David Lee “One Shot” Vogt, 68, passed away on December 17, 2022, at his residence in Somerset. He was born May 13, 1954, in San Antonio, TX to Levine R. Vogt and Marjorie B. Johnson. David is a 1972 graduate of Southwest High School in San Antonio. He enlisted in the Army in 1972 and proudly served our country until 1980. His military career took him to Korea and Desert Storm, as well as being a Marksmanship Instructor. After being honorably discharged he returned home and studied at Alamo Community College and St. Phillip’s College. David served as Fire Chief for the Rossville Fire Department from 1990-2003 then transferred to the Lytle Fire Department. He was a Master mechanic, enjoyed woodworking, and he especially enjoyed competing in Marksmanship competitions. He loved his fur babies, and his schnauzers, and remained active with fellow Veterans through events and social media. David is preceded in death by his parents Levine Vogt and Marjorie Johnson; and his sister Karolyn Supulver. He is survived by his daughters Ann and Heidi Vogt; brothers and sisters-in-law Lee Vogt and Michelle, William Vogt and Emily, and Ronnie Vogt and Judy; sisters and brother-in-law Sherland Juarez, and Marilyn and Howard Beeson; grandchildren Illiana, Einathan, Kyle, Kevin, Shelby, and Glynn; great-granddaughter Layna Grace; numerous nieces, nephews, and other relatives. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Wheelers for the Wounded https://wheelersforthewoundednj.org Graveside services were at 9:45 am on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, TX; under the direction of Hurley Funeral Home-Pleasanton, TX.
Barbara Lynn Carr Pacini, born May 18, 1962, went into the loving arms of the Lord on December, 20, 2022 at the age of 60. Barbara loved being a mother and grandmother. She was always available to help friends and loved planning special occasions and making beautiful decorations and gifts. She thoroughly enjoyed being an educator and helping children grow and learn in the classroom and in their faith. Barbara taught at Devine ISD, D’Hanis ISD and Big Springs ISD. She also taught CCD for many years in Devine and D’Hanis and helped get the altar servers program going again in Devine. She retired from teaching and went into the insurance business next before retiring again to move back home to take care of her parents. She is loved and will be dearly missed by parents Charles Richard Carr & Lee Cowan Carr; her daughter Jacqulynn & Josh Hermann of D’Hanis; and her son John & Monica Pacini of San Antonio; and grandchildren Stella Pacini, Tyson Hermann, and Cassius, Christian, and Cadenece Hermann; and a brother Rick and Barbara Carr. Services will be on Saturday, January 14th at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Devine at 10:00 a.m. A reception will follow in the hall. A full obituary will be published next week.
Antonio (Tony) V. Perez, 77, passed away on December 24, 2022, in Lytle, Texas. Tony was born in Pearsall, Texas to Simon and Guadalupe (Valverde) Perez on August 16, 1945. He attended school in Pearsall, Texas. Tony married Lupana Coronado Perez on June 29, 1968, in Pearsall. He worked as a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service for more than 40 years. Tony was a veteran of the Vietnam War and served in the Army. He is preceded in death by his parents, Simon and Guadalupe Perez; brothers, Jesus, Marcos and Manuel Perez; sisters, Teresa, Lupita and Santos. Tony is survived by his wife, of 54 years, Guadalupana Perez; children, Antonio Perez, Jr., and wife, Veronica, Melissa Perez Pena and husband, Reggie and John Eric Perez and wife, Christina; 10 grandchildren, Kimberly Martinez (Michael), Anthony Perez, Cassie Perez, Victor Garcia (Melissa), Corina Garcia, Nicholas Martinez, Sarah Perez, Trinity Perez, Alexis Abrego, and Johnny Perez; 12 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. A Visitation will be held Tuesday, January 3, 2023 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, at Primrose Funeral Services, 14822 North Main, Lytle, Texas 78052. A Rosary will be recited at 7:00 pm in the Chapel. Mass will be Wednesday, January 4, 2023, 10:00 am, at St. Andrew Catholic Church, 14831 North Main, Lytle, Texas 78052 Interment will follow at the Resurrection Cemetery at Cordi Marian Cemetery, 11624 Culebra Road, San Antonio, Texas 78253. Anyone wishing to sign the online guestbook, share memories or issue condolences to the family, may do so at www.primrosefuneralservices.com Arrangements under the direction of Primrose Funeral Service, 14822 Main Street, Lytle, Texas.
