Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • 12

12A I PRISON-BULLETIN OBITUARIESWORLD Thursday, April 14, 2011 Company in the United States. 0 Robert Potochniak Lie. Assoc. Real Estate Broker Cell: (607) 759-4760 Off (607) 748-5482 www.bpoto.com KELLER WILLIAMS t. A woman stands in front of Okawa Elementary School, which was destroyed by last month's earthquake and tsunami, in Ishinomaki, Japan, associated press Japan to reopen schools despite deaths, damages Now the 2nd Largest Real Estate CoitiV -y -J-1 -V r- fr 1 I f-OR- Bin tJITjpitimjpfc Sou'havn fingur Libs V5la: Pwy anJ African Rd Vef it- i imii.iiiihi Ptrchinsky, Thomas Andrew, Sr.

Thomas A. Perchinsky, passed away peacefully on April 11, 2011 at his home in Harpursville after a five-year fight against ALS. Tom was born in Binghamton on May 5, 1946, and was a graduate of North High Class of '64. Tom was in the auto business for over 30 years, and was an avid golf and tennis player. Me is predeceased by his parents, Andrew Helen Perchinsky.

Tom is survived by his children, Tom and Holly Perchinsky, and Todd Perchinsky, and their mother, Karen Perchinsky; his beautiful grandchildren, Paige, Zak, and Brooke; his loving partner of many years, Marie Calabrese; his sisters. Donna Juriga, Cheryl and Brad Burns, and Michele Maybach; and many adored nieces and nephews. Please join the family for a celebration of Tom's life on Friday, April 15, 6:00 p.m. at Remlik's Restaurant, 31 Lewis St. Binghamton.

Expressions of sympathy in Tom's memory may be made to the ALS Association www.alsa.orgdonate Finch, Mr. Richard James Mr. Richard James Finch, 52, of Winston-Salem, N.C., passed away Sunday, April 10, 201 1 at Forsyth Medical Center. Mr. Finch was born in Binghamton, N.Y.

on March 23, 1959 to Robert Judson and Margaret Elaine Everling Finch. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Kathleen Ames of Binghamton, N.Y. Mr. Finch is survived by two sons, SSgt. Michael S.

Finch (Katie) of Sumter, S.C. and Robert C. Finch of King, N.C.; two sisters, Gerry (Jim) Casey of Johnson City, N.Y., Jacqueline Finch Knifer of Thomasville, a brother, Thomas (Tina) Finch of Binghamton, N.Y.; one uncle, Donald Finch of Endwell, N.Y.; and a number of nieces, nephews and many friends. There will be no service. Online condolences may be made at www.

Wells-Waters, Dana J. Dana J. Wells-Waters, 48, of Kirk wood, passed away Thursday, April 7, at her home. She was predeceased by her grandparents, Jacob Marie Luce; her aunt, Florence Bryden; and her loving brother, Dean. He was also her best friend.

She is survived by her loving husband, Robert of Kirkwood; her loving parents, Francis Dorothy Wells of Arlington TX; sisters, Darlene Graf, TX, Donna Wells, Binghamton; brother-in-law, Michael Graf, TX; uncle, Harold Luce, NC; nieces, Alycia Wells, Owego, Michelle Graf, TX, Maria Graf, TX; nephew, Sean Graf, TX; godmother, Joann Conrow. She was employed at Liberty Medical, Liberty, NY for 23 years. Memorial services will be held at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 549 Chenango Street, on April 18 at 11:00 a.m. Burial at Chenango Valley Cemetery at family's convenience. Donations may be made to ASPCA in Dana's name.

i Mr. a Come see our lute iMurd Design Call ms lira ist of certified installers! Enter for a chance to win a Seneca Lake Wine Tour Weekend With Qualifying Purchase 223 N. Jensen Road Vestal, New York 13850 VMM BROOME COUNTY building supplies, inc. Associated Press ISHINOMAKI, JAPAN The March 11 tsunami killed 74 of the 108 students at Okawa Elementary School and all but one of the dozen teachers. The main building is ripped open, with trees jammed into second floor classrooms, and the gym and playground have been reduced to.

muddied concrete foundations. Classes start in a week. All along Japan's battered eastern coast, schools have been heavily damaged or converted to shelters, and families are without jobs, permanent homes or cars. But the country is determined to move ahead with one of its annual rites of spring: the start of the new school year in April, even as some parents and children still grieve. "I'm just not ready to think about school yet.

They haven't even found my daughter," said Naomi Hiratsuka, who lost her child Koharu, a sixth-grader at Okawa Elementary, and has a younger one entering first grade. Officials say establishing routines is a crucial step in rebuilding communities and drawing residents out of crisis mode. The 34 surviving students of Okawa Elementary will begin classes on April 21 in four rooms at a nearby school, staying together and treated as a separate school of their own. "We don't know yet if the school can be rebuilt, but we want to maintain continuity for the students," says Kato Shige-mi, an education committee official in Ishinomaki, a devastated riverside community about 220 miles northeast of Tokyo. The damage to the school system is immense.

In Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate prefectures, which bore the brunt of the damage, more than 1,000 students and teachers are dead or missing, out of an overall death toll that could reach 25,000. To help deal with the mental strain, teams of psychologists and school counselors from around the country are being trained and sent to the hardest hit areas. Classrooms will be crowded. Nearly 200 schools require replacement or major renovations, and thousands more need repairs. Hundreds are being used as shelters, mainly their gyms and assembly halls.

School buildings survived in the coastal city of Natori, but some students had already been picked up by their parents and were swept away, said Nobou Takizawa, an education official. The city is arranging special buses to stop at shelters around Natori, he said. Classes will start about 10 days later than normal, and many schools will share buildings, as well as handle students from the shelters. Any delay could set back the future of young survivors. The education system has clearly defined targets for each grade such as mastering hundreds of "kanji," the written characters in the Japanese language that lead to crucial university entrance exams.

Skipping a grade or being held back to repeat one is rare. Days after the disaster, teachers visited shelters, checking on their students and even handing out homework assignments. pand6ra" UNFORCtTIAfLt UOMfNTS American Heart AsMtcialion Learn and Live HEART WALK. The Southern Tier Heart Walk is coming. Sunday, May 1, 2011 at Binghamton University.

NEW LOCATION! Participate. Raise Funds. Save Lives. Join us for the Heart Walk and register your corporate or community team today. Visit www.southerntierheartwalk.org or call (607)723-0208.

eat fresh. 1 ft Are you nervous after heart Sponsored By: LocaHy LOURDES I WNBF VnMn Channel ifjJ x. I ten 1 0 about exercising again surgery-? Exercise is just hat your heart ami soul needs right now. Learn how to get bai into shae from UHS Cardiac Rehabilitation's Selvvyn Griffith, Carol Blackwell and Linda Gioia. Monday, April 25, 2011 Meeting begins at Presentation begins at UHS Wilson Medical Center Pieciano 4th Hoot; Room 5 ABC Johnson City, NT RSV'P by Friday, April 22 by calling (607) 763-5092 Mended Hearts offers hope and educates patients about cardiovascular health, empowering them as they manage a heart-healthy lifestyle.

Not a member? Join us and make a difference in the lives of heart disease patients and their families. For more information contact: mwlnheldstny.rr.com orcall(607) 785-1017 Free refreshments and door prize are provided. JEWELERS Your First and Last Stop For Occasions of the Heart 607-729-1033 3951 Vestal Parkway East Monday Friday 10am-7pm Saturday 10am 5pm Family owned since 1932 FREE ami open to the public UHS www.uhs.net CANDOR VltVVURV COM.