Roberta (Bobbi) Lorraine Peters, 88, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 5, 2019 in Great Bend, Kansas of natural causes.  Bobbi was born in Onaga, Kansas on December 2, 1930, to Adda Belle (Brown) and Charles Crumbaker.  Having grown up on a rural dairy farm, she knew the value of hard work, the love of nature, the importance of family and the value of compromise while growing up with 10 brothers and sisters.  She loved riding the family horse Topsy, and playing basketball and softball.

Bobbi graduated from Manhattan High School in 1948 and married Edward Peters in 1950.  To this union were two children who were the joy of their life.  Ron Peters and Jan Peters, both of whom graduated from Great Bend High School and traveled with Up With People (UWP).  Because of Bobbi’s love of music and the adventure of travel, she encouraged Ron and Jan to “see the world” and ultimately established worldwide friendships and lasting memories from their experience with UWP.  She always said, “the best thing you can give your children are roots and wings.”  And she so graciously gave them both.

After starting her career in accounting at Boeing in Wichita, while Ed served in the Air Force, she, along with her brother Don, a Kansas State Representative, and several other brothers and sisters, became major advocates for Kansas education.  Bobbi was the first Business Manager at both Colby Community College and Barton County Community College (BCCC).  In addition, she started the annual scholarship auction at BCCC which continues to raise funds for deserving students even today.  Knowing the importance of quality leadership, she was the first woman elected to the BCCC Board of Trustees and was the first woman to lead the Kansas Association of Community College Trustees Board of Directors as the Chairman of the Board.  In addition Bobbi served as the Business Manager at O’Neill & Whitaker, a Kansas City, Missouri-based customs broker and freight forwarder, and helped start Plating, Inc. in Great Bend.

Throughout her life, Bobbi was active in numerous business and community organizations throughout the state of Kansas.  She valued the true friends she made at Church of the Resurrection and enjoyed serving in church activities – Hope Circle, Red Coats Hospitality Group, Small Group and Stephen Ministry. She was also an active member of PEO Chapter IT.

Bobbi has been described as, “the best second mom anyone could ask for,” “a true champion for education in rural communities,” “such a compassionate and kind person,” “so generous and supportive,” “such a loyal friend and boss,” and “my angel on earth.”  She dearly loved her family and friends and was a devoted grandmother and so proud that her granddaughter Kaley continued the legacy of a career in helping students in education, her granddaughter Jayci serves those in need, and Eric believes in her value of hard work.

Bobbi was preceded in death by her husband Ed Peters; her parents; brothers – Dale Crumbaker, Don Crumbaker, and Evan Crumbaker; sisters – Helen Dent, Frances Moyer, and Dorothy Shandy; as well as several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Survivors include her son Ron Peters (Overland Park, KS) and her daughter Jan Peters (Great Bend, KS); grandchild – Eric Peters and great-granddaughter – Ellie Peters (Great Bend, KS); grandchild Kaley and husband Chris Tyler and great-granddaughter Gemma Rose Tyler (Tampa, FL); grandchild Jayci Peters and Denzel Black (Wesley Chapel, FL); sisters – Nada Belle McCool (Wamego, KS), Ardith Murray (Bentonville, AR), Carol Adolph (Manhattan, KS), and Marge Knorr (Manhattan, KS); along with 30 nieces and nephews, 31 great nieces and nephews, and numerous friends.

Words can never adequately describe the appreciation the family has for the amazing caregivers from ElderCare who cared for Bobbi for the last two and half years of her life.  Their kindness, love, and dedication is unmatched and beyond measure – Karen Branson, LPN, Carolyn Spracklin, Mandi Martin, and “Mother” Mary Ingram as well as Brandi Gruber, Executive Director.  The University of Kansas Health System – Hospice Care nurses are absolutely incredible as well.

Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 8, 2019 with a celebration of memories for the life of Bobbi at 7:00 p.m., at Bryant Funeral Home in Great Bend, Kansas. A celebration of life will take place on Friday, May 10, 2019 at 2:30 p.m., in the Wesley Chapel at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.  Her final resting place will be alongside her husband in Wamego.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials for the Music Department at Church of the Resurrection (Leawood) and ElderCare (Great Bend).

Donna Lee Krenzel, age 85, passed away on Friday, May 3, 2019 at Wichita County Health Center in Leoti, Kansas. Donna was born August 5, 1933 in Haven, Kansas, the daughter of Otto & Isabelle (Mount) Dierks. A resident of Wichita County, Kansas since 1936, she was a Farm Wife and Homemaker.

Donna was a member of the First Baptist Church and the Rebecca Lodge # 954, both in Leoti, Kansas. She was also a Charter and Lifetime member of the Wichita County Historical Society.