Martha Maxine Pierce entered eternal rest on December 23, 2022, at the age of 87. She was born on February 14, 1935, in Whitewright, Texas to Timothy and Lockie (Harp) Neal. She is preceded in death by her parents; beloved husband Billie Howard Pierce; three sisters and two brothers. Maxine is survived by her son, Les Pierce (Margaret); daughter, Cindy Hall (Robert); grandchildren, Paul Karam (Michelle), Jackie Frank (Ken), Bryan Hall (Gina), Jessica Hall-Martinez (Pete); five great-grandchildren and one due in March; other loving family members and friends. “Maxine” loved antiques. She was also a lifelong hairdresser and owner of Lurline’s Salon in South San. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, from 10:30 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. with a funeral service to be celebrated 12:00 P.M. at Mission Park Funeral Chapels South. Interment will follow at Bexar Cemetery in Somerset, TX.
Roger Alan Erxleben, age 74, was born June 29, 1948 in Seguin, Tx. He died on December 29, 2022. Roger enlisted in the Navy in June of 1968 and proudly served our country for over 20 years. His military career took him to Vietnam, Virginia, Florida, California, and Texas until he retired in December of 1992. Roger was a true patriot and his love for our country and the Navy was infinite. Roger was a veteran of the Vietnam War. Roger is preceded in death by his parents, Helmuth and Evangeline Erxleben and his sister Sandra Harborth. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Laura Warnock Erxleben and two children and their spouses, Joseph and Stacie Erxleben of Devine, and James and Lacey Erxleben also of Devine. He is also survived by 6 grandchildren: Jazmine and Jennelle Erxleben, Jordan Erxleben, Jacob, Joseph, and Jenna Sadler, and 1 sibling and her spouse: Mary and Weldon Schmidt of Moody, Texas; along with his in-laws, numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives. Visitation will be held Friday, January 6th, 2023, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, at Hurley Funeral Home in Devine, Texas. A Celebration of Roger’s life will be held on Saturday, January 7th, 2023, at Natalia First Baptist Church starting at 10:00 AM. Interment will be at Crescent Valley Cemetery in Victoria, Texas. A brief graveside service will be held at approximately 3:30 PM on Saturday. In lieu of flowers, Donations may be made to Natalia First Baptist Church. Anyone wishing leave condolences, share memories, or sign the online guestbook may do so at www.primrosefuneralservices.com
Betty Sue (Box) Morgan, age 74, of Devine, Texas passed away on Tuesday, December 27, 2022, in San Marcos, Texas from Alzheimer’s disease. A Memorial Service will be held in the Sanctuary of Trinity Baptist Church, 319 E. Mulberry Avenue, San Antonio, Texas 78212 on Friday, January 6, 2023, at 11 AM, followed by a private family burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas. Betty was born the last of five daughters on April 5, 1948, in San Angelo, Texas to John Burress Box and Mary Ella (Pool) Box. She attended San Angelo State College and graduated from Baylor University. She moved to San Antonio to teach school in the Northeast I.S.D. While in San Antonio, she became a member of Trinity Baptist Church where she met her husband of more than 43 years, Davis “Dave” Delyle Morgan. They moved to Devine in 1972 and raised four children there: Davene Morgan of Dallas, Lindsey Randow (Joshua) of San Marcos, Davis Morgan (Tiffany) of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Courtney Sharp (Randy) of Bastrop. Betty taught school for more than thirty-five years, most of which were spent teaching first grade at John J. Ciavarra Elementary School in Devine. She loved her Savior Jesus Christ, children, and education and positively impacted generations both in her job and through her decades of teaching Sunday school at church. She also helped cook thousands of meals with the Texas Baptist Men Disaster Relief Services mass feeding unit and served on the Emergency Services District board for Devine. She is survived by