Author: RumseyYost

Lanny Warren Maddux

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Lanny Warren Maddux, 80, of Lawrence, Kansas went to be with the Lord on April 3, 2025, after a several year fight against cancer.

Lanny was born on September 16, 1944, to Cecil and Beulah Maddux in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. He graduated from Buffalo High School in Buffalo, Missouri, and went on to receive a multiple Bachelor degrees in 1968 from Ozark Bible College to prepare him for ministry.

He met his wife, Patricia, at Ozark Bible College and they were married on August 2, 1966. Together, they had five children: Sara, Philip, Mark, Felicia, and Laura.

Lanny and Patricia served on the Brazilian mission field from November of 1970 to May of 1977. They returned to the states where Lanny began local church ministry at Countryside Christian Church in Topeka, Kansas. In the late 80s, Lanny and the family moved to University Park, Illinois where he served at Deer Creek Christian Church in Crete, Illinois. In 1991, the family returned to Kansas and Lanny began ministry with Campus Christians at the University of Kansas. For the next 25 years, Lanny would serve countless international students who came to KU for their education through ESL teaching and assistance, but primarily through a Christ-centered relationship focused on showing them Jesus. Lanny could be found handing out Bibles in a variety of languages in the Student Union, leading Bible-centric English classes in the evening, making middle-of-the-night runs to the Kansas City Airport as new students arrive, giving driving lessons in his personal car to students needing American licensure, among many other things. Lanny continued to serve the local church by serving as an Elder at Lawrence Heights Christian Church for a number of years, engaging in and leading Bible studies, serving with his musical skills, and any place that he was needed.

Lanny loved to care for his home, and one of his favorite activities was the collection and preparation of firewood for their wood stove. He often assisted others in clearing downed limbs from their property. No matter where they lived – rental or owned – Lanny took impeccable care of their home, making improvements along the way and making their home a welcome and hospitable space for anyone that might show up.

Lanny is preceded in death by his wife, Patricia Maddux, his parents, Cecil and Beulah Maddux, his brother, Norman Maddux, and his daughter, Felicia.

Lanny is survived by his children: Sara (Sara (John) Desmond of Joplin, MO., Philip (Elizabeth) Maddux of Warsaw, OH, Mark (Janice) Maddux of Columbus, OH, and Laura (Tyler) Green of Lawrence, KS, his 12 grandchildren, and his 8 great-grandchildren.

Services for Lanny and Patricia will be held on April 5, 2025, at Lawrence Heights Christian Church, 2321 Peterson Rd, Lawrence KS 66049. Visitation will be at 11:00 AM, followed by a service at 1:00 PM.

Memorial gifts may be directed to MMS Aviation, P.O. Box 1118, Coshocton, OH 43812. MMS Aviation serves missionary aviation by training apprentice mechanics and pilots, as well as maintaining missionary aircraft that support the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.

Patricia Rae (Pat) Maddux

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Patricia Rae Cable Maddux, 78, of Lawrence, Kansas, went to Jesus on February 7, 2025, after a battle with various health challenges.

Patricia was born October 25, 1946, to Wilburn and Ruby Cable in McLeansboro, Illinois. After graduating from Fairfield High School in Fairfield, Illinois, Patricia went on to receive a Bachelor of Christian Education at Ozark Bible College in 1968.

It was at Ozark Bible College where she met her husband, Lanny. They were married August 2, 1966. Patricia and Lanny had five children, Sara, Philip, Mark, Felicia, and Laura.

Patricia served with her husband on the mission field in Brazil from November of 1970 to May of 1977, as well as in local church ministry in Topeka, Kansas, and University Park, Illinois, before moving to Lawrence, Kansas in 1991 where Lanny worked in international student ministry at the University of Kansas. She was a homemaker, a piano teacher, a church secretary, the Assistant Activities Director at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor, and a faithful employee of the Lawrence Public Schools for many years. She was a long-time member of Lawrence Heights Christian Church.

