So what’s in a name? In this case, chuckles

Dear Abby ByAbigailVanBuren

DEAR READERS: Mail keeps arriving regarding names that match occupations. My staff and I have been having a wonderful time reading it, and I would love to share more with you. So, if you’re up for a chuckle, read on. (If not, just go back to the national news.) DEAR ABBY: When I saw the letter about Miss Hunger, the dietitian at Stout University, I had to write. My father was born in Menomonie, Wis., where Stout is located, and later taught there. He used to tell me about a law firm there called Ketchum and Cheatum. Also, he had a high school classmate named Iva Liver. -ANN H., COLUMBUS, OHIO DEAR ABBY: Years ago, I interviewed an attorney who was supposed to handle an important matter for me. His name: Rex R. Case. (Needless to say, I did not hire him!) — LINDA, N.J. DEAR ABBY: The day your column on funny names appeared, I had a good laugh and then began reading the front section of the paper, where I encountered the following. It’s from The Associated Press with a byline of Lauran Neergard, which I am enclosing. It’s titled “Circumcision of African men can cut HIV risk by half.” The physician quoted from the World Health Organization is Dr. Kevin De Cock. I could not believe the two articles appeared in the same newspaper on the same day. -BONNIE IN WABASH, IND. DEAR ABBY: For many years the Internal Revenue supervisor in Oklahoma City was “I.M. Filer.” — ANONYMOUS IN OKLAHOMA DEAR ABBY: My sister lives in Williamsville, N.Y. (near Buffalo), where there is a funeral home that seems nothing out of the ordinary, except for the name: Amigone Funeral Home. (Am I Gone.) True! Look them up — they’re in the phone book! — ALAINE IN JAMESTOWN, N.Y. DEAR ABBY: Here in Anchorage, Alaska, we have a dentist named Dr. Phil Wright. — VERN S., ANCHORAGE DEAR ABBY: I have two names for you. My daughter’s pediatrician is Dr. LeFevere, and my former priest’s was Father O’Pray. — STEPHANIE IN BLOOMINGTON, MINN. DEAR ABBY: When I first moved here, I was looking for a new ob/gyn and came across a listing for a Dr. C. (Cynthia, I believe) Hymen. — MEGAN IN STRATFORD, CONN. DEAR ABBY: A few years ago I needed minor surgery and went to the VA hospital in Palo Alto. The young female anesthetist was a novice named Mallet. Try as she might, she could not find a vein — and when I took the “Mallet by the handle” and told her if she couldn’t find a vein she should use a mallet, she didn’t crack a smile. — EARL C., MANTECA, CALIF. DEAR ABBY: I once met a liquor salesman named Casey Sause. — PAMELA IN BATON ROUGE, LA. DEAR ABBY: I have diabetes and see a dietitian and a diabetes educator. Their last names are Short and Stout. I’m sure they never hear the end of it. — NANCY IN NOBLESVILLE, IND. DEAR ABBY: Linda Toots taught flute at Tanglewood! — PEGGY B., CHICAGO DEAR ABBY: There’s a nudist colony in northern New Jersey that is owned by a Dr. Lust. — ADRIAN IN PRINCETOWN, N.J. DEAR ABBY: Years ago, here in Fort Worth, Texas, we had a doctor named Dr. Rumph. His specialty? Proctology, of course! — HAD TO LAUGH IN FORT WORTH