Margaret “Peg” Redpath Phelps

Memorial services for Margaret “Peg” Redpath Phelps, 89. Prairie Village, formerly of Lawrence, will be at 3 p.m. Monday at Plymouth Congregational Church in Lawrence, with the Rev. Dr. Peter A. Luckey officiating. Inurnment will be at a later date at Mt. Muncie Cemetery in Leavenworth.

Mrs. Phelps died Tuesday, Mar. 1, 2011, at Brighton Gardens in Prairie Village.

She was born Sept. 30, 1921, in Kansas City, Mo., the daughter of Helen and Cargill Redpath. She graduated from Paseo High School in 1938 and later attended Grinnell College for one year. In 1942, she joined the United States Navy, and served in the WAVES as a lieutenant until discharged in 1945. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 1968.

Mrs. Phelps worked for the United States Department of Agriculture. She also served as a volunteer for her church, PTA, scouting, and as a cook and driver for Meals on Wheels. She was a beloved and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, and friend. The family praises God for her life, and she will be missed by all who knew her.

She married the love of her life, Donald O. Phelps on June 24, 1945. He preceded her in death on Feb. 11, 1999.

Survivors include her four children, April Baughman and husband Larry, Olathe, David Phelps and wife Karen, Lawrence, Jane Dimmel and husband Drew, Overland Park, and Chris Phelps and wife Jane, Lawrence; a sister, Pat Young; ten grandchildren, three great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

The family suggests memorial contributions to Plymouth Congregational Church, or The Salvation Army, in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home & Crematory, 601 Ind., Lawrence, KS, 66044.

Ruthanna Volk Kew

Inurnment services for Ruthanna Volk Kew, 99, Lawrence, will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Mar. 3, at Mt. Vernon Cemetery, Atchison, KS.

Mrs. Kew died Friday, Feb. 25, 2011, at the home of her daughter in Lawrence.

She was born Nov. 2, 1911, in the Camp Creek Community of Atchison County, Kan., the daughter of John Sr. and Regina Abbuehl Volk. She graduated from Atchison High School in 1931, and later attended Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison.

Mrs. Kew was a homemaker, and was active in PTA, Girl Scouts, the Atchison County Historical Society, the Atchison Coin and Stamp Club, Shepherd’s Center, Atchison County Extension Homemaker’s Parallel Unit, and Archeology Club. She was a member of First Christian Church of Atchison, where she was a deaconess emeritus and held many CWF offices throughout the years. She moved to Lawrence in 2002, where she made her home with her daughter and son-in-law, and played an active role in the growth and development of her great grandchildren.

She married Harry L. Kew in 1933. He preceded her in death. She was also preceded in death by her parents, and two brothers, J. David Volk and Harold Volk.

Survivors include a daughter, Martha Jacobson and husband Gene, Lawrence; two grandchildren, Mindy Downs and husband Mike and David Jacobson and wife Jen; and four great grandchildren, Caleb and Mikayla Downs, and Emma and Noah Jacobson.

The family suggests memorial contributions to First Christian Church in Atchison, or Douglas County VNA, Rehabilitation and Hospice Care, in care of the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Ind., Lawrence, KS, 66044.

Online condolences may be sent at www.rumsey-yost.com.

Roy Nelson Mayhew

Roy Nelson Mayhew, 78, Lawrence, died at his home on Saturday, February 19, 2011.

A celebration of life will be held in Lawrence on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at the American Legion from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Graveside services to be held at the Deer Creek Cemetery, Marshall County and a celebration of life will be held in Marysville, at a later date. Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home will have information regarding upcoming services when available.

Roy was born October 16, 1932 on the family farm north of Marysville, Kansas, the son of Ray and Zilpha Mayhew. The youngest of seven children. He went to school at District 69 through the eighth grade and attended high school in Marysville, graduating in 1950.

In September 1950 he started to work for the Davey Tree Expert Company until his induction into the Army in 1953.

After radio communications training at Fort Riley, Kansas, he spent 16 months in Korea.

In 1955 he was hired on with the Kansas Highway Department and stayed on with the department for 39 years 4 months, retiring in August 1994.

Roy met his future wife, Maxine, in Seneca in the spring of 1955. They were married on Friday, July 13, 1956 and celebrated 54 years together.

He enjoyed woodworking as his hobby. He also liked to travel by driving and seeing the sights of America.

Roy is survived by his wife, Maxine, his son Monte and wife Jenny, Florida, his daughter Debra and husband Scott, Maryland, three grandchildren, one great-grandchild, four step-grandchildren, and his brother Leslie, Lincoln, Nebraska. He enjoyed the company and love of 36 nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by 2 brothers; Dale and Everett and 3 sisters; Zelma Daily, Correne Corey, and Ada Heaton.