Patricia loved to cook wonderful meals for her family, play the piano, read selections from her incredible library, and crochet. She crocheted countless afghans, hot pads, and baby blankets for all of her grandchildren and many others. Patricia and Lanny opened their home for over 20 years to countless international students and friends, continually showing the utmost hospitality. She was a woman of great grace, and will be remembered for her unfailing love for all, her sweet smile, and her faithful service to the Kingdom of God.

Patricia is preceded in death by her parents, Wilburn and Ruby Cable, her sister, Glenda McCarty, and her daughter, Felicia.

Patricia is survived by her husband, Lanny, her children: Sara (John) Desmond of Joplin, MO., Philip (Elizabeth) Maddux of Warsaw, OH, Mark (Janice) Maddux of Columbus, OH, and Laura (Tyler) Green of Lawrence, KS, her 12 grandchildren, her 8 great-grandchildren, and her sister, Lisa Felix.

Services for Patricia will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to MMS Aviation, P.O. Box 1118, Coshocton, OH 43812. MMS Aviation serves missionary aviation by training apprentice mechanics and pilots, as well as maintaining missionary aircraft that support the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.

Gregory Don Burris

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A memorial service for Gregory Don Burris of Garland, Texas, will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 12, 2025, at Concordia Lutheran Church, 5702 N Jupiter Rd, Garland, TX 75044. Reception to follow. Burial at Rosendale Church cemetery in Madelia, Minnesota, at a later date.

Greg died unexpectedly overnight between Wednesday, March 19 and Thursday, March 20 in his home in Lawrence, Kansas, passing peacefully in his sleep.

Greg was born on August 17, 1956, in Wichita Falls, Texas, to Sue and Jack Burris. His siblings Judy, Gary, and David were born in 1952, 1955, and 1961, respectively. In 1958, Jack started working for Kraft Foods, and the family moved to Garland, Texas. Greg attended Caldwell Elementary and O’Banion Junior High School.

Greg graduated from South Garland High School in spring 1974 after serving as the center midfielder on the school’s first boys’ soccer team and as a trainer for other sports. He began working on a Bachelor’s in Architecture at the University of Kentucky that fall while also playing soccer, but returned to Garland after one school year.

In 1976, Greg began working for E-Systems, a company contracted by the U.S. government to support the Sinai Field Mission to monitor peace between Egypt and Israel. Greg spent a year and a half split between living in the Sinai and Israel.

After returning to the U.S., he struggled with alcoholism, eventually winning that battle. He was sober from 1990 until the end of his life. His own struggle with alcoholism inspired him to help others in their fight with addiction. He lived and worked at Oxford House, a halfway house for those struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction, from 1990 until 1997. He helped open several new Oxford Houses around the country during that time.

In 1994, Greg earned his Associate of Arts and Sciences from Richland College at the age of 37. He played on the Richland soccer team, and at one point, they were ranked #2 in the country among junior colleges.

Greg met his future wife, Terry Lyn Leines, while both were working at Excel Telecommunications in 1995. They were married on July 3, 1999. Their only son, Zane Elijah Burris, was born in 2002. When Zane was little, much of Greg’s time was spent watching the movie “Finding Nemo.” Greg and Zane would often watch “Finding Nemo” together two or three times per day. Greg left Excel in 2001, and managed to find free time from “Finding Nemo” viewings to work in telecommunications for the rest of his career.

Greg earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Dallas in Interdisciplinary Studies, Sociology and Management in 2004. He was 47 years old.

Greg was a caring husband. Much of the last few years of Greg’s life were spent caring for Terry, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. They moved to Lawrence, Kansas, in the summer of 2022 to be closer to Terry’s family. Greg unofficially retired in March 2023 to take care of

Terry full-time. Terry went into memory care in October 2023, and Greg visited her every day. Terry died in December of 2024, in the arms of Greg and Zane.

Greg is survived by his son, Zane; sister, Judy, and brother-in-law, Luis Rey; brother, Gary; mother-in-law, Jan Leines; brother- and sister-in-laws, Rick and Shirl; brother- and sister-in-laws, Jon and Elyce; and arguably-spoiled, but beloved dogs Obi and Trixie. Greg was preceded by his wife, Terry; brother, David; father, Jack; mother, Sue; and father-in-law, Dick.

