Mildred V. Richards, age 50, of 37 Hospital Ground, died at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital. Funeral services are set for 10 a.m. on Monday, March 4, at Moravian Church. Viewing will be from 8:45 to 9:30 a.m. at the Davis Funeral Home. Interment will be at Western Cemetery #3.
She is survived by her husband nathaniel Richards, son Leroy Richards; daughters Marvelyn Thomas, Vanessa Richards and Delitta Richards; brothers Ebenezer Thomas, Kenneth Thomas, Athniel Thomas and Cecil Thomas; sisters Elsie Thomas, Cynthia Thomas, Eulalie Thomas and Vassell Thomas-Goedgedrad; four grandchildren; and friends and relatives too numerous to mention.
Arrangements by Davis Funeral Home.

Irvin Dinzey, age 38, died at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital Feb. 27. Funeral services are set for 9 a.m. on Monday, March 4, at the Methodist Church Market Square.
He is survived by his mother Sylvena Dinzey; father Kelvin Dinzey, brothers Clarence Isles, Larry, Allen and Errol Dinzey; sisters Leonis Dinzey-Boyce and Mahalia Dinzey; and other friends and relatives too numerous to mention.
Funeral arrangements by Davis Funeral Home.

Feb. 28, 2002 – An exhibition of new paintings by Aphrodite will open Friday at the Frames of Mind Gallery in the old Lumberyard complex in Cruz Bay. The public is invited to the meet-the-artist reception from 6 to 8 p.m.
Aphrodite's tropical island images are familiar to many local art aficionados. For many years, she was a winter-season Virgin Islands visitor. Now, she and her husband own a home on St. Thomas's East End.
"She works mostly in oil and some in watercolor," Frames of Mind co-owner John Baldwin says. "Her inspiration comes from the local landscape and local people."
The show consists of about 30 paintings ranging in price from $300 to $3,000. It will hang through March 15.
"After a very successful exhibit of her work last year, we are very excited about her new work that she will be showing starting this Friday," Baldwin said.

Wendell Harvey, age 32, of 148-161 Estate Tutu, died in Miami on Feb. 22. His funeral services are set for 11 a.m. on Mar. 3, at Shiloh Adventist Church.
He is survived by his mother Maisie Harvey; father William Harvey; second mother Katie Jones, many friends and relatives too numerous to mention.
The first viewing will be from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 2, at the Davis Funeral Home Chapel, second viewing will be from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Shiloh Adventist Church. Interment will be at Western Cemetery #3.
Funeral arrangements by Davis Funeral Home.

Feb. 28, 2002 – A $20,000 grant awarded to the University of the Virgin Islands will implement a student service-learning project that addresses needs of the V.I. community.
The Service-Learning Project, funded by the Corporation for National Service through the Campus Compact National Center for Community Colleges, seeks to establish UVI as a partner in addressing social issues, and to provide meaningful learning opportunities for UVI students.
The award will support UVI faculty who include a community service component in their courses, and will develop agency interest in student participation. The program, which will be directed by St. Croix-based Robin Groelle, will encompass both St. Thomas and St. Croix communities. Students who participate will receive credit in their courses for service to designated community agencies.
It's the law already – for V.I. high school students
While the idea of volunteer service may not be familiar to all UVI entering students, it is not a new concept to Virgin Islands secondary school students. The V.I. Senate put Act No. 6233 on the books in 1998 from a bill sponsored by Sen. Norman Jn.-Baptiste. The Act's initial language states "high schools in the Virgin Islands," without a limit to public or private, and mandates required hours of volunteer service by students during their four years of high school.
Individual schools contacted vary widely in their recommendations or requirements. At the present time, Charlotte Amalie High School seniors are required to perform 200 hours of community service over their four years; entering freshmen are required to perform 500 hours during their four years. St. Croix Central High School presently "encourages and recommends" volunteer service; entering ninth graders are required to perform 25 hours per year. St. Croix Educational Complex has a required amount, but no guidance counselors were available Thursday to provide details. Ivanna Eudora Kean High School requires 10 hour of present seniors; entering ninth graders have an increased requirement.
A telephone survey of private schools suggests that nearly all, if not all, require or expect students to participate in volunteer community service programs. Several guidance counselors observed that this component has become a standard request on college applications – although UVI admission forms do not contain this specific query.
It's the habit already – for V.I. high school students
United Way executive director Thyra Hammond says she has long used the services of both high school and college students, under various programs. She praised the level of performance and attention brought by the students. "We couldn't manage without the high school students," she said, "or the college students particularly during the summers, when United Way is organizing its fall fundraising mailings.
She mentioned especially a UVI student, Shenelle Francis, who has volunteered faithfully through several semesters.
Hammond praised the Friends of Volunteers in Public Schools for their annual orientation "fair," an event started by Valerie George. Nonprofit agencies set up tables for the day at a site where students are brought to learn about the various nonprofit groups that they might become volunteers for. Hammond noted that more nonprofits need to participate in this event, so students can learn about a wider variety of local nonprofit groups that need volunteer help.
Nonprofits invited to participate in UVI's present project
Community service agencies and nonprofit organizations interested in partnering with UVI under the newly awarded grant to meet community needs are encouraged to contact Groelle at 778-1620 ext. 3184. The award runs through July, and plans are in place to request a renewal award through July of 2003.
Judith Rogers, St. Croix campus librarian, and Lucia DiMeo, a communications instructor on the St. Croix campus, authored the grant proposal. In their proposal they noted that, "as the only institution of higher education in the territory, UVI is uniquely positioned to influence community norms and to identify solutions to social issues that plague our community."
They further found that UVI students "need opportunities for varied experiences to ensure their development as responsible and productive citizens at a time when nonprofit agencies are in dire need of volunteer participation."
Perhaps this program will lead a biology major to serve with Doctors Without Borders, a nursing student to Project Hope in Bangladesh, or a business graduate ultimately to the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or the Ford Foundation.
Campus Compact is a national coalition of more than 750 colleges and universities that are actively engaged in community service. As a requirement of the award, UVI will now become a member of that group.