her four children, their spouses, and nine grandchildren: McKinley Sharp, June Morgan, Corben Sharp, Maximus Morgan, Brig Randow, Brooklyn Sharp, Asa Morgan, Bryleigh Sharp and Urban Randow. She also survived by her four sisters: Mary Ella Elam of Houston, Jean Caldwell of Dallas, Kay Read (David Anderson) of Cartersville, Georgia, and Judy McElhaney of Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as seven nephews and nieces and numerous great-nephews and nieces. She was proceeded in death by her husband, parents, and three brothers-in-law: James Read, Jack McElhaney, and John Elam. The family would like to thank the community at Brookdale San Marcos North for loving Betty well during the past seven years. We are grateful for the addition of the compassionate staff of St. David’s Hospice & Family Care over the last months of Betty’s life. In a final act of love & sacrifice, Betty donated her brain to the University of Miami Brain Endowment Bank through the assistance of the Brain Donor Project (braindonorproject.org). Her gift will be used to help further research into finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a gift to the Trinity Baptist Church Children’s Ministry Camp Scholarship fund https://www.trinitybaptist.org/ or the Devine Education Foundation https://devineeducationfoundation.org/. Arrangements are under the direction of Thomason Funeral Home, 2001 Ranch Rd 12, San Marcos, TX 78666. For more information and to sign the online registry, please visit thomasonfuneralhome.com.
Welcome to my first weekly report of 2023! Some numbers from last week: Officers handled a total of 65 service calls and conducted 136 traffic stops. Those stops resulted in 113 citations and 23 warnings. We have been very fortunate that we had very few property crimes reported during the holiday season. Normally, thefts and vehicle burglaries rise for various reasons. People are busy and more distracted; they tend to leave more valuables in their vehicles and pay less attention to what is going on around them. We also have a lot of travelers that pass-through town, some just stopping to shop and others staying at the hotel. So, we have been blessed. For example, this week we only had one possible property crime and it was related to a disturbance at a residence and involved damaged property. We can keep this rolling if citizens stay alert and report suspicious activity. Lock your vehicles and keep your valuables out of sight or better yet, don’t leave them in your vehicle. Our officers made four arrests this past week, the result of three traffic stops. #1 – Ofc. Pena arrested a female for DWI; she was stopped for driving on the shoulder and was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #2 – Sgt. David Lopez conducted a traffic stop for an expired motor vehicle registration on FM 463. The driver told Sgt. Lopez that he had “warrants” and when Lopez went to detain him observed a .45 cal. Handgun in a shoulder holster. Sgt. Lopez secured the weapon and determined that the suspect had an active felony parole violator warrant. He was a convicted felon and could not legally possess the handgun. He was arrested for Felon in a Possession of a Firearm and booked into the Medina Co. Jail. Ofc. A. Lopez was nearby and responded quickly for backup. Fortunately, this fellow went peacefully. With a parole warrant and another felony, this guy is headed back to prison for sure, had he opted for a way out …. this incident could have ended in tragedy. Arrests #3 & #4 – On January 1st, Ofc. Anthony Lopez conducted a traffic stop for an expired motor vehicle registration on Lytle-Somerset St. and determined the female driver had an active theft warrant out of Bexar Co. Further investigation determined that the male passenger was in possession of cocaine (Haven’t seen that in while, what is this the 80’s?) and THC wax (both felonies). The couple was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. What a way to start off the New Year. We sent out our first community alert due to a “bailout” of migrants from a police stop. At about 6:30 AM on Friday a State Trooper stopped a Ford F150 and approx. 