Greg was an avid soccer player and fan. He began playing with a local team, Bucky’s Banana Bangers, in fall 1989. Several of the friendships he made on the team lasted his entire life. Greg would often bring Zane to his soccer practices to play with the team, and Greg played with them until moving to Kansas in summer of 2022. In his early years with the team, he was awarded many yellow cards, mostly for dissent. He never once convinced a referee that they had made an incorrect call. Gradually, he became less outspoken.

Greg became scuba certified in 1977 in the Red Sea, while living in Israel. Greg went on hundreds of dives throughout his life. Terry was also a scuba diver. They went diving many times together, mostly in Cozumel, Mexico. Greg and Terry had their honeymoon in Cozumel and returned many times, including with Zane.

Greg and Terry shared their love for the oceans with their son Zane, who is now a deep-sea explorer and oceanographer working towards his Ph.D. in Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Alzheimer’s Association (https://www.alz.org/) or the Ocean Conservancy (https://oceanconservancy.org/).

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 12, 2025, with a reception to follow, at the church:

Concordia Lutheran Church

5702 N Jupiter Rd

Garland, TX 75044

(972) 495-4714

Arapaho Flowers (https://www.arapahoflowers.com) will deliver flowers to the church the day of the memorial service, if ordered by Wednesday, April 9.

Mary Ann Hunter-Martin

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Mary Ann Hunter-Martin,  of Lawrence and formerly of Leavenworth, passed away March 29, 2025. She was born in Leavenworth, Kansas to parents John Andrew Spinner and Frances Rose Baker Spinner.  Mary was one of 13 children and enjoyed spending time with her family.  Mary worked for a time at Hallmark as well as a homemaker.  In recent years she was residing in Lawrence.  Mary is survived by her children, Alan Welday, Cindy Kriner, Jeff Hunter, Thunder Hunter, Stormy Hunter; 7 grandchildren; 16 great grandchildren and host of family and friends.  Arrangements are currently pending with Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home of Lawrence.

James (OJ) Thomas

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James (OJ) Thomas, 67 years of Lawrence, KS, passed away peacefully on March 17, 2025 at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Born on July 30, 1957
in St. Louis, MO to parents Betty and A.B. Thomas both deceased.

He attended Jardine Junior High, Topeka High School, Kansas University undergraduate degree and Drake University for a Masters Degree.

OJ worked his life in the Banking and Wholesale Home Mortgage business.

He was married to Beverly for many years his adult daughters Carrie and Emily whom he loved so much survive. He loved reading his Bible, historical non-fiction
and participating in sports especially Tennis as well as walking and playing with his loving dog Maggie who is now deceased. OJ is survived by all of his siblings
Danny Thomas of Lawrence, Michael Thomas of Topeka and Susan Kosinski of of Jacksonville, FL. OJ loved all his friends especially both his Sigma Chi Brothers and Tennis Brothers!

OJ’s Celebration of Life and Remembrance Service will be Thursday April 10th at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home and Crematory is located at 601 Indiana Street (near Downtown) Lawrence, KS 66044. No Flowers nor Donations are requested.

Dennis Mason Rivenburg

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Dennis Mason Rivenburg passed away on March 30, 2025, at Pioneer Ridge Nursing Home in Lawrence, Kansas at the age of 83.

He was born on September 14, 1941, in Marysville, Kansas to Edwin Ray Rivenburg and Lillian Evelyn (Mason) Rivenburg. Born with cerebral palsy (CP), he never let it keep him from achieving or pursuing his goals. He attended the R. J. Delano School in Kansas City, Missouri through sixth grade. This was decades before the EHA and IDEA laws ordered mainstreaming and accommodations for children with disabilities. He also taught himself how to ride a bicycle despite the limited mobility and spasms caused by his CP.

