Margaret Umberger, 83, of Oakley, died Sunday, October 12, 2014 at Gove County Medical Center.

She was born March 13, 1931, in Larned, KS to William and Katie (Schneider) Schraeder. She graduated from Larned High School. Margaret was united in marriage with Cody Umberger on September 6, 1950.

She worked at Larned State Hospital and was a farmer, with land spreading across Kansas from Rozel to Tribune. She enjoyed dancing and was a member of the Sunflower Polka Club and Polka of America Club.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Cody and brother, Virgil Schraeder.

She is survived by her son, Kenneth (Virginia) Umberger, Colby; significant other, Tom Heier, Oakley; grandchildren, Justin Umberger, Colby, Debra (J.W.) Matlock, Grainville, MO and Katherine (Jon) Mader, Elkins, AR; great grandchildren, Ian and Addie Matlock and Grace Mader and sister in law, Beth Schraeder.

Visitation will be 3-5:00 p.m. Sunday, October 19, 2014 at Baalmann Mortuary, Oakley. Funeral Service will be 10:00 a.m. Monday, October 20, 2014 at Baalmann Mortuary, Oakley. A graveside service will follow at 3:00 p.m. at Larned Cemetery, Larned, KS. Memorials are suggested to the Norman Yardley Cancer Fund or the Harold Dorzweiler Cancer Fund in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 204, Oakley, KS 67748. Online condolences: www.baalmannmortuary.com

Viola Mae Yost, age 99, passed away peacefully of natural causes on October 7, 2014, at Locust Grove Village in La Crosse, Kansas.

She was born Viola Mae Wimmer in Harlan, Kansas, on July 25, 1915, to Harvey Lester and Mary Ann Zion Wimmer.

Viola graduated from Portis High School, attended college at York College for two years, then finished her teaching education at Fort Hays State University. She enjoyed a long and successful teaching career to include Alexander (for 31 years), Nekoma, and Heizer.  Additionally she served as a substitute teacher for McCracken and Lacrosse. She served as a correspondent for the Rush County News for eleven years, played piano and organ for the Alexander United Methodist Church for over 62 years, accompanied competitive musical performances for music students  and was in high demand to perform at weddings and various social events. After moving to Hays later in life, Viola found renewed passion for teaching while volunteering as a Foster Grandmother at Holy Family Elementary. She also enjoyed socializing with her friends at her retirement apartment complex and the Hays United Methodist Church.  Family was always a priority for Viola as well as service in her church that included serving as a delegate for the United Methodist Annual Conference.

Viola married Harry Yost on June 12, 1938. He preceded her in death on August 2, 2000. She was also preceded in death by infant sister Marilyn Wimmer, brother De Wimmer, sister Sally Smith, and daughter Mary Kay McEvoy.

Viola is survived by sister Vernita Nickel of Riverside, CA, son Gary Yost and wife Joy, Bison, KS, son Paul Yost, San Antonio, TX,  daughter Dorothy Plum and husband Bill, Kansas City, MO, and son John Yost and wife Sara of Olathe, KS.  Also survived by grandchildren Brad Westerman, Brigette Ellis, Melinda Ellis, Rick Yost, Michelle Rieman, Mike Yost, Skyler Yost, Echo Sandburg, Summer Schwindt, Cale Yost, Mackenzie Yost and 24 great grandchildren with 2 great-great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at Alexander Methodist Church located  at 103 E. Kepner Ave, Alexander, KS 67513 at 10:30am on Saturday, October 11, 2014. Lunch will be provided after the service in the church basement.

The family requests memorial contributions be given to the Locust Grove Village Golden Belt Community Foundation in lieu of flowers. You may donate directly by visiting the Locust Grove Village website at www.rcnh.org and clicking on the Golden Belt Community Foundation “donate” button or obtain the address to send a donation via US Mail.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.fitzgeraldfuneral.com.

Richard Harlan Tustin was born September 22, 1936, at Hadley Hospital in Hays to Harlan and Lorane Elizabeth (Pearce) Tustin. He died October 7, 2014, at the Gove County Medical Center having just turned 78.