10-12 individuals fled into the wooded area between TXN Bank and Best Western. Our officers searched the area but were unable to locate them. Our intent is to let residents know so they can keep an eye out for suspicious activity. Often the migrants end up injured and need medical help too. On Sunday our officers assisted another Trooper that stopped a vehicle on IH-35 and detained 5 immigrants. Since all were detained, no notice was sent out. Lytle PD fielded a 4-man crew to ring in the New Year. Officers stayed busy and gave numerous warnings for fireworks violations. No serious incidents occurred and overall, it was a safe transfer into 2023. I often work on New Year’s Eve but this year I stayed at home, I guess I was asleep by about 10 PM. I was feeling a bit under the weather, but I would have gone to bed early anyway. I didn’t get called in the middle of the night, which is always a good sign. I am looking forward to a fun-filled year! We still have our big Stripes C-Store that is set to open in March or so and the big truck stop out on FM 3175 @ IH-35 should start construction soon too. We still have lots of road construction on the access roads of the interstate ahead of us as well. If that doesn’t sound like fun, I don’t know what is. Don’t forget the all the subdivisions construction… I am about ready to proclaim 2023 as the year of “traffic congestion”.
Back in my earlier days as a Professor of Real Estate, I was invited to make a presentation on Personal Management to a large group of real estate practitioners. The details of that talk are long ago forgotten as I possessed far more hair, far less tummy, and a sharper ability to “recollect” things back then compared to the present time. While giving such talks became a common practice over the 44 years of teaching and nearly 50 years of practicing, it was a BIG deal to be asked to do such a thing way back then. I was worried about how to come up with an easy to remember reminder to the audience for the key points of my ideas. One late night there was an uncommon noise outside my home in San Antonio and I walked outside to check on the cause. Keep in mind I was sound asleep before the disturbance and “attired” in a T Shirt, Boxer briefs, and barefooted. Walking out the back door I stumbled over a bicycle that had been left on its side right in front of the door on the concrete patio floor. The surprise that ensued from the fall and minor injuries sustained QUICKLY eliminated any concern about the source of noise. Out of that minor mishap came an acronym that I have written about in textbooks and professional articles besides using speeches for many years. And I think it still applies today as we begin a New Year. The 4 letter title is BIKE. Just like many examples of success in life, this vehicle can carry us very far IF we continue to exert some energy to make it go forward. The B stands for Belief. In ourselves, our goals and in things bigger than just us. The I is for Involvement. It is very hard to succeed with putting forth sustained effort in “pedaling” towards our life goals. The K is a reflection of the need for Knowledge. School is truly never over in our quest to stay up to date and informed on developments within our fields of interests. The E finalizes the term and is Enthusiasm. Take a moment and consider those people you know that you would consider successful. While demonstrating this trait in a variety of ways, I doubt you will say FEW IF ANY of those individuals were not passionate about their endeavors. The temptation to elaborate on these 4 points is strong for this Old Aggie who, as The Boss Lady is fond of saying, “got paid by the word”. But suffice it to say that each reader may take something different out of these thoughts and hopefully can apply them in some way to their own “launch” into 2023. My thanks to Ms. Holder, as talented a writer as I know, and to Devine News for allowing me to offer some ramblings from time to time in their publications. My wish to you ALL is a Happy (and hopefully wetter) New Year.