On May 25, 1951 she married Irvin Ray Krenzel at Tribune, Kansas. Irvin passed away on May 12, 1993 in Leoti, Kansas.

Donna’s surviving family includes:

Two sons and their spouses
Alan & Sharla Krenzel- Leoti, Kansas
Gary & Merret Krenzel- Leoti, Kansas

Two siblings-
Darrell & Pat Dierks- Cottonwood Falls, Arizona
Dorothy Clark- Hot Springs. Arkansas

Four Grandchildren
Dayna & Tate Hunter- Granger, Texas
Devon Krenzel & Mansu John- Olathe, Kansas
Jonathan Krenzel- Wichita, Kansas
Kayla &Brad Wills- Alexandria, Virginia

Two Great Grandchildren
Cason & Keldon Hunter

Her parents, husband, and a brother, Dale Dierks, precede her in death.

Graveside services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on June 3, 2019 Leoti Cemetery in Leoti, Kansas.

Memorials may be given to the Wichita County Amusement Assn or Leoti E.M.T.’s in care of :

Price & Sons Funeral Home; PO 161; Leoti, Kansas 67861

Michael Eugene Brown, 71, of Lenora, KS passed away on May 4, 2019 at his home. Michael was born to Ray E and Doris J (McKay) Brown on August 6, 1947 in Lincoln, NE. He grew up & went to school in Hastings, NE while also helping at the family business, Papa Ray’s Pizza. Michael entered the Navy (a family tradition) on August 28, 1964. He served on the USS Galveston from 1964-1970 touring in the Mediterranean.

On November 26, 1967 he married Dellene E. VanWaning in Fairbury, NE. They lived in San Diego, CA until Mike was honorably discharged from the Navy. They moved to Hastings and soon became proud parents of Kelly Kay and Scott Alan Brown.

Mike loved the outdoors and spent his time camping, hunting & fishing. The UPS man was Mikes’ favorite guy for many years, along with the employees at Cabelas who knew him when he walked in the door! He never lost his love for the outdoors; he taught his children and grandchildren how to hunt and fish, but also how to respect the land and water. He was also an avid birdwatcher, a trait he got from his mother, right up to the end.

His greatest loves were his wife, Dellene, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He would always have decoys or lures to give or “trade” with them when he visited. While his children were young, he was involved in their sports and he never missed a game or meet. He had many friends that he met along the way; the duck call guy that built calls for him, the guys that he bought his vehicles from; they all remembered him because of his ostentatious personality. You always knew when he entered a room from his booming voice and choice of words! He also liked to buy, sell and trade his hunting and fishing equipment so you never knew what he would have. His children called his place “Mike Pro” and for good reason! The garage was the hunting section, the laundry room was the clothing section; inside were the duck and turkey call section, the fly section, fishing section and on and on! He once had enough headlamps for all the little kids in the family to play hide and seek in the dark!

Mike worked for Rural Telephone for many years and retired in 2013. While there, he gained life-long friends who were always included in his stories that he liked to tell. Mike also made friends with the kids in his town, often sitting around the fire telling them hunting or fishing stories and teaching them how to blow on a duck call.

He is survived by his father, Ray Brown, Hastings, NE; sister, Linda Andersen of Gladstone, MO; brother, David Brown of Hastings, NE; daughter, Kelly (James Fawcett) Norton; son, Scott (Kimberly) Neodesha, KS; 10 grandchildren, Sheyenne and Sheridan Dillehay, Kayla (Kyle) Wingate, Gabriella Guardiola and fiancé Blake Wensman, Megan Norwood, Matthew and Bailey Brown, Michael, Alyssa and Matthew Fawcett; and 5 great-grandchildren, Lincoln, Kinsley, Ruger, Deklan and Rosy.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Doris Brown; wife, Dellene Austerman and infant grandson, Zachary Brown.

Memorial service will be Friday, May 10, 2019 at 11:00 AM at the Jennings Senior Center in Jennings, Kansas. A private inurnment for the family will be held at a later date.

The family requests you bring your favorite dish for a potluck to celebrate Rope’s life with his friends and family. Memorials are suggested to the Mike Brown Memorial Fund to help with funeral expenses.

Richard Seib — husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, Korean War veteran, civic volunteer, lifelong Catholic — died peacefully Saturday, May 4. He was 87.

Seib was born Sept. 6, 1931, on his family’s farm just outside Hays, Kansas, and spent all but the final year of his life as a resident of the Hays area. He spent a year and a half serving in the U.S. Army in Korea, surviving severe cold, a Chinese offensive and at least one close brush with an enemy sniper, and missed the birth of his first son as a result of his Army duties.

After military service, he went on to work for four decades as a printer and composer at the Hays Daily News. His career there spanned a dramatic revolution in the craft of printing, from the time of hot lead presses to computer-generated offset printing, and his skills advanced throughout.