Dennie was an HO scale model train enthusiast, an excellent chess and checkers player, and loved dogs throughout his life. He was also a proud Kansas farmer. At his parent’s farm in Shawnee, Dennie helped his father tend to a large garden, grow hay and alfalfa, and raise chickens, rabbits, pigs, and cattle. He earned an income by selling livestock and running a small vegetable and egg stand at the farm. He loved his 1952 Ford 8N tractor but was a devout John Deere fan and was usually wearing something with their distinctive colors and logo.

He was also an avid reader and read the daily newspaper front to back, watched CNN with closed captioning, and enjoyed the National Geographic and numerous magazines on farming.

Dennie was preceded in death by his parents, brothers-in-law Larry Masten and Charles Stevens, and nephew Richard Butler. He is survived by his sisters Patricia Rivenburg Masten and Lynda (Harold) Rivenburg Stevens Ditto; his cousins Don (Susan) Wadell, Bill (Gwen) Wadell, Geneva (Jeff) Wadell Stromme, Austin (Emel) Rivenburg, Bob (Ginny) Rivenburg, Bridget Rivenburg Ciliberti, Larry (Sandy) Rivenburg, and Rhonda Rivenburg; his nephews Randy (Kathleen) Masten and Steven (Paula Lawless) Masten; nieces Sonya (Aaron) Masten Herndon and Lori Stevens Nicholas; and numerous other cousins, great nieces, and great nephews.

The family wishes to express their sincere and deep appreciation to the staff of Pioneer Ridge who cared for Dennis since June 2018. Their kindness, love, and compassion made these years enjoyable for him and everyone who visited him.

Dennie called himself a man of God, read the Bible, and regularly attended church services. His final wish was for all of us to pray for peace. He will be laid to rest on April 3 at 11:00 at Oak Hill Cemetery, 1605 Oak Hill Ave, Lawrence, KS 66044.

The family suggests memorial contributions to JustFoodKs.org or the Lawrence Humane Society in lieu of flowers.

Dr. Lary Joseph Bocquin, MD

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Celebration of Life Services for Dr. Lary Bocquin, 66, Lawrence, will be 4 pm, Saturday, April 5, 2025, at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.

After a life well-lived, Lary Joseph Bocquin, 66, of Lawrence, Kansas, passed away Friday, March 28th, 2025 with loved ones near.
Lary Bocquin was born October 17th, 1958, in Topeka, Kansas, the son of Ernest Francis Bocquin and Mary Gasser Bocquin. His siblings include David Francis Bocquin (1951-2012) and Dennis Michael Bocquin (Basehor, KS).

In his early years, the family moved around following the work of Lary’s father, a VA Hospital Administrator. Moving from Topeka, KS to Poplar Bluff, Missouri in 1963 and then to Fort Meade, South Dakota Feb 1969.

Upon the death of their father, in May of 1972, Lary and Dennis moved to Lawrence, Kansas to live with their aunt and uncle, George A. Bocquin and Ailene Bocquin.

Lary attended Central Junior High and Lawrence High School. With mentorship from LHS chemistry teacher, R.G. Anderson, Lary found passion in chemistry, biology and the outdoors. R.G. became a father figure and dear friend. After high school Lary went on to attend The University of Kansas, graduating in 1981 with a pre-med degree. He then continued his KU medical education, graduating with a Doctorate of Medicine in 1985. His Post Graduate Training took him to Spokane, Washington, to attend the Spokane Internal Medicine Program. Finishing with a specialty in Internal Medicine in 1988, becoming Dr. Lary J. Bocquin, MD

Lary lived a well-traveled life. He studied abroad in college, living in Costa Rica for a year. He enjoyed off-road adventures in Black Hills of South Dakota. He was able to combine his work with traveling, by Practicing Medicine in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands for a short time.

Lary lived the life he wanted, filling it with good music, fine food, extensive travel and the love for Medicine. His religious faith held strong throughout his lifetime. His presence and thoughts will be greatly missed by family, friends and colleagues.

His survivors include a daughter, Jordan Dimond (Reed Norman) of Lawrence, a brother Dennis Michael (Lisa) Bocquin of Basehor, Kansas, and his uncle, George A. Bocquin, Lawrence and many cousins and extended family.