Feb. 28, 2002 – FirstBank Puerto Rico has reached an agreement with JPMorganChase to purchase Chase's U.S. and British Virgin Islands operations.
The sale includes eight branch banks and 14 ATM locations on four islands: St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John and Tortola.
FirstBank has also agreed to purchase the ancillary Chase agencies, which include Chase Agency Services Inc., an insurance service, and Chase Trade, a foreign sales corporation management service.
The deal comes a few months after lengthy negotiations between V.I. Community Bank and Chase broke down, ending up with the two entities suing each other.
VICB, owned by businessman Jeffrey Prosser, had announced in June of 1999 its intention to buy Chase, but more than two and a half years later the whole thing fell apart, after several deadlines had come and gone.
The matter of the lawsuits, according to JPMorganChase Vice President Catherine Keary, "has been amicably resolved."
Keary wouldn't reveal the details of the settlement between Chase and VICB; nor would she say what the sale price was for the acquisition by FirstBank.
In 1999 FirstBank bought the Citibank branch at Port of $ale Mall on St. Thomas and in early 2000 it acquired First Virgin Islands Bank, located in the GERS Building in downtown Charlotte Amalie.
A joint release from Chase and First BanCorp, FirstBank's parent company, said, "This proposed acquisition continues FirstBank's diversification and expansion strategy."
Chase's V.I. general manager and vice president, Cassan Pancham, said he is "happy and excited" about the acquisition and said he will be staying on to manage the combined operations.
"An important element of this transaction," he said, "will be a smooth transition for our customers and employees."
Chase employs more than 280 people and has assets related to the transaction in excess of $500 million.
First BanCorp is an $8.2 billion financial holding company. As its subsidiary, FirstBank operates 92 financial service facilities throughout Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the U.S. mainland.

Feb. 28, 2002 – Two longtime St. John residents who became acquainted in another walk of life are teaming up for the March art exhibition at Chase Bank in Cruz Bay. The show, presented under the auspices of the St. John School of the Arts, is of digitized "watercolor photography" by Pam Taylor and paintings, mainly acrylics, by Daisy Klecan.
Taylor, an island resident for about 10 years, describes herself as a self-taught artist who has been working in various mediums since the age of 8. A Connecticut native, she worked as a paralegal in Vermont for 13 years before moving to St. John, where she took up the commuting life with a paralegal job on St. Thomas.
Daisy Klecan, another St. John resident, shared the daily ride with her on the ferry between St. John and downtown St. Thomas, where Klecan, too, worked as a paralegal for a time.
"Weary of the commute" after seven years, Taylor decided "to turn my attention to my art." She started painting signs for local restaurants, then "began drawing and painting on a pretty much full-time basis." About that time, the Artists' Association of St. John was being formed "and I attended some meetings, helped with the legal aspects of incorporation of the non-profit organization, was elected to the board of directors and appointed treasurer."
She co-chaired the association's exhibition at the Westin St. John Feb. 7-11 and was a featured artist at the Lorelei shop for the St. John Arts Festival, which was going on at the same time. For the Lorelei show, she turned to her camera knowledge "and came up with a series of what I am calling watercolor photography."
The images, computer prints that have the look of watercolors, are of familiar spots around St. John, she says, "from Vye's Snack Shack on the East End to Woody's on the west." For the Chase show, she's staying with the genre with a series she calls "Flora and Fauna of St. John." Among the pictures are "some recent shots of the baby deer at Lameshur Bay."
Taylor is keeping her technique for composing the watercolor photos a secret for now "as it is new and I don't want it to be copied yet." Meanwhile, she is continuing to work in acrylic, watercolor and pastel and has some three-dimensional mixed media pieces in progress.
Klecan, a resident of the Virgin Islands for 25 years and of Lovango Cay for 16 of them, is a former sailor. It was a traumatic experience last year that led her to take up art on a full-time basis.
"Convalescing after a catastrophic accident that left my right arm partially paralized for seven months, I wondered if I would ever have the use of my arm again," she relates. "After 20 years of painting sporadically, I vowed that if I recovered the use of my arm, I would follow my lifelong dream of painting full time." She said she believes that her resolution helped her heal and kept her motivated through the long months of rehabilitation.
She paints primarily in acrylic on canvas but currently also is working with pastel and watercolor. "I take my inspiration from nature as reflected in my landscapes and seascapes," she says.
The show opens Friday and will hang through the end of March. All of the exhibited works are for sale.