Richard attended Liberty, Gove and Oakley grade schools and graduated from Oakley High School with the class of 1955, the first class to graduate in Oakley’s new high school.

On October 28, 1956, Richard was united in marriage to his high school sweetheart, Elaine Clark at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Oakley. They began their nearly 58 years of married life on the family farm ten miles southeast of Gove, which had been tended by the Tustin family since 1900.

Richard was a farmer and livestock man his entire life and was always eager to try new ideas in machinery and tilling to improve his land and passed those ideas to his son and grandsons.

Richard was a member of the United Methodist Church of Gove. He treasured the family history and often remarked that every time someone died a piece of history goes with them. For many years, the family farm has been the gathering spot for relatives from near and far on Memorial Day.

Hunting, collecting guns and cars were hobbies Richard enjoyed, having attended many gun shows and car shows. In 1975, he fulfilled his dreams of becoming an airplane pilot and spent many enjoyable hours with the family flying first a Beech Sundowner, then a Beechcraft Bonanza.

Richard never met a stranger and will be remembered by many for the long hours spent visiting and telling stories. He truly enjoyed all his children and grandchildren; traveling to all their sporting events.

Richard will be dearly missed by his wife, Elaine, of the home; one son, Wayde and wife Cindy, and their children Taylor and Evan of Gove; two daughters, Jana and husband Shawn Huse, and their children Kadie, Emily, and Rebecca of Grinnell, Jill Tustin and her children Kyle and Dayna Shaw of Grainfield; one sister Carolyn Smith of Wichita; and brother-in-law Don Bland of McPherson. He was preceded in death by his parents; and infant daughter Jannine Elaine in 1959; his sister Berneice Bland; and brothers-in-law Conrad Rose and Don Smith.

Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m., Friday, October 10, 2014 at the United Methodist Church of Gove. Burial will be at the Gove Cemetery.

Visitation with the family is available before or after the service in Gove on Friday.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Gove United Methodist Church. Checks made payable to the church may be sent in care of Schmitt Funeral Home, 901 South Main, Quinter, KS 67752.

Condolences may be left for the family at www.schmittfuneral.com.

HAYS, Kan. — Forrest K. Strecker, age 84, died Wednesday, October 8, 2014, at Hays Medical Center Hays, Kansas.

He was born February 6, 1930, in Russell, Kansas, to Julian and Anna (Steinle) Strecker. He married Phyllis (Hopkins) on September 4, 1954, in Wilson, Kansas.

He started in the Hays Drivers License Examinations Office and was with the State of Kansas for 29 years and retired in 1992 as a Lieutenant with the Kansas Highway Patrol. He lived in a number of communities throughout Kansas including Victoria, Topeka and moving to Hays in 1992. He was raised in Russell, Kansas, was a graduate of Russell High School and was a veteran of the U.S. Army. He was a volunteer Police Officer for a number of years and served as Water Commissioner for the City of Silver Lake. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Topeka and Hays. He enjoyed hunting, fishing golfing, bowling, going to the casino and spending time with his family and friends.

Survivors include his wife, of 60 years, Phyllis Strecker, of the home; two daughters, Susan Nebel, Hays, KS; Barbara Strecker-Gaudreau and husband, James “Bucky,” Topeka, KS; one sister, Genevieve Combest, Duncan, OK; six grandchildren, Jonathan Burd, Christian Burd, Mariah Nebel, Caleb Nebel, Cameron Gaudreau, and Alexis Gaudreau; two great grandchildren, Jaedyn Nebel and Addisyn Karlin.

He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister, Alice Strecker.

Services are 10:30 A.M. Friday, October 10, 2014, at the First Baptist Church, 12th and Fort, Hays, Kansas.  A graveside service will be at 1:30 P.M. Friday, at the St. John Lutheran Cemetery Russell, Kansas with military honors by the Russell V.F.W.

Visitation is from 5:00 to 8:00 P.M. Thursday at Cline’s Mortuary of Hays, 1919 East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601 and from 9:30 to 10:30 A.M. Friday, at the First Baptist Church.