Additional survivors include his chosen family members, Janelle Dimond (m. 1994-2002), Chariti Farmer, Ryan Braker and Emily
Johnson. Along with lifelong friends he cherished over the years.

Additional Services will be held at a later date: Burial of his ashes, Mount Calvary Cemetery, Reading, Kansas with the Bocquin family

Janis Louise Kuyper Erland

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Janis Louise Kuyper Erland, age 87, a longtime resident of Lawrence and a tireless advocate for improving lives through the art and science of cognitive skills, passed away peacefully following a brief illness on December 29, 2024.

Jan married James Frederic Erland of Ottumwa, Iowa, on August 24, 1958, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Ottumwa. They moved to Lawrence in 1971 and were married for 57 years. Jan is survived by her three children: Mark James Erland (Carla), Christina Lucile Erland and Cynthia Joy Erland; three grandchildren: Estelle Erland Rubin, Nicholas James Erland and Samuel Neal Erland.  Also surviving is her loving brother, Ted Kuyper.  

Jan was born on December 20,1937 in Iowa City to Louis and Stella May Blunk Kuyper of Pella, Iowa. She graduated from Pella High School in 1955 and attended University of Texas, University of Iowa and graduated from Drake University in 1959 with degrees in Speech, Education and Science. She obtained a master’s degree in Special Education from University of Kansas in 1980 and taught in seven public school districts and served as a substitute teacher in Lawrence from 2005 to 2007. In keeping with her lifelong interest in multiple academic disciplines, Jan was a constant presence at the University of Kansas where she audited classes in business, computer science, special education, music therapy and art history.

Jan applied her devotion to the science of learning through two organizations she founded: Innovative Learning Stratagems, Inc. (ILS) in 1980 and Mem-ExSpan, Inc in 1981. ILS was a nonprofit established as a research platform which was the foundation for much of her work. Mem-ExSpan was a successful curriculum development and cognitive skills training program which enabled numerous struggling students to achieve success both academically and professionally, well beyond their predicted potential.

Jan’s diverse interests were applied as a published researcher, diagnostician, writer, composer, and music choral program developer. She was a pioneer in researching the efficacy of using puppets as peer instructors in learning, impacting the lives of thousands of individuals aged 9 to 65 with her “Bridge to Achievement” cognitive skills memory coding, chunking, and sequencing program. She maintained a regular presence on social media well into her late 80’s and had a large and varied following on multiple platforms.

Jan was the proud recipient of a research award from the International Alliance for Learning (IAL) based on her work conducting, tabulating, and publishing juried reports on classroom interactive cognitive skills training. As part of her work she collaborated with five professors from four universities to report longitudinal results for twenty public, parochial, and private classrooms.

Jan and James were lifelong members of Trinity Episcopal and St. Margaret’s churches. She was a founding member of St. Margaret’s Church in 1988 and served as a Lay Eucharistic minister, church schoolteacher, concert choir member, and lay reader at both churches.

Jan recognized the mutual benefit of young adults and seniors participating together in Bible studies and developed an inter-generational faith-based instructional model for seniors in assisted living centers. She directed a vacation Bible School where her three children performed musical puppet shows at assisted living centers and homes for those with special needs. These early shows evolved into her children’s musical theatre production, Voco Poco Puppets, which ran from 1974 to 1979. Jan passed on her love of theatrics and music to her children by teaching them to compose and write the music and scripts for the puppet productions. Puppet shows were a family affair in the Erland household – Jan led the performance, James directed, daughters Christina and Cynthia sang and performed, while Mark accompanied on piano to the delight of audiences throughout the greater Kansas City area.

Jan was involved in several national social service organizations, including The Daughters of the American Revolution, Delta Delta Delta social sorority, and the Lawrence Music Club. She served as a board member for the American Psychological Association, the Association for Curriculum and Development, and the Association for Learning Disabilities, and was part of the Kansas City Board of Directors for the National Association for Training and Development, where she helped establish the first Position Referral Service. She was placed on the first Board of Directors for the Lawrence Arts Center, by the mayor of Lawrence. Jan was a founding member of the Total Quality Alliance and the National Learning Foundation in Washington, D.C. As a Type I brittle diabetic for nearly 50 years, she survived complications while inspiring others in the diabetic community.

Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 11, 2025, at Danforth Chapel. Private family inurnment will take place at Clinton Cemetery, Clinton, KS. To leave a message for Jan’s family, please visit www.Rumsey-Yost.com.

Robert Paul (Bob) Hanzlik

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Robert Paul (Bob) Hanzlik, 81, died peacefully on Friday, March 28, 2025, from respiratory complications of ALS. Born in Chicago on November 4, 1943, he was the only child of Mary Catherine (Kitz) Hanzlik and Milton Charles Hanzlik. He grew up in the industrial neighborhood where his father and uncles, like their fathers before them, walked to work daily. From the age of five and every summer through high school, his parents took him to spend a few weeks with relatives on farms near Naylor in southeast Missouri. There he discovered cows, chickens, pigs, mules, snakes, turtles, fish, frogs, ticks and chiggers. These experiences had a profound influence on the rest of his life.

Bob attended Cyrus McCormick Elementary School. In 5th grade he started taking clarinet lessons, and he joined the Lawndale Chicago Boys Club where he continued clarinet lessons, engaged in outdoor nature activities and started learning photography. Once enrolled in Harrison Technical High School he took shop courses (foundry, machine shop), college prep courses, marching and concert band, ROTC, and more Boys Club activities with nature and photography. In his first semester of high school he met an attractive brown-eyed brunette named Lois Lang, not realizing then that he would eventually marry her.

For college Bob chose Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (far from Chicago, close to southeast Missouri, but with in-state tuition), where he majored in zoology, minored in chemistry, and worked in the field and the lab for the Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory (CWRL). He also played clarinet in the Marching Salukis band. After two years and the summer in between he returned to Chicago for a summer job at Motorola. He also began dating his former HS classmate Lois. Returning to SIU in the fall he rejoined the CWRL and the Marching Salukis and began changing his major to chemistry while Lois went to UIUC. Absence made the heart grow fonder. He and Lois were married in Chicago on June 18, 1965, and spent their last year of college together at SIU.

During that final year Bob scored well on the Graduate Record Exam and won a prestigious NSF Graduate Fellowship, so in August 1966, after he and Lois graduated from SIU, it was off to grad school at Stanford, a brand-new part of the world for them. It was a mind­ opening experience. Bob was introduced to backpacking and noon-time running. His research on cholesterol biosynthesis went well, earning him a PhD in Organic Chemistry and an NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship to study inorganic chemistry at Cambridge University (1970-71). While he and Lois were in Cambridge, The University of Kansas called to offer a faculty position in Medicinal Chemistry. It was a perfect match for Bob’s interests in chemistry and biology, so he jumped at the chance.

At Kansas Bob loved teaching pharmacy undergraduates, doing research related to drug metabolism with grad students and postdocs (more than 50 overall), and contributing to the scientific literature (one book and over 170 research articles). During his 49 years as a faculty member Bob was highly active. His motto, learned at SIU, was work hard, play hard, in that order. Hence his daily noon-time running with the KU Mad Dogs and his avid windsurfing and backpacking, in addition to holding office in several professional societies (ACS, RSC, AAAS, SOT, ISSX). He directed an NIH pre-doctoral training grant (1994-2000}, an NIH Center on Protein Structure and Function (2002-2018), and served as Interim Chair of his department from 2017 until he retired in May 2020. Retirement went well but in 2022 he started to decline and in 2023 he was diagnosed with ALS.

He was preceded in death by his parents, uncles (Edward Kitz and William Hanzlik), and his dear cousin Gloria (Kitz) Burns.

He is survived by his loving wife of nearly 60 years, Lois, her sister Marilyn J. Lang, her brother Daniel G. Lang, and their families.

Private inurnment will take place at Pioneer Cemetery on the KU campus at a later date.