Contributions in his name can be sent to: Audio-Reader, 1120 West 11th Street, P.O. Box 847, Lawrence, Kansas 66044 or Douglas County Visiting Nurses, Rehabilitation & Hospice, 200 Maine Street, Lawrence, Kansas 66044.

Harold Earl Kolling

On February 18, 2011, Harold Earl Kolling went home to God. Harold was born June 13, 1920, in Wichita, Kansas, the older son of Ernestine and Henry Kolling. His childhood years were spent divided between Wichita and the Buckley Family homestead in Cloud County, near Ames, Kansas.

1933 was a turning point in Harold’s life. The family made an extended car trip to Chicago to attend the World’s Fair. Harold had submitted a small exhibit, which had been accepted in the Kansas exhibit at the fair, and he kept a journal of his trip. At the age of 13 Harold fell in love with Chicago and its history and determined to spend the rest of his life studying history.

Harold received his B.A. in history from Friends University. He earned a M.A. degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Chicago. While in Chicago he was the Associate Editor of “the papers of James Madison”, and he wrote a chapter in the 3rd Volume of, “A History of Chicago: the Rise of the Modern City 1871-1893”, by Bessie Louise Pierce. During his career he was a teacher and academic dean at Friends University, Wichita University, Oklahoma City University, DePauw, and Texas College.

In 1977, Baker University President, Gerald Walker, a former student of Harold’s, invited him to Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas, where he established the Ernestine Buckley Trust to endow a chair in the history department. He was appointed University Historian and worked as Archivist at the Baker University Library. He compiled the facts and information to write a history of Baker University. Many other academic institutions received his support over the years of his life.

While at Baker University, Harold taught and mentored scores of students, many of whom went on to have successful careers. Harold believed an education to be the most import accomplishment anyone could achieve and he devoted his entire adult life to helping others reach their goals.

He was an avid reader and amassed an enormous personal library encompassing all aspects of American History. With his inquiring mind he found infinite delight and interest in all the details of life. He believed that in order for society to progress it was imperative we study the history of our past, and all of our collective individual personal histories then create a history for future generations.

His family includes two nieces, Annette Kolling-Buckley and Elizabeth Buckley, great-niece Manessa, great-nephew Clayton, plus a great-great-niece Kaitlyn. Harold is also survived by his extended Baker University family, friends Annie and Darell Bowersox and their children, and Louise Cummings-Simmons and David Simmons. A modest and humble man, Harold felt blessed to have such a large extended family and friends who loved and admired him. Harold was preceded in death by his parents and brother Orland. Harold requested his body be donated to medical service and that there be no memorial service. At a later date he will be buried between his mother and brother in Cloud County, Kansas.

Donations may be made to the Huber Kolling Scholarship fund at Southwestern College, Office of Institutional Advancement, 100 College Street, Winfield, KS. A special thank you goes to Sue Brown and the staff at Vintage Park, for the care and kindness they provided Harold during his last year.

Jere Jay Neibarger

A celebration of life for Jere Jay Neibarger, 80, Lawrence, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 12, 2011, at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana St., Lawrence, KS. Private inurnment will be held at Hubbel Hill Cemetery in Tonganoxie, KS at a later date for both Jere and his wife June, who preceded him in death. They will be buried together.

Jere died Sunday, February 20, 2011. The body was cremated.

He was born September 28, 1930, in Tonganoxie. He was one of five children born to Walter and Tresa (Hukill) Neibarger. He grew up in Tonganoxie, Valley Falls, and Burlington, KS.

He married G. June Lesser Neibarger on January 9, 1965, at the Congregational Church in Tonganoxie. She died on December 5, 2010.

Jere served four years in the U.S. Marines including two years with the occupation forces in Japan. While in Japan he served six months in Tokyo with an honorary Military Police Unit for General Douglas McArthur. He also served one year during the Korean War. He later became a licensed pilot and FAA-certified master mechanic and was employed by Trans World Airlines and Boeing Airplane Company before joining Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita, KS as a Technical Writer and then as Service Information Administrator for several years.

Jere later owned and edited three area newspaper and printing businesses over a fifteen-year period, including the Tonganoxie Mirror, the DeSoto News, and the Overbrook Citizen.

He worked for 18 years at Lawrence Memorial Hospital and retired as a Communications Technician in 1995.

Jere was a fifty-year member of the Albert Pike Masonic Lodge #303 in Wichita and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Lawrence.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, and one brother.

He is survived by two daughters, Katrina Rodriquez, husband Jose, and son Marcus of Greenwood, IN, and Anna White, husband John, and daughter Amanda and son Ethan, of Lawrence; one son, Derek, wife Christine, and son Forrest and daughter Ashley Beiter of Lawrence; one brother, John E. of Clinton, MO; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, March 11, 2011, at the funeral home.