Memorials are to Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas or the First Baptist Church Hays, Kansas. Condolences can be sent via email to [email protected].

Delwin L. Dougherty, 90, passed away Saturday, October 4, 2014 at the Catholic Care Center in Wichita, KS, surrounded by loving family.

He was born July 9, 1924 in Plainville, KS to Floyd and Ethel Ardna (Edson) Dougherty. On February 15, 1943, he married Armella Pfannenstiel at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Hays, KS.

He was a WWII Navy veteran who served as a Yeoman Officer in the Asiatic Pacific from 1943 to 1946. On March 29, 1946, at meritorious mast, he was commended for his faithful service and devotion to duty and awarded the Victory Medal of Honor for his excellent attention to and performance of duty. He was employed by Champlin Petroleum Company (Anadarko Corporation) for 38 years and was the Mid-Continent District Production Supervisor until his retirement in 1986.

He was an Honorary Life Member of the Bishop Cunningham Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus, Hays, KS, the Knights of Columbus Third Degree Council No. 10044, the VFW Post No. 9076, and a member of St. Nicholas of Myra Catholic Church, Hays, KS and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, Wichita, KS.

Delwin was a devoted husband and father. He loved hunting and wood-working and built children’s furniture for great grandchildren and bird houses, clocks, and memory boxes for family and friends.

Survivors include: sons, Dale Dougherty and wife, Debbie, Lancaster, CA and Bruce Dougherty and wife, Suzanne, Kansas City, KS; daughters, Sheryll Bolinger and husband, Michael, San Diego, CA, Colleen Brunton and husband Larry, Newton Square, PA, and Kathleen Caldwell, Wichita, KS; sister Eleanor Swanson, Glendale, AZ; sisters-in-law, Jeanie Pfannenstiel, Canadian, TX and Katie Pfannenstiel, Hays; ten grandchildren, twenty-one great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Armella, brother, Edgar, and twin sisters, Hilda Goetz and Hilma Bauer.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 10, 2014 at St. Nicholas of Myra Catholic Church, Hays. Burial with military honors by the Hays VFW Post No. 9076 will be at St. Francis Cemetery, Munjor, KS. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Thursday and from 9 to 9:45 a.m. Friday all at Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home, 1906 Pine.

The Bishop Cunningham Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus will stand honor guard from 5:30 until 6:30 pm, a parish vigil service will be at 6:30 p.m. followed by a combined third and fourth degree Knights of Columbus rosary at 7:00 pm, all on Thursday at the funeral home.

Memorials are suggested to St. Nicholas of Myra Catholic Church or Good Shepherd Hospice, Wichita, KS in care of the funeral home. Condolences may be left for the family at www.haysmemorial.com.

Marilyn Jeanette (Lumpkins) Gibson, age 77, Arvada, Colorado, entered into eternal life on October 4, 2014, at Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

She was born December 12, 1936, northeast of Plainville, Kansas, the daughter of Marion and Nevella (Benedick) Lumpkins. On November 29, 1952, she married Charles Upton in Stockton, Kansas. On April 15, 1960, she married James Gibson in Golden, Colorado.

Marilyn worked as an operator for Southwestern Bell in Plainville, Kansas, transferring to Mountain Bell in Denver, Colorado in 1960. She worked as the travel coordinator for Rocky Mountain Energy, a division of Union Pacific from 1971 until they closed their office in 1987. At that time, she returned to the phone company, working in Denver and Pueblo, Colorado until her retirement in 1998. She had since resided in Arvada, Colorado.

The driving force in Marilyn’s life had always been her family. She loved and treasured all of them. She looked forward to the annual Lumpkins-Barber family reunion and attended faithfully for decades. She kept every card or letter received from family and friends her entire life; a testament of her love for them.

