Clifton Herman Dunsford
October 18, 2024
Mr. Clifton Herman Dunsford, age 79, passed away, Friday, October 18, 2024 in Century, FL, surrounded by his family. He was born January 14, 1945, in Jay, FL, and has resided most of his life in Century. He was a retired supervisor with Wayne Dalton Doors with many years of service.
Mr. Dunsford was a man of many passions. He loved fishing and hunting, often spending his weekends outdoors, enjoying nature. As a skilled boat mechanic, he spent countless hours tinkering with engines and fixing up boats, which brought him a lot of joy. Gardening was another one of his favorite activities; he found great pleasure in planting and nurturing his plants. Most importantly, Mr. Dunsford cherished the time he spent with his family, creating lasting memories together in the great outdoors.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Herman Richard (Euceder Simmons) Dunsford; wife, Barbara Holley Dunsford; son, Christopher Allen Dunsford; three brothers, Wade Dunsford, James Dunsford, and Gene Dunsford; two sisters, Mollie Dunsford and Sadie Burkette; daughter-in-law, Sherry Dunsford.
He is survived by a daughter, Becky (Jamie) Cobb of Century; sister, Josie Driver of McDavid; four grandchildren, Marc Dunsford, Mitch Dunsford, Kolbi Cobb, and Kendal Payne; seven great-grandchildren, Cole Dunsford, Brayden Smith, Waylon Dunsford, Gabe Dunsford, Wesley Dunsford, Boe Payne, Jeremiah Dunsford, other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be held Monday, October 21, 2024, at 11 a.m. at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes with Rev. Glenn Johnson officiating.
Burial will follow at Pineview Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Monday, October 21, 2024, from 10 a.m. until service time at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes.
Pallbearers will be Cole Dunsford, Brayden Smith, Joey Gunter, Roger Burkette, Doug Dunsford, and Stephen Flowers.
Honorary pallbearers will be Waylon Dunsford, Gabe Dunsford, and Wesley Dunsford.
James L. Weatherford
October 18, 2024
James L. Weatherford, 74, of Cantonment, passed peacefully on October 16, 2024 after a lengthy medical battle.
Services will be held at Pine Forest Assembly of God Church in Cantonment on Saturday, October 26, 2024, at 11 a.m. with Pastor Gene Hudson officiating.
A luncheon will be held afterwards.
Gloria Jean Sanspree
October 17, 2024
Mrs. Gloria Jean Sanspree, age 76, passed away, Thursday, October 17, 2024 in Canoe, AL; surrounded by her family. She was born May 2, 1948 in Bay Minette, AL; and has resided most of her life in Canoe. She attended Canoe First Baptist Church and retired as a administrative assistant for the Board of Education for many years.
Mrs. Sanspree was a woman of many passions. She loved spending her time in the garden, planting and nurturing beautiful flowers that brightened her home. In the kitchen, she shared her love through cooking, always preparing delightful meals for her family. Known for her professional appearance, she cherished her jewelry, adding a special touch to her outfits. Her heart was filled with love for her husband, and they enjoyed attending church together. Mrs. Sanspree made it a priority to ensure her children and grandchildren could join them, creating a warm family tradition centered around faith and togetherness.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Leslie Owen (Roberta Florence Lewis) Glass, husband, Hosea Harrison Sanspree, Sr; two sons, Anthony Todd Sanspree, Hosea “Sandy” Sanspree, one brother, Dewayne Glass, one sister, Betty Loop and one niece, Sherry Lucas.
She is survived by her one daughter, Anna Tingle, Perdido, AL; two brothers, Rusty (Janet) Glass, of Castleberry, AL; David (Anita) Glass, of Wawbeek, AL; five sisters, Barbara Ann Dixon, of Flomaton, AL; Brenda (Wayne) Bell, of Brewton, AL; Roberta Strickland, of Walnut Hill, FL; Diane (Ronnie) Byrd, of Semmes, AL; Susanne Glass, of Foley, AL; twelve grandchildren, Brannon Sanspree, Tyler Sanspree, Gloria Santanna Tingle, Jessica Sanspree, Cole Sanspree, Savannah Tingle, Nick Sanspree,Tanner Sanspree, Breanna Sanspree, Anna Claire Sanspree, Ben Tingle, Bryar Tingle, nine great-grandchildren, Isabella Sanspree, Sophia Ikner, Caden Sanspree, Kalli Ikner, Trinnity Sanspree, Baxlee Sanspree, Kaison McCall, Gatlin Rolin, Gavin Rolin, other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be held Sunday, October 20, 2024 at 2 p.m. at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes with Rev. Waylon Stuckey officiating.
Burial will follow at Sardis Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Saturday, October 19, 2024, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes, LLC.