Richard Seib was married for 68 years to Annette Doerfler, after they met at a Hays drive-in restaurant where she worked. Together they raised seven children, mostly in a modest and loving home on Main Street in Hays, and were inseparable throughout their time together. They were known as loyal members of St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish, and, in retirement years, as producers of homemade egg noodles, sold from their home to a band of regular customers.

Seib loved growing up as a farm boy and was an active member of the Future Farmers of America while attending Hays High School, from which he graduated in 1948. He fully intended to remain a farmer until military and family duties intervened, though he never lost his love for the land and the rhythms of farm life.

While in high school, he also considered a career in business and as a result learned how to type, which was then considered a useful job skill in the business world. Because he could type, he became clerk for Company B of the 439th Engineer Construction Battalion when that unit, a part of the Kansas National Guard, was activated for service in Korea in August 1950. He went to Korea in January 1951 and returned in May 1952.

His military service also remained an integral part of his life, particularly as he became a stalwart in the Veterans of Foreign War Post 9076 in Hays. He served multiple terms as post quartermaster, and ultimately was elected commander. In retirement, he served regularly as a member of military honor guards at veterans’ funerals throughout the Hays area.

Raising seven children left relatively little time for leisure activities, with a few notable exceptions. Wednesday nights were reserved for bowling. Seib was an exceptionally strong bowler, and part of a team in a Wednesday night league for years. In his later years, he also became a regular on the Fort Hays Municipal Golf Course.

In addition, Seib sang as a tenor in the Sunday choir at St. Mary’s Church, then a part of St. Joseph’s parish. His participation in the choir was, in itself, a family event, with his wife and children regularly accompanying him to sit in the choir loft during the 9:30 High Mass.

Richard and Annette Seib left Hays in 2017 to take up residence in a retirement community in Kansas City, Kansas, nearer three of their sons, and he was there when he died.

Seib is survived by his wife; his seven children, Tom (Cheryl) of Lincoln, Neb.; Phyllis (Robert Brack) of Bay St. Louis, Miss.; Debbie (Robert Lang), of Amarillo, Tex.; Jerry (Barbara Rosewicz), of Chevy Chase, Md.; Jeff (Kelly Ashton) of Overland Park, Kan; , Paul (Johnna) of Kansas City, Mo.; and Patrick (Susie) of Overland Park; his niece, Belinda (Merle Mahoney) of Hutchinson, Kan.; and their families. He had 22 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.

Richard Seib was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Germaine (Bittel), and by his brother, Laverne. Laverne Seib served in Korea as an infantry-man at the same time as his brother. Indeed, they discovered later that, at one point, they spent a week stationed across the road from each other as Laverne was recovering from a wound. They learned how close they were only after they both had returned home.

The family will receive friends and relatives Tuesday 4 PM – 8 PM and Wednesday 9 AM – 9:30 AM at Brock’s-Keithley Funeral Chapel and Crematory 2509 Vine Hays, KS 67601.

A combined parish vigil and rosary service will be at 6:30 PM on Tuesday at the funeral chapel.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 8, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Hays. Burial will follow in the St. Joseph’s Cemetery with military honors courtesy of the Hays VFW Honor Guard.

If desired, friends may make memorial contributions in Richard Seib’s name to TMP-Marian Junior and Senior High School in Hays.

Condolences may be left by guest book at www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com or by email at [email protected].

June 15, 1939 ~ May 3, 2019

An obituary is pending with Bateman Funeral Home.

Click HERE for service details.

Kerry Wayne Garrison, 59, passed away on May 1, 2019 at the Hays Medical Center in Hays, Kansas. He was born on January 19, 1960 in Norton, Kansas the son of Darrell and Marvalee (Elling) Garrison.

Kerry was an over the road semi-trailer truck driver for 19 years. He also operated a backhoe and bulldozer in the oil field. He married Samantha Moore on Thursday, October 11, 2007, in Manteo, North Carolina. She survives.

Other survivors include his mother, Marvalee E. Garrison of Ness City; stepson, Eric Cothran and wife Tammy of Pinebluff, AR; two stepdaughters, Emily Cothran of Pinebluff, AR, and Crystal Jacobs of Ness City; three brothers, Monte Garrison and wife, Tammy of Great Bend, Tad Garrison and Jason Garrison both of Ness City; a sister, Lisa Dinkel and husband, Sean of Hays; sister-in-law, Denise Deboer of Hays; five step-grandchildren, Regan, Nicholas, Jacob, Tamara, and Tyler; 2 step-great-grandchildren; three nieces, Krista, Marissa, and Kenlie; three nephews, Dylan, Brayden, and Blake. He was preceded in death by his father, Darrell Garrison; a brother, Bob Garrison, and 2 nephews, Mike and Dalton Garrison.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be given to the Ness City Library.

