Ralph Andrew (Andy) Easley Jr., 73, of McCutchanville, died December 29, 2007.

Born in Decatur, Ill., on March 3, 1934, he attended Centralia Community College and went on to graduate from the University of Illinois with a degree in Civil Engineering. He served with pride as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, with a tour of duty in an engineering capacity on the island of Guam in the late 1950s. He worked for several years in Venture, Calif., as an engineer.

He moved to Evansville in the late 1960s and worked for several years as city engineer prior to opening his own consulting firm, Andy Easley Engineering, on Mill Road in 1973. He also served as the County Road Commissioner in the 1980s.

Easley was an avid pilot and loved to fly his two aircraft, a Piper Cherokee 235 and an Aeronca Tri-Champ, in and out of Skylane Airport. He served on the Skylane Airport Steering Committee from November 1997 until March 1999, and was a founding board member of the Skylane Pilot Association. With Easley's suggestions and guidance, the pilots helped restore the hangars on the airport grounds and served as a board member of the organization from March 1999 through March 2003.

In the spring of 2003, Easley was instrumental in co-founding the Vanderburgh County Taxpayers Association, which became the organized opposition to a $70 million seven-year tax increase referendum offered to the public by the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation. After the defeat of the referendum in April 2003, Easley went on to serve as the organization's vice president, closely monitoring the financial affairs of local government and unsuccessfully running for the Second District School Board seat in the November 2006 general election.

In September 2006, Easley was instrumental in the formation of the Indiana Property Tax Repeal Alliance, a coalition of taxpayer groups from around the state. He was part of a delegation from the group's leadership which met with Governor Mitch Daniels this past November to discuss property tax issues.

An avid outdoorsman, Easley also loved sailing, poetry and classical music and for many years held season tickets to performances of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra.

Easley was preceded in death by his wife, Marcia Graebel Easley, mother, Roberta Easley, and father, Ralph Andrew Easley Sr.

He is survived by a son, David Easley, and daughter-in-law, Charlene, of Norcross, Ga., and grandchildren Matthew and Daniel; daughter, Kimberly Baumgart and son-in-law, Jim, of Boonville, and grandchildren, Alex, Cullen and Faith; and daughter, Jamie Pachciarz and son-in-law, Barry, of Indianapolis, and grandchildren, Mary Cate, Alex, Rory and Hillary. He is also survived by a sister, Lillian Deanne Taylor of Gainesville, Fla.; one brother, Robert Steven Easley of Long Beach, Calif.; and longtime companion, Joyce Ennis-Scott. He was a beloved father and grandfather.

Andy often would send poetry to loved ones in time of sorrow. Below is one written by James Whitcomb Riley that was dear to his heart.

"I cannot say and I will not say,

That he is dead,- He is just away!

With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand,

He has wandered into an unknown land.

Think of him still as the same, I say:

He is not dead— he is just away!"

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Billy T. Nicholson, age 80, of Mount Vernon, Ind., died Saturday, July 21, 2007, at Deaconess Hospital.

Billy was a former partner of Engineer Associates and currently president of Nicholson Surveying, Inc. He had served his country during World War II as a member of the U.S. Air Force.

He was a member of Zion United Church of Christ Lippe and served on the Church Council. He was a member of the West Side Optimist Club and the English Horsemen Society and was active with Habitat of Evansville. He was a former volunteer fireman for McCutchanville Fire Department and a past member of the Marrs Township Fire Department Board. He was also a former Elder at the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church and a Boy Scout.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, the former Anne (Whitehead) Nicholson; two daughters and their husbands, Sally and Steve Noelle, and Suzie and Marty Schroeder, all of Mount Vernon; two sisters, Peggy Callis, of Evansville, and Alice Ann Jones, of St. Louis, Mo.; and a brother, Bobby K. Nicholson, of Darmstadt, Ind. Four grandchildren, Ray and Andy Noelle, and Nick and Justin Schroeder also survive Billy.