She is survived by daughters, Diane Rasmussen, Lehi, Utah; Donna (Jim) Dyer, Arvada, CO; Susan (Dave) Adams, Kanorado, KS; and son, James (Cheryl) Gibson, Brighton, CO; eight grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; a brother, Bill Lumpkins, (Plainville, KS); sister, Faye Taylor, (Great Bend, KS); and brother-in-law, Verle Clark, Rose Hill, Kansas; and numerous cousins.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Carolyn Clark, and a granddaughter, Bobbi Jo Blazon.
Funeral services will be at 2:30 pm on Friday, October 10, 2014 at the First Christian Church, Plainville, Kansas. Burial will follow in the Plainville Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5:00 until 7:00 pm on Thursday at the Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home, 1906 Pine, Hays, Kansas and at the church on Friday from 1:30 pm until service time.

Memorials are suggested in Marilyn’s memory to the First Christian Church, Plainville, in care of the funeral home. Condolences may be left for the family at www.haysmemorial.com.

HAYS – Wayne O. Fager, age 74, died Sunday, October 5, 2014, at his home in Hays, Kansas.

He was born May 3, 1940 in Hays, Kansas to Merle S. and Elfrieda (Bisterfeldt) Fager. He married Peggy L. (Staab) on October 15, 1960 in Catharine, Kansas. She died July 20, 2013.

He owned and operated the Wayne Fager American Family Insurance Agency in Hays for 23 years and retired in 2007. He also worked 10 years for Central Kansas Power/Midwest Energy in the business offices. He grew up in Hays and Ellsworth and was graduate of Ellsworth High School and Fort Hays State College. He was a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church and was a former member of the Hays Kiwanis Club. He enjoyed woodworking, fishing, photography and the Old West history.

Survivors include three sons, Merle J. Fager and companion, Delilah Green, Victoria, KS; Christopher A. Fager, Las Vegas, NV; David W. Fager, Hays, KS; two sisters, Lois Applequist and husband, Leland, Falun, KS; Laurel Talley, Salina, KS; five grandchildren, Cristin Velasquez, Brittany Neal, Shannon Fager, Jennifer Green, Sarah (Kyle) Doerfler; seven great grandchildren; and two sisters-in-law, Clara Dinkel and Shirley Scoby, both of Hays, KS.

He was preceded in death by his parents and wife, Peggy.

Services are 10:00 A.M. Thursday, October 9, 2014, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church Hays, Kansas. Burial in St. Joseph Cemetery Hays, Kansas.

A vigil service is at 7:00 P.M. Wednesday, at Cline’s Mortuary of Hays, 1919 East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601.

Visitation is from 5:00 to 9:00 P.M. Wednesday and from 8:30 the 9:45 A.M. Thursday all at Cline’s Mortuary of Hays.

Memorials to Fort Hays State University Endowment or TMP-Marian High School. Condolences can be send via email to [email protected].

Victor Carl Luhman, age 85, of Hays passed away Friday, October 3, 2014 at his home. He was born October 14, 1928 in Natoma, KS to Carl and Amelia (Ahrens) Luhman. He was a graduate of Natoma High School. He married Sylvia L. “Sue” Matthews December 6, 1962. She preceded him in death September 3, 2012.

Victor was a long time grain bin construction worker and repairman for Mel Jarvis Construction for over 30 years. He was a US Army veteran serving during the Korean War. He was a lifetime member of the Salina VFW post 1432 and a past member of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Salina.

He is survived by two sons, Tommy Jones and wife Rita of Harlinger, TX and Gary Jones and wife Paula of Luther, OK; a brother, Hugo Luhman and wife Irene of Hays; two sisters, Wilma Zeigler and Norma Horine. He is also survived by 8 grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Esther Moenning and two sons, Ron and Jimmy Jones.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at Peace Lutheran Church, 705 5th street, Natoma, KS. Burial will take place at the North Lutheran Cemetery rural Natoma with Military Honors courtesy of the Russell VFW.

Visitation will be held 9:30 AM until service time Wednesday at Peace Lutheran Church.

Arrangements in care of Brock’s Keithley Funeral Chapel 2509 Vine Hays, KS 67601.

Memorial contributions are suggested to: Peace Lutheran Church of Natoma

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