I ended up babysitting eight kiddos last week, including my two. It was a cousin-tastic kind of day. To be fair, two are teenagers, so they helped considerably. I thought my mind would be boggled and perhaps it was a little bit by the end of the day, but truthfully, I enjoyed it. I certainly heard phrases like “I’m hungry…I need to go the bathroom…I want a drink…I’m hungry again” more times than I care for in one day. But I think I kind of like the “cheaper by the dozen” lifestyle. It was a busy day, but it was packed with smiles and fun. Eight little smiling faces made sure of that, and the teenagers were more helpful than ever before, because after all, they kind of have to be with that many kids around! The four little boys explored and went on many missions to the tree house, and the girls played dolls and held the real-life baby. Occasionally, they came out to spy on each other or prank one another. We even had a picnic lunch. They built a new fort on a hill, and at the end of the day, we made a campfire. That was the best idea I had all year. That campfire provided hours of fun as they boys scoured the yard for sticks to throw in. I’m not too big on New Year’s resolutions but I just so happened to accomplish something I’ve been longing to do on New Year’s Eve. We finally found a good deal on a storage shed and got it delivered, something I’ve been putting off for quite awhile. What a relief it is to get it done. As a bonus, my “shed” was really a custom-built playhouse that was no doubt built by some loving grandpa years ago. It looks like a little log cabin with a porch, so my son loves it. There’s plenty of room for storage and a little fun-space too. The porch is Tucker’s new “base” of operations. So I guess we officially have four “forts/tree houses” now. We stayed home that night, dog tired from carrying boxes to the new shed, but we got the most excellent firework show we could ever ask for by walking outside and looking all around us at midnight. The sky was filled with huge, beautiful firework shows, and we had an almost 360 view of 4 or 5 neighboring properties. Daddy popped a few little ones for us too, which Tucker thoroughly enjoyed. Happy New Year! Mine’s been pretty productive so far. Gotta go now…my son’s a calling, and I think it’s time to go build the first fort of the New Year!
The year of our Lord, 2022 is over and we are beginning a new one. It feels strange to write the numbers 2023, doesn’t it? This is my first time to use it as I write my very first column of a new year, and I am thankful that I am still around to do it, each day is a blessing to me. On Friday, I attended the funeral of a very dear friend. She was buried on what would have been her 83rd birthday, and in the early hours of Friday morning, a new great-grandchild was born to one of her grandsons and his wife! The Lord works in wonderous ways! My Christmas, even though broken into parts was wonderful. This year, on the day after Christmas, all four of my children were here in my home, along with two grandsons, (one of whom is in the service and had not been stateside for Christmas in 10 years), their spouses and children, as well the mother of one of the spouses, making for a total of 20. The great-grandchildren attending, ranged in age from not quite eleven down to six months, and yes, we got a few pictures, they were all so cute and loveable! My youngest daughter and her husband came in on Christmas Day, and she helped me get some things done, (she also stayed an extra day and helped me clean up). We were having our favorite meal, Mexican food. My son-in-law brought all the fixings for both beef and chicken enchiladas, and they were delicious. His Chile sauce was wonderful, he used guajillo peppers, as well as a couple of other types and die a great job with all of it. Another daughter brought a gigantic bowl of guacamole, that is different than the usual recipe, (that I had requested), and as always, it was delicious, and we really enjoyed it. She also brought a great dessert, as well as other things. The other daughter brought tamales as well as numerous types of cookies and desserts, a grandson and his wife, brought a big bag stuffed with all sorts of sweets the children would like, my daughter-in-heart came in with a big casserole of Mexican style rice, which almost all disappeared, and both she and my oldest daughter came in with tables and chairs. We were able to seat some of the children in the kitchen and others in the living room and still others of us at the dining room table. It was a full house and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. The grandsons had their children outside playing and shooting the fireworks that one of them brought in the middle of the day….it was so much fun. We had TV trays set up in my bedroom for desserts, and while we didn’t have one for each member of the family, we had lots! We added to our fun by opening our Christmas gifts, and I made out like a little bandit! This coming Friday, January 6 is the feast of the