Pallbearers will be Brannon Sanspree, Tyler Sanspree, Tanner Sanspree, Danny Sanspree, Caden Sanspree, and Cole Sanspree.
Honorary pallbearers will be Ben Tingle, Bryar Tingle, and Nick Sanspree.
Brenda Bowers Tarin
October 9, 2024
Brenda Bowers Tarin, age 72, of Cantonment, Florida passed away from cancer on October 5, 2024. She was born on July 14, 1952, in Pensacola, Florida to William Roy and Barbara Bowers.
She grew up in Pensacola but spent a lot of time in Texas. Brenda worked at several places and was always busy wherever she was working. She had a love of Mexican food and fixed her super hot sauce for friends. It made their mouth’s burn, but they all laughed about it and still enjoyed every bite. She also liked to look at Christmas decorations, throw surprise parties for people, and she loved dogs. One of her favorite pastimes was watching TV. Brenda also loved talking to people, going out to eat with friends, and driving to the beach. She had a generous heart and helped people in need, even when she didn’t have much. She loved her family and they will miss her greatly. Her friends and neighbors were helpful and kind. When she got sick, they brought her much comfort.
Brenda is survived by her dad, William Roy Bowers; brother, William Paul Bowers; sister-in-law, Karen; her niece, Alexia Borden (Gray); and her nephew, Ariston Bowers (Fati).
She is preceded by death by her mother, Barbara Jean Bowers.
Memorial donations may be made to Hospice at Sacred Heart in Brenda’s name.
A Memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North with Dr. Ted Traylor officiating.
Pensacola Police Seek Missing Navy Pilot
August 21, 2024
UPDATE: This missing person has been located.
Pensacola Police are searching for Joshua David Carpenter, a 24-year-old Navy pilot stationed at Whiting Field. Carpenter went missing on August 20 around 7:20 p.m. after leaving his home on Forrest Glenn Drive.
Carpenter is described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes, standing 6′2″ tall and weighing 160 pounds. He was last seen wearing a blue or green long-sleeved shirt and brightly colored shorts.
Carpenter was driving his 2017 silver Honda Civic hatchback with a Texas license plate number of TKH-227.
Additional information was not released.
Anyone with information on Carpenter’s whereabouts is urged to contact the Pensacola Police Department at (85) 435-1845.
Jim Taylor, Candidate Escambia County School Board District 5
August 17, 2024
Current occupation
Retired Educator
Previous occupations
Teacher, Coach, School Social Worker, 6 times Pensacola News Journal “Carrier of the Year”
Civic, church and other community involvement
I am Christian and attend several men’s bible study groups, including Band of Brothers, Highland Baptist Church, Heritage Baptist Church, and several other bible studies. I have worked in numerous food drives. I attend County Commission and School Board meetings.
Education
I have 3 college degrees as well as graduate work in 3 other fields, and I hold 5 current teaching certifications.
Previous offices held, previously sought
ECUA – unsuccessfully; County Commission – unsuccessfully; Superintendent – filed and withdrew when incumbent decided to run for third term.
Why are you running for the Escambia County School Board and what qualifies you for this position?
I am running for this position because I believe Escambia County deserves to be a Top 10 School System, not #57th in the State. I have 44 years in education with 3 degrees and 5 teaching certifications.
What are the three most important issues facing the Escambia County Public Schools?
(1) Teacher pay and retention; (2) Discipline; (3) Dealing with the dirty books
What is the school district going right at the current time, and what needs to be fixed?
Morale has improved with the appointment of Superintendent Keith Leonard. We must have better teacher pay and retention, along with improved discipline. We must reduce waste and administrative positions. We must get rid of the dirty books.
How would you address teacher pay, recruiting and retention and attract and retain more qualified candidates to Escambia County?
I will work with State and local governments to improve teacher pay and bonuses. I will also try to recruit higher paying businesses to improve the tax base and lower taxes.
How do we address issues surrounding book challenges?
I have been leading the charge against dirty books and I was the only District 5 candidate to be invited to Governor DeSantis’ bill signing on the dirty books. I suggest we follow the
guidelines of Governor DeSantis.
How should cell phones/devices in schools be addressed?
They should be placed in the child’s book bag and only allowed at lunch and after school.
What are the unique issues facing District 5 schools in Escambia County? What makes District 5 different?
Long bus rides — District 5 is over half the County in size but only receives 1/5 of the funding. We have rural, urban, and extremely rural areas, and problems to deal with. We also have wide extremes of wealth and povert
Tom Harrell, Candidate Escambia County School Board District 5
August 17, 2024
Current occupation:
Retired principal
Previous occupations
Business owner, teacher, assistant principal, principal, school district administrator on special assignment, adjunct instructor at Pensacola State College, math coach
Civic, church and other community involvement
NRA member, lifetime member of the PTA, former member of the Solutia Advisory Committee, Paul Harris Fellow Cantonment Rotary Club, Richard’s Memorial Methodist Church: former member -Church Council, President of Methodist Men, Chairman of Staff Parish Committee, former Principal of The Year Escambia School District, Former Teacher of The Year (Ransom Middle School), Recognized twice by the Escambia School Board for outstanding service.
