James R. Herr, 76, of Lititz, died peacefully surrounded by family Thursday afternoon, Dec. 22, 2011 at Lancaster General Hospital.

Born in Lancaster, he was the son of the late Robert Brenner and Ruth Virginia Miller Herr.

He attended the Lancaster city schools. He had a life-long passion for his family and enjoyed quality time with all. Jim worked several years for Goodwill Industries and enjoyed collecting stamps, toy autos and trucks.

He is survived by his brother: David F. Herr, husband of Susanne (Stephens) Herr, of Wilmington, N.C.; and a sister: Susan C. (Herr) Christy, wife of Michael W. Christy, of Huntingdon; six nieces and nephews: Carolyn S. Christy, of Huntingdon; Sally A. Metz, of Lancaster; Abby L. Busko, of Oxford; Michael D. Christy, of Concord, N.C.; Shellie H. Whitehurst, of Wilmington, N.C.; and Jeffrey D. Herr, of Richmond, Va.; nine great-nieces and nephews; and one great-great niece.

He was preceded in death by his brother: Thomas E. Herr, who died April 9, 2011.

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend his memorial service on Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. in the Moravian Manor Chapel, 300 W. Lemon St., Lititz, with the Rev. Richard Thierolf officiating. A private family interment will be in Creswell Cemetery.

Anna Belle "Ann" Gingrich, 78, of Rothsville, passed away at her residence after a brief illness and under the kind and compassionate care of Hospice of Lancaster County Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011.

Born in Kirkwood, she was the daughter of the late Elwood E. Sr. and Bertha LeFevre Evans and was the wife of the late Daniel F. Gingrich Sr., who died in 2007.

Anna was a member of Salem United Methodist Church, Rothsville. She enjoyed baking and preparing food for Rothsville Fire Company functions, was a member of the Rabbit Hillers of Rothsville and looked forward to taking part in their activities. Most of all, she loved being surrounded by her family and friends and was known for her generosity and caring nature. She worked for many years for Hess Bros. Fruit Co. in Leola. In addition to spending time with her grandchildren, she enjoyed knitting dish cloths and bird watching.

She is survived by her son: Daniel F. Jr., husband of Laura Gingrich, of Lancaster; daughters: Barbara A., wife of David Singer, and Nancy E., wife of G. Thomas O’Conor, all of Lititz; grandchildren: Amy, wife of Samir Bitar; Cynthia Gingrich; and Clarissa and Daniel O’Conor; brothers: John, husband of Audrey Evans, of Ronks; and Charles, husband of Berta Evans, of Menlo, Ga.; and sisters: Helen, wife of Jay Rettew, of Manheim; and Bertha, wife of Jack Creasy, of New Providence.

Sam J. Buonomo, 91, of Brownstown, formerly of Ephrata and Hackensack, N.J., passed away Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 at Moravian Manor in Lititz.

He was born in Hackensack to the late Joseph and Carmella (Corrado) Buonomo and was the husband of the late Louise T. (Fattrosso) Buonomo, who died in May 2007.

Sam was a member of the VFW Cocalico Post 3376. He enjoyed gardening and crafts.

Retired since 1985, Sam had worked as an engineer, projectionist and stage hand for Broadway shows for T.A.S.T.E. Local 642, Hackensack, N.J.

A U.S. veteran, he served in the Army during World War II, European Theatre, attaining the rank of sergeant.

Sam is survived by a son: Frank J., husband of Marie A. Buonomo, of Brownstown; a daughter: Carmela Ventolo, of Ephrata; five grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; a sister: Edith, wife of Charles Chapman, of Sun City, Ariz.; and a sister-in-law: Nancy Fattrosso, of Rochelle Park, N.J.

In addition to his wife and parents, he was preceded in death by his brother: Joseph Buonomo Jr.; and sister: Jenny Rinaldi.

A funeral service was held on Dec. 28 at the Stradling Funeral Home, Akron. Interment took place at Mt. Zion Evangelical Cemetery, Akron.

Kelly A. Brubaker, 45, of Manheim, died unexpectedly at home of natural causes Friday, Dec. 23, 2011.

Born in Lancaster, she was the daughter of Larry L. and Joan A. Ehrhart Groff of Manheim.

For 20 years, Kelly worked in the deli department for Stauffers of Kissel Hill in Lititz. She was a member of Ruhl’s United Methodist Church, Manheim, and participated in the choir. Kelly helped with the preschool program during the W.R.E. events that took place in the Manheim Central School District. Kelly volunteered many hours at the Pleasant View Retirement Community, Manheim, and helped with fundraising banquets for the Mastersonville Fire Company Auxiliary. She was a member of the Manheim Sportsmen’s Association. Her interests included fishing, flower gardening, playing cards and singing.

Surviving, in addition to her parents, are two sons: Michael S. Brubaker and Craig A. Brubaker, both at home; a brother, Kerry L. husband of Trudy Groff, of Manheim; two nieces: Megan and Alyssa Groff; and a nephew: Jared Groff.

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend her funeral service at the Ruhl’s United Methodist Church, 4810 Elizabethtown Road, Manheim, on Dec. 29 at 11 a.m. Interment will be in the adjoining church cemetery.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Lititz Record file photo
Jordan Mellinger drives to the basket for Manheim Central.Lititz Record file photo
Jordan Mellinger drives to the basket for Manheim Central.

For 28 minutes last Thursday, the Manheim Central boys were executing their game plan to perfection against Annville-Cleona.