The family suggests memorials to the Albert Pike Masonic Lodge #303, in care of the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.

Franklin C. Bidinger

Graveside services for Franklin C. Bidinger, 84, Clinton, will be at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Clinton Cemetery, with the Rev. Steve Bubna officiating, and Dr. Dan Neuenswander, vocalist.

Mr. Bidinger died Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011, at his home.

He was born June 1, 1926, in Stull, Kan., the son of Frank A. and Edith Gibler Bidinger. He graduated from Liberty Memorial High School.

Mr. Bidinger began working at a young age as a farmer and a body man for Winter Chevrolet, specializing in renovating totaled cars. He was a welder and machinist. He worked for the American Walnut Company, cutting and shipping logs to Kentucky and Louisiana. He traveled as a demonstrator for Dale Babbitt Electric Welding Alloys. He spent 20 years, including serving as supervisor, in the inside shop at the City of Lawrence Water Dept, followed by 12 years as Shop Foreman and Supervisor of Steam at the University of Kansas.

He began playing fast pitch softball at the age of 12. He had a sneaky fast ball and a dazzling knuckler. With him pitching and his father catching, they formed the rare father-son battery combination. The Clinton teams played in state tournament play for four years, ending in 1958. In 1955, the team won fourth place in the state competition. He later played competitively for numerous sponsored teams, including the Metzger’s, who made a bid for a national title in 1968 in Clearwater, Fla. He had a myriad of hobbies over the years, none of which he invested in lightly. Some of his hobbies include coon hunting, breeding angel fish, raising and selling minks, gardening, and encouraging the environmental use of purple martins. He was known as the Bird Man, and established the Purple Martin Sanctuary in Clinton with his wife, Betty. During his best year of housing martins, he counted over 300 pairs of martins, many of which returned the next year.

He married June Tate in 1953. They later divorced. He married Bethany Louise “Betty” Neuenswander on Dec. 27, 1978, in Colony, Kan. She survives of the home

Other survivors include a son, Kit Bidinger, Topeka; six step sons, John Oehlert and wife DeVonna, Paul Oehlert and wife Kris, and Luke Oehlert and wife Sheri, all of Lawrence, Mike Oehlert and wife Robbye, Round Rock, Tex., William Oehlert and wife Paula, La Porte, Tex., and Dan Oehlert, Eudora; four step daughters, Janie Landau and husband Rex, Lawrence, Mary Oehlert, Kansas City, Kan., Beth Sherman and husband Roy, McPherson, and Pat Oehlert, Hutchinson; a sister, Rita Harrison, Clinton; two grandchildren, Misty Stofer and Leslee Kennedy; 22 step grandchildren, two great grandchildren, 20 step-great grandchildren, two nephews, Dana and Curt, and three nieces, Tina, Denise, and Diana.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and a son, Michael in 2009.

Friends may call from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, where the family will receive them from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. A procession to the cemetery will follow the visitation.

The family suggests memorial contributions to the Clinton Historical Society, for the establishment of a bird aviary in Mr. Bidinger’s memory, in care of the funeral home, 601 Ind., Lawrence, KS, 66044.

Wesley Harvey Grammer

Memorial services for Wesley “Wes” Harvey Grammer, Sr., 83, Lawrence, will be at 2:00 p.m. Friday, at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.

Mr. Grammer died Monday, February 14, 2011 at Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka.

He was born January 24, 1928, in Lone Star, the son of Walter Harvey and Ruby Elizabeth Rist Grammer.

Mr. Grammer was in the Air Force during WWII he then worked at FMC in Lawrence. He enjoyed the outdoors, fishing, his dogs, and in his younger years building up engines in cars.

He married Dorothy Bingham in 1950, in Lawrence, she died in 2000. He then married Donna Johnson Wingert in 2001, she died in 2005.

Survivors include 2 sons, Wesley Grammer, Jr., and wife Judy, Lawrence, Rodney Grammer, Reno, NV; 3 daughters, Mary Cron, St. Louis, MO, Wanda Haider and husband David, Denver, CO, Brenda Mabary, Pittsburg, KS; 2 brothers, Darrel Grammer and Gerald Grammer and wife Virginia, Lawrence; 3 sisters, Beulah Anderson and Wilma Stone, Lawrence, Shirley Harris, McLouth; 12 grandchildren; 6 great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Ruby; wives, Dorothy and Donna; brothers, Alfred Grammer, Wilford Grammer, Howard Grammer; and sister Phyllis Wood.

Friends may call from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home, the family will receive them from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.

The family suggests memorials to the Wes Grammer Memorial Fund, sent in care of the funeral home.