Education
B. S. degree in Vocational Education from The University of West Florida
M. S. degree in Educational Administration from Troy State University
Ed. Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from The University of South Alabama
Master Teacher State of Florida
Selected for the first Principal’s Pool for the Escambia School District
My experience includes general ed, workforce education, ESE, and ranges from elementary through community.
Why are you running for the Escambia County School Board and what qualifies you for this position?
I am running for the Escambia School Board because I want to help make our School District one of the best in our state. I want to serve my community and bring my thirty-eight years of experience to the decision-making process on the School Board. I was a highly successful principal with a unique skill set. When I was principal, under my leadership, R. C. Lipscomb Elementary was a Five Star “A” school for ten straight years. This was the highest award given by the Florida Department of Education. Our test scores were among the highest in the state and nation. We had 100% parent and faculty PTA membership during my tenure. Forty-seven community business partners-in-education and over 23,000 volunteer hours each year. When I was District Administrator on Special Assignment, I developed the plan and provided the leadership that moved O. J. Semmes Elementary School from a double “F” to a “C” in seven months. Our School Board needs fresh innovative ideas to help both high performing schools and struggling schools. I believe my proven educational leadership skill set would be an asset to both the School Board and the community.
What are the three most important issues facing the Escambia County Public Schools?
Improving academic performance, discipline, attendance, graduation rate on time and teacher/employee salaries and retention.
We need to return to an elected superintendent. We should never have given up our right to vote for this position. At the appropriate time, I will make the motion to put elected superintendent on the ballot.
As long as we are in these hard economic times, I will not vote to raise your property taxes.
What is the school district going right at the current time, and what needs to be fixed?
We have a wonderful skilled and very adaptive workforce that has a great deal of institutional knowledge and experience. We need to do everything we can to keep our employees at all levels.
The Escambia School District has made considerable academic progress this past school year under the leadership of Keith Leonard. We now have no failing schools in our District. I commend Superintendent Leonard and all District employees for this great accomplishment but now we need to build upon this success.
Our Workforce Education Program is doing an excellent job as indicated by the number of industry certifications. We are getting more industry certifications than many of the larger school districts. It is important for our students to leave high school with job ready skills. We need to look closely at what is working in this area and increase student awareness of these opportunities.
How would you address teacher pay, recruiting and retention and attract and retain more qualified candidates to Escambia County?
Teacher and other employees’ salaries and benefits has to be set as a high budget priority.
We have to do a better job of creating trust and making employees feel valued.
I would support hiring bonuses for teachers and other employees in critical shortage areas.
When you create trust and make employees feel valued while improving salaries/benefits our employees will want to stay.
How do we address issues surrounding book challenges?
I will make sure inappropriate books are removed from our schools. I believe the reviews of books should take place by the committee up front before they are placed in our media centers and that a matrix should be used to with substantial community input.
Under no circumstances should our school be used for any type of indoctrination of students or staff.
I am a strong Christian conservative who would appoint like-minded individuals to book review committees. I am a strong anti-woke candidate.
How should cell phones/devices in schools be addressed?
In my opinion, cell phones/devices create a great deal of discipline problems. They contribute to bullying, fights and social targeting. I would start by supporting a policy that allowed student to have cell phones/devices in their backpacks for emergency use only. They could not use the phone/device except for well-defined emergencies.
What are the unique issues facing District 5 schools in Escambia County? What makes District 5 different?
District 5 is the largest geographically and is experiencing a tremendous amount of growth and development. Many of our schools have portables and are at maximum student capacity. We have to do a better job working with our county government to improve infrastructure in advance of development.
Joshua Luther, Candidate Escambia County School Board District 5
August 17, 2024
Current occupation
Jack of all Trades
Previous occupations:
Residential Construction Builder
Civic, church and other community involvement
I am an active member of a local Reformed Baptist Church
Education
Graduate of Luther Homeschool
Previous offices held, previously sought
N/A
Why are you running for the Escambia County School Board and what qualifies you for this position?
I’m running for school board because Christian money is being extorted to propagate the agnostic faith. Christian teachers are banned from praising their King, and as if Jesus were but a fairy tale character, only the children are allowed to speak his name. As America was founded as a Protestant nation, some semblance of justice remains. Our consolation prize for having our money taken to fund the abomination called “public education” is that we get to elect a representative to manage the nightmare. I’m running to represent the true Christian faith and practice damage control by cutting back on spending, fighting against the perversion that the godless have brought in, and advocating for children to be raised in the fear of the Lord, that fear being the beginning of knowledge.