February 28, 2002 – The U.S. Census Bureau has released "Population and Housing Profile: 2000" for the Virgin Islands, and some of the data "may be surprising," said Dr. Frank Mills, director of the Eastern Caribbean Center at the University of the Virgin Islands.
The Census data indicate that in the 10 years since the 1990 Census was conducted, household size and family size have decreased throughout the territory. "In 1992, there were over 2,600 births," Dr. Mills said, in a UVI release. "By 1997, we were down to about 2,100 births."
By 2000, unemployment was readjusting to normal levels. The data also show that the median age of the population has increased, as have the number of foreign-born residents. While household income and per-capita income have increased, poverty has also increased.
"Some groups are getting richer and other groups are getting poorer," Dr. Mills said.
The demographic information contained within this profile, as well as previously released Census 2000 data, is available on the U.S. Census website at www.census.gov. On the main page, click on "V" to go to all available Virgin Islands information.
To obtain information or free copies of the results of the 2000 Census, please call the Eastern Caribbean Center at 693-1020 or 693-1027.
The ECC has served as the Virgin Islands Census Data Center since 1988.
Grandparents responsible for grandchild 5 years or more, Virgin Islands total: 1,211. St. Johnians who commute to work on a motorcycle total 9, compared to 65 who use the ferry and 354 who walk.

Feb. 28, 2002 – FirstBank Puerto Rico has reached an agreement with JPMorganChase to purchase Chase's U.S. and British Virgin Islands operations.
The sale includes eight branch banks and 14 ATM locations on four islands: St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John and Tortola.
FirstBank has also agreed to purchase the ancillary Chase agencies, which include Chase Agency Services Inc., an insurance service, and Chase Trade, a foreign sales corporation management service.
The deal comes a few months after lengthy negotiations between V.I. Community Bank and Chase broke down, ending up with the two entities suing each other.
VICB, owned by businessman Jeffrey Prosser, had announced in June of 1999 its intention to buy Chase, but more than two and a half years later the whole thing fell apart, after several deadlines had come and gone.
The matter of the lawsuits, according to JPMorganChase Vice President Catherine Keary, "has been amicably resolved."
Keary wouldn't reveal the details of the settlement between Chase and VICB; nor would she say what the sale price was for the acquisition by FirstBank.
In 1999 FirstBank bought the Citibank branch at Port of $ale Mall on St. Thomas and in early 2000 it acquired First Virgin Islands Bank, located in the GERS Building in downtown Charlotte Amalie.
A joint release from Chase and First BanCorp, FirstBank's parent company, said, "This proposed acquisition continues FirstBank's diversification and expansion strategy."
Chase's V.I. general manager and vice president, Cassan Pancham, said he is "happy and excited" about the acquisition and said he will be staying on to manage the combined operations.
"An important element of this transaction," he said, "will be a smooth transition for our customers and employees."
Chase employs more than 280 people and has assets related to the transaction in excess of $500 million.
First BanCorp is an $8.2 billion financial holding company. As its subsidiary, FirstBank operates 92 financial service facilities throughout Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the U.S. mainland.

February 28, 2002 – The U.S. Census Bureau has released "Population and Housing Profile: 2000" for the Virgin Islands, and some of the data "may be surprising," said Dr. Frank Mills, director of the Eastern Caribbean Center at the University of the Virgin Islands.
The Census data indicate that in the 10 years since the 1990 Census was conducted, household size and family size have decreased throughout the territory. "In 1992, there were over 2,600 births," Dr. Mills said, in a UVI release. "By 1997, we were down to about 2,100 births."
By 2000, unemployment was readjusting to normal levels. The data also show that the median age of the population has increased, as have the number of foreign-born residents. While household income and per-capita income have increased, poverty has also increased.
"Some groups are getting richer and other groups are getting poorer," Dr. Mills said.
The demographic information contained within this profile, as well as previously released Census 2000 data, is available on the U.S. Census website at www.census.gov. On the main page, click on "V" to go to all available Virgin Islands information.
To obtain information or free copies of the results of the 2000 Census, please call the Eastern Caribbean Center at 693-1020 or 693-1027.
The ECC has served as the Virgin Islands Census Data Center since 1988.
Grandparents responsible for grandchild 5 years or more, Virgin Islands total: 1,211. St. Johnians who commute to work on a motorcycle total 9, compared to 65 who use the ferry and 354 who walk.