Ted Joe Hadley, son of Philip Marden and Rachel Esther (Conard) Hadley, was born February 23, 1942, in Norton, Kansas, and passed away at his home in Norton, on May 2, 2019, at the age of 77.

Ted grew up in the Norton community, attending the Farview country school and graduating from the Norton Community High School. At the age of 21, Ted joined the United States Air Force and was honorably discharged. Following his discharge, Ted married his sweetheart, Mary Ann Nuxoll on January 24, 1970, in Spokane, Washington. They made their home in Spokane until 1982, when they returned home to Norton, where Ted was a farmer and later a corrections officer.

Ted was an active member of the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Norton, where he served as an usher. He had also been a member of the Jaycees. Ted enjoyed participating in the local squaredancing club in the 80’s but his greatest joy was spending time with his loving wife, children and grandchildren.

Survivors include: his wife, Mary Ann Hadley, of their home in Norton; three children, April (Kelly) Karnopp, Norton; Richard (Nancy) Hadley, Olathe, Kansas; Bill (Heather) Hadley, Norton; one brother, Charles (Cindy) Hadley, Norton; two sisters, Edna (Dale) Hunt, Minden, Nebraska; Julia (JayDee) Daffer, Norton; six grandchildren; other relatives and friends.

Ted was preceded in death by his parents.

FUNERAL SERVICE – Tuesday, May 7, 2019—10:30 a.m.
PLACE – Immanuel Lutheran Church – Norton, KS
INTERMENT – Norton Cemetery – Norton, KS
VISITATION – Monday, May 6, 2019—5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
PLACE – Enfield Funeral Home – 215 W. Main – Norton, KS
MEMORIAL – Ted J. Hadley Memorial Fund

Charles S. Button, 86, passed away May 2, 2019, at Country Place Senior Living, Ellinwood. He was born July 20, 1932, at Great Bend, to Dee E. & Grace E. (Dorfshaffer) Button. He married Marilyn M. Hiss, May 24, 1952, at Great Bend. She survives.

A lifetime Great Bend resident, Charles was farmer and pilot. He was a member of the NRA, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the First Congregational Church. He graduated from GBHS with the Class of 1950 and Spartan School of Aeronautics. He loved flying, and he enjoyed hunting, fishing, guns, and being with his family.

Survivors include, his wife, Marilyn of the home; one son, David Button and wife Barbara of Great Bend; three daughters, Kathryn Button and husband Darrel Ratlief of McPherson, Lori Vincent and husband Jack of Hill City, and Carolyn Sutherland and husband John of Parker, CO; one brother, Robert E. Button; eight grandchildren; and five great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; and a brother, William H. Button.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Monday, May 6, 2019, at the First Congregational Church in Great Bend, with Rev. Debby Rains presiding. Interment will be in the Great Bend Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the NRA or March of Dimes, in care of Bryant Funeral Home.

Robert Henry (Bob) Rein Sr. of Larned, Kansas passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family on May 3rd, 2019.

Born in Ellinwood, Kansas on August 10, 1939, Bob was the son of the late Ruth and Carl Rein. He graduated from Ellinwood High School in 1957. Bob served on active duty, honorably in the United States Army from 1957 – 1960. He attended Radiologic Technology school at St. Rose Hospital School of Radiological Technology in Great Bend, Kansas and spent his career working as an X-ray Technician. He served as Chief of Staff at Baptist Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, President of the Missouri Society of Radiologic Technologists and retired from Larned State Hospital in Larned, Kansas.

Bob loved his family, hunting, fishing, photography and history. He was an active volunteer at Fort Larned National Historic Site. He was awarded the Heritage Preservation Award from the Santa Fe Trail Association and received several certificates of appreciation for his tireless efforts marking the wet/dry routes of the Santa Fe Trail. He was also a partner in the historic preservation of Sibley’s Camp in Larned.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 57 years, Rosemarie Marianne Henrici-Rein of the home, daughter Carla Rein-Bordeaux, son-in-law Marshall Arthur (Art) Bordeaux, Jr. of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, son Robert Henry (Bob) Rein, Jr. and family Stacey, Jameson and Gillian Smith of Larned, Kansas, brother William Carl (Bill) and his wife Linnea Rein of Evanston, Wyoming. He was proceeded in death by his parents and daughter Carolyn Sue Rein.

A memorial celebration, with military honors, will be held at 1 p.m., Friday, May 10, 2019 at Beckwith Mortuary in Larned, Kansas with William C. Rein presiding. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in Bob’s honor to the Pawnee County 4H Shooting Sports in care of Beckwith Mortuary, Box 477 Larned, KS 67550.