Epiphany. This word is from Greek and means appearance. It is also called the Feast of Lights, Feast of the Three Kings and Twelfth Night. It concludes the period allotted in the church calendar to the Feast of the Nativity. In the West, Epiphany commemorates the visit of the Three Kings, or Wise Men, to the infant Jesus. It is a major Christian feast commemorating the appearance of Christ. The Nativity itself was celebrated on this day, but, in the fourth century A.D, it was assigned to December 25. What began as a most solemn feast, Twelfth Night became a time of revelry, especially during the sixteenth century in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. It is the Feast of the Three Kings and Twelfth Night of Christmas that we are interested in, for this column! Officially, the Carnival Season can be short or long, depending on when Lent and Easter fall in a given year’s calendar. The start of Mardi Gras, however, is always Twelfth Night (12 days after Christmas), which commemorates the visit of the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem. The Spanish give gifts on Twelfth Night instead of on Christmas. Amongst the French, it is Petit Noel (little Christmas), on January 6th, when balls are held. The ending is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is February 22, this year. The opening celebrations took place in private homes and culminated in the eating of the Gateau du roi (King’s Cake), that was made of brioche batter. Hidden away somewhere in the cakes was either a small bisque or china doll, or a bean, usually a red bean and sometimes covered in silver or gold leaf. Tradition says that the person who chose the piece of cake with the doll or bean inside, would become king or queen of the ball. He or she was then held responsible for hosting the next ball in the next week. The balls continued until Mardi Gras itself. Among the wealthy, actual gold and diamond jewelry was sometimes substituted for the bean or doll. The cake is frosted and then sprinkled with colored bands of sugar. Purple represents Justice, Green represents Faith and Gold represents Power. The doll has come to be used almost exclusively because of the danger of someone biting down on the bean before they realized it was in their piece of cake. When I first baked the King Cake, I used the dough setting on my bread maker and this seems to work really well. After taking the dough from the bread machine, it is rolled and shaped into a 14-inch circle. The baby (we used the same one several times), is inserted in the bottom of the cake, so no one can tell where it was placed. The circle is then baked, cooled and frosted with a light powdered sugar glaze. After you have the glaze on, you sprinkle purple, green and gold colored sugar in 2-inch-wide stripes onto the frosting. Cakes can now be purchased at a lot of the grocery stores in San Antonio. (HEB handles them here, and I think it has sort of become standard that most larger grocery chains handle them). The following is the simplest of several recipes for the cake that I found on the Internet. Personally, I prefer just to use the recipe for sweet dough in my bread maker cookbook, adding the nutmeg and lemon rind when the bread maker ‘beeps’ for additions. Mardi Gras King’s Cake ½ cup water, (105ºF to 115ºF) 2 packages active dry yeast 3½ to 4½ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup granulated sugar ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind ½ cup lukewarm water 3 eggs 4 egg yolks ½ cup softened butter 1 egg (lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon milk 1 ovenproof figurine 3 cups powdered sugar ¼ lemon juiced and strained 3 teaspoons water (more if necessary) Green, purple and yellow sugars Soften yeast in water. Combine flour, sugar, nutmeg, salt and lemon rind in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Add yeast mixture, eggs, egg yolks and combine completely. Beat in butter until dough forms a ball. Place on floured board; incorporate more flour if necessary. Knead until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a well-buttered bowl, turning over so all surfaces are covered. Cover with a towel and let rise 1 ½ hours or until doubled in bulk. Dough is doubled when you can gently poke two fingers in the dough and the holes remain. Brush baking sheet with butter and set aside. Punch dough down on lightly floured board. Knead lightly, then roll and pat into a 15-inch cylinder. Place on baking sheet, and form into a circle, pinching edges together. Press figurine into bottom of dough, so that it is hidden. Set aside, covered with a towel to rise 1 to 1½ hours. Before baking, brush top with the egg milk mixture. Bake in a preheated 375ºF until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Beat icing ingredients until smooth and spread over top of cake, letting it drip down sides. Immediately sprinkle sugars in alternating, 2-inch-wide stripes of purple, green and yellow. Have fun! Hope your New Year is a very good one, with lots of blessings!
