Gene Ray Griggs, 82, passed away Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, at Homestead Assisted Living in Bethany. He was born April 10, 1937, in Calumet. Gene grew up in Calumet, graduating from Calumet High School. He married Georgia Ruzicka on Sept. 15, 1963, sharing over 56 years of marriage. They established their home northwest of Yukon and became proud parents to Patricia and Del.

Gene was a service manager at Goodyear Tire and then became service manager for a Chevrolet dealership for many years until his retirement.

There are many forms of art. One is making beer.

A new brewery is opening up in Okarche. Called Expedinture Brewery, it is owned by a team of five men with ties to Okarche — Heath Robinson, Keith Griesel, Cody White, Michael Vogt and Thomas Vogt.

“It’s a mash-up of ‘expedition’ and ‘adventure’,” said Robinson. “Our slogan is ‘Not quite an EXPEDITION, but more than an ADVENTURE.’”

Robinson said the team has brewed beer off and on for more than a decade, kicking it up a notch over the last few years making their own original recipes.

Funeral services for Jimmie D. Thomas of Minco were held Friday at the First Reformed Presbyterian Church in Minco, with burial following in the Hazel Dell Cemetery. Services were under the direction of Huber-Reynolds Funeral Home.

Funeral services for Loretta Schaefer of Okarche are pending with Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Loretta died Thursday at Cimarron Nursing Center in Kingfisher.