As I was not raised to be a heathen in the state schools but rather raised by godly parents in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, I am more equipped to fight for truth and justice than those still using the world’s counterfeits of these foundational principles. It is the duty of men to resist the wicked, and I plan to do so heartily until the day I die.
What are the three most important issues facing the Escambia County Public Schools?
The problems we face with poor behavior and academic failure stem from the central issue of godlessness. It has been accurately said, “No finite point has meaning without an infinite reference point.” We shouldn’t expect children to care about respecting their teachers and peers when we refuse to acknowledge that all honor and value ultimately originate solely in God.
Regarding academics, we have indoctrinated children to “follow your heart” so we should not be surprised when they do. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) People don’t need a high school degree to “have a good time,” but they may need one to subdue the earth to the Glory of God. This is a classic example of reaping what you sow. If you sow purpose, you reap ambition; but if you sow meaninglessness, you reap indifference.
What is the school district going right at the current time, and what needs to be fixed?
I appreciate that we don’t completely confine children to sit at a desk and memorize curriculum, but we need to give even more time (during normal school hours) to sports and physical activity and let kids be kids. Children, especially little boys, were not made to be chained to a desk and then drugged when they do not submit to this confinement. They were made to run around, fall down, and get back up again to run some more.
“And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.” (Zechariah 8:5)
Furthermore we the people need to get our children engaged in productive endeavors (also known as work). General success comes about through discipline, which is something that isn’t acquired through being spoon-fed seemingly worthless facts.
How would you address teacher pay, recruiting and retention and attract and retain more qualified candidates to Escambia County?
I would like to address recruitment and retention by teaching children that they are expected to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love their neighbor as themselves. When we expect and encourage children to be saints-in-training rather than little narcissists, then we will have created a much more pleasant work environment.
Additionally, if we free Christian teachers to talk about and praise King Jesus, then our schools will be attractive to teachers who want to equip the next generation to subdue the world to the glory of God.
Without these essential changes, we are like the man who loves apples but not apple trees. He has cut down his orchard and is now wondering why there’s a shortage of apples. We shouldn’t be surprised that we have issues when we’ve rejected God’s Words of Life.
How do we address issues surrounding book challenges?
We need to protect the hearts and minds of our children and pursue very strict standards that are in submission to the wisdom and principles found in the Word of God. Furthermore, it would be wise to shut down the flow of books into our school libraries until we have replaced the gatekeepers who, in hatred of God’s Law, have been bringing in the filth.
There’s really not much to say about this issue unless you’re trying to make the irrational moral leap of trying to justify having state-sponsored porn in our school libraries.
“Nine times out of ten it is the coarse word that condemns an evil, and the refined word that excuses it.”
G.K. Chesterton
How should cell phones/devices in schools be addressed?
We should begin moving to having no phone usage from the time school begins till it lets out. Most adults can’t handle this package of distraction, and so we shouldn’t burden our children with it. Additionally, we shouldn’t burden school employees with children suffering from phone-induced distraction.
In relation to school-owned devices available for student use, we have managed to teach the basics without devices, and I would like to return to the basics, and I lean toward the basic methods of teaching them. But, insofar as we keep them we should do our best to secure them to operate strictly on a whitelist.
What are the unique issues facing District 5 schools in Escambia County? What makes District 5 different?
District 5 is very large and could benefit greatly from small, localized Christian schools being started by the different communities.
Also, especially in Century, many children come from fatherless homes and would be very much helped by teachers who could offer them hope and security by mentoring them in God’s vision for life, family, and community. Fatherless boys and young men desperately need godly masculine role models in their lives who are free to share with them the saving and hope-giving gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus tells us, “I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness.” (John 12:46) The answer to darkness is not more government programs but rather the Savior, Jesus Christ.
30,000 Pounds Of Food, Backpacks To Be Distributed Saturday Morning At Olive Baptist
August 2, 2024
Rep. Michelle Salzman and partners will host a Back to School Food Distribution and Backpack Giveaway Saturday at Olive Baptist Church.
The event will begin at 7:30 a.m. Vehicles should not line up earlier than 7 a.m. There will be a designated area for walk-ups.
There will be 30,000 pounds of food for the first 400 families. Backpacks will be available on a first come first served basis with a limit of two per vehicle.
Olive Baptist Church is located at 1836 East Olive Road in Pensacola.
Pictured: A 2023 food giveaway and backpack distribution was held at Gonzalez Baptist Church. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Press ID – Nikki Purvis – Expires 7/14/2024
July 11, 2024
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NIKKI PURVIS
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EXPIRATION: 07/14/2024