Little Dutchmen seniors Tyson Hayes and Alec Wizar, who combined for 46 points in a 63-58 loss to ELCO last Tuesday, Dec. 20, had just 14 points total with 3:30 remaining.

But in the late stages of the game, leading 36-30, it slipped away from the Barons.

Wizar scored 10 of his game-high 15 points in a game-ending 17-3 run by the Dutchmen, who entered the Christmas break with a 47-39 come-from-behind win over Manheim Central in a Section Three-Four crossover in Annville.

"We had put together what we thought to be a really, really good game plan defensively against Annville because they have two guys that can really score," Barons’ coach Chris Sherwood said. "(But) we lost focus. A couple things didn’t go our way late, to our own doing, and we made some mistakes and it snowballed to a point where it affected us on the defensive end of the floor where that hadn’t been the case."

Emily Cameron set a new pool record in the 200 Individual Medley and the Warwick swimmers swept back-yard rival Manheim Central in a non-league meet at the Lititz recCenter last Thursday, Dec. 22.

Morgan Haney and Cameron each won two individual events as the Lady Warriors defeated Manheim Central 110-60. On the boys side, Jonathan Zartman and Ryan Mitchell dominated the freestyle events with two wins apiece, leading the Warriors to a 110-37 win. Justin Mitchell also picked up a pair of individual wins.

The two teams share the pool at the Lititz recCenter, although the Barons were designated as the home team last Thursday and they took the early lead in both the boys and girls competitions by touching the wall first in the 200 medley relay. The foursome of Ottens, Hipple, Ginder and Hershey won the boys race in 2:05.06, while Clippinger, Fittery, Daniel and Lapp earned top honors for the girls in 2:06.11

Paige Daniel also captured the first of her two individual golds in the next event, placing first in the 200 free in 2:04.21. Daniel also prevailed in the 100 butterfly in 1:02.15.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

If you didn’t know better, you might have thought Warwick boys basketball coach Jeff Landis was talking football with his players during a team meeting on Tuesday morning.

His topic of discussion?

Time of possession.

"You might think it’s a football statistic," Landis said, "but when you play a team like Catholic High that’s very skilled and is very disciplined, you’ve got to make sure you’re not playing defense for 45 seconds and then coming down and playing offense for 10."

Unfortunately for the Warriors, however, they got into that mindset at times on Tuesday night while shooting 16-of-47 from the field.

Nevertheless, they battled back from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit and had the ball with an opportunity to tie or pull ahead in the final 10 seconds. But a Warrior turnover and an offensive rebound by Catholic forward Omar Lopez in the late stages of the game sealed a 46-44 win by the Crusaders in the opening round of the 22nd annual Warwick Boys Holiday Tournament in Lititz. The tourney is sponsored by the Joshua S. Montpetit Foundation.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Perhaps it was fitting that Warwick ended up at the foul line last Thursday with the game hanging in the balance.

The Warwick girls, after shooting just 13-of-21 at the free throw line in a loss to Cocalico, focused on foul shots at Wednesday’s practice.

The extra work must have helped.

With just :5.0 seconds remaining and the Lady Warriors trailing by one point against Elizabethtown, junior forward Greta Weidemoyer stepped to the line and knocked down both shots.

The E-town girls and 6-foot-2 Division-I recruit Sarah Fairbanks still had one possession left, but they couldn’t get a shot off on time against Warwick’s pressure defense, and the Lady Warriors held on to win 33-32 in a Section One-Two crossover in Lititz.

"We’re very honest with (the players) and they know where our weaknesses are and we said, ‘We need to practice offense and we need to practice foul shooting right now,’" Warwick coach Amy Derr said. "This was a good win for the girls because they knew the Fairbanks sisters (Sarah and Jennifer) … they are known in the league and they’re good ball players. So it was fun."

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

If the Manheim Central wrestlers had any hopes of defeating Ephrata, they had to score bonus points.

Lots of them.

Such is the case when you’re forced to give up three forfeits and 18 points from the outset.

But the Barons came through with five falls and a major decision, while taking eight of 14 bouts overall, en route to a 40-33 decision over the Mounts last Wednesday, Dec. 21 in their Section Two opener in Manheim. Ephrata was without two of its returning District qualifiers, Chad and Mike Lammer.

"We got the bonus points which was key for the amount of points we were giving away that night," Manheim Central coach Troy Sunderland said. "The kids went out and got the big pins that enabled us to win … That was one of the points when we talked to them before the match was, with giving up three weight classes, that’s 18 points right there. So it was a point of emphasis before the match, that’s for sure."

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Greta Weidemoyer had the green light to drive with the ball if she had it.

And the Warwick junior took advantage of the opportunity.

With the Warwick girls leading by just one in the late stages of their non-league opener against back-yard rival Manheim Central last Friday night, Weidemoyer scored on a layup with just 18 seconds left to help clinch a 27-25 win for the Lady Warriors in Manheim.

"It was huge," Warwick coach Amy Derr said. "It was a play that we’ve practiced. Actually, it wasn’t the way that it was supposed to go, but she made it work."

Given that it was the first of three games in a five-day stretch for the Lady Warriors — all on the road — that was certainly huge to get the team started on a winning note. Warwick suffered losses in their next two games, falling 48-35 to Muhlenberg on Monday and 38-31 to Section Three favorite Lampeter-Strasburg in non-league action.