Visitation for Thomas W. Murphy, 39, Lawrence, will be from 2 to 3pm Saturday at the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home. Mr. Murphy died Saturday at his home. www.rumsey-yost.com.
The Family will be at the funeral home on Saturday 2 to 3pm.
Author: RumseyYost
Lolita (Lolly) Brooks Coffin
Lolita (Lolly) Brooks Coffin Longtime Lawrence resident, Lolita (Lolly) Brooks Coffin, 93, passed away on April 18, 2012 in Durango, Colorado, where she had lived for the past ten years. Lolly was surrounded by her loving family, who grieves her passing, but is comforted by the blessings of her long life, her adventurous spirit, her loving care and knowing she was welcomed home by her husband, Tony, who preceded her. Lolly is survived by sons Doug Coffin (Kaaren) of Abiquiu, NM; Barry Coffin of Lawrence, KS; Tom Coffin (Julia) of Scottsdale, AZ; and Lynn Coffin (Carly DeLong) of Durango, CO; grandsons Michael Worsham, Brian Coffin, Erik Coffin (Meryl), and Gabrial Coffin; great-grandchildren Ashley Worsham, Miro Coffin, and Paloma Coffin; niece Betty Stone (Paul) of Vienna, VA; and nephew Bob Hardage (Sherry) of Houston, TX. Lolly was preceded in death by her husband, Warner A. Tony Coffin, Jr. of Lawrence, KS; parents John Brooks and Bettie Chisholm Brooks of Dustin, OK; brothers Jim Brooks, Claude Brooks and Arthur Brooks; sisters Marie Robinson, Lovie Brooks, Lena Hardage and Montilene Jacoway. Lolly was born in Dustin, OK on Feb. 24, 1919. After graduating from Dustin High School, she attended Haskell Institute, graduating in 1941. She entered civil service and worked from 1941 to 1944, serving in Muskogee, OK, Albuquerque, NM, Chicago, IL and Washington, D.C. Lolly married Lt. Warner A. Coffin, Jr. (USN), son of Warner A., Sr. and Margaret Wabaunse Coffin, on June 12, 1944 in Kansas City. Lolly and Tony raised their four sons at Haskell Institute (now Haskell Indian Nations University) where Tony was Coach and Athletic Director for many years. After Tonys passing in 1966, Lolly worked at Haskell until her retirement. Lolly was an intrepid and adventurous world traveler, visiting over 48 countries during her lifetime. Her ever-present spirit of curiosity and love of life took her to many exotic places, often with one of her sons. She