and everyone benefits. Our thanks to Eloisa and Joe Newsome for their bravity and courage in putting this on ….

The following teams were entered and their places shown:

1- Team Butterballs, chef, Leroy Smith, entered fried & smoked turkey; Won first place again with Fried Turkey

2- Grand Slam Cookers, chefs: Curtis & Amy Gosnel, Sandy Taylor & Mundo; entering fried turkey and sangria; first place in sangria

3- Wild Hogs, chefs: Pat Ezelle & Christina Ezelle; Connie Westfall & Robert Martinez. These chefs prepared smoked and fried turkey using mesquite & applewood plus a dry rub; also entered sangria and a cobbler; they won first in cobbler

4- T-Bo & The Smoker Bells: Kim Dickens, Deidre McCollum and Steven Few; entered a smoked turkey, cherry almond cobbler and peach sangria; took first in pit turkey!

5- The Trophy Hunters: Kim Jones & John Jones; Emma Raby & David Hawes; Chantelle Pence, Glenna Brown, Patti Hutson and Jane Lane. They prepared 3 turkeys in the Cajun Microwave and a peach cobbler.

Grand Slam Chefs

Wild Hogs

Trophy Hunters

Leroy Smith

Joe Newsome & Eloisa

Photos by Sue Kubecka

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…” and the Chapel is in full festive mode! The Chapel is decorated and plans are moving forward to a great celebration of Jesus’ birthday! We enjoyed a great Sectional Christmas Party on December 2 in Port Lavaca, and an energetic Friday Night Youth Christmas Party on December 13. I personally missed the Service Club’s party on December 6 due to our being in New York City visiting Crystal, her husband Jake, and our four precious grandchildren. (You should see the pictures Joane took!) Christmas Caroling on a hay wagon happened on Wednesday, December 18, and many of you welcomed us to your home. Thank you for receiving us so well! But, the Chapel’s annual Christmas Sunday is this coming one – December 22. We will gather at 10:00 a.m. to study the Christmas Story from a different perspective and at 11:00 a.m. to enjoy a time of praise as we thank our Heavenly Father for sending His Only Son, Jesus to earth just for us. Then at 6:00 p.m., we will gather for our All Church Christmas Party, which will feature a “pot luck” meal, lots of games, and our usual “Dirty Santa” game. Bring a covered dish, your “white elephant” gift and join in the fun. It is always an evening to remember!
On Christmas Eve, we will be celebrating a time for families to come and join in Holy Communion together. We will begin at 7:00 p.m. and everyone is welcomed. We practice “open communion” at the Chapel, meaning that everyone who knows Jesus as personal Savior is welcomed to the Lord’s Table for Communion.

Recently, we have enjoyed the ministry of Rev. Jason Delgado and Hermano Jessie Alderete. Joane and I ministered in Wharton, due to the home-going of Pastor Richard Smith. We are assisting them in obtaining a pastor.

As you know, the Chapel is the host church for the Port O’Connor Benevolence Fund and we pass out the Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets. We passed out 33 Thanksgiving baskets to needy area families and another 15 Christmas baskets. Last year, the food for our Thanksgiving baskets totaled just over $2,000.00. With the same grocery list from last year, our food bill was in excess of $3,000.00. I am sure that it is not a surprise to most of us, because we all buy food. But, the extra funds completely depleted our POC Benevolence Fund. There have been some generous individuals who have given, and we could not have accomplished what we have without the giving of our Ladies Service Club. The Boy Scouts collected food and money, which went a long way. The Chamber of Commerce donated canned goods and some funds. POC Hardware store has a food bin all year long and many have put food in it. Had it not been for all the help we have received, we could not have passed out Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets this year – and I believe we have reached more truly needy this year than some other years. If you can help, at any time during the year, the POC Benevolence Fund has an account at our bank, or any funds given to any of our local churches will find its way to help feed needy folks next year.

The Chapel is a congregation that is moving forward. We have been making plans to see our ministries expand as we complete our Retreat Center. The areas in the new center will be multi-purpose and used as Bible Study rooms as well as host groups from outside our community for gatherings of many kinds. We are implementing new ideas that Pastor Joane and I have been learning from Church Life, which will affect every area of the congregation. You are welcomed to become a part of what the Lord is doing at the Chapel as we begin this new direction. Our first service of 2014 will be on Sunday, January 5, at 10:00 a.m., and we invite you to come.

The Chapel is an interdenominational congregation whose mission is to heal the hurts of lost humanity and restore the things the devil has taken from God’s creation. You will always find a warm welcome at the Chapel and are urged to, “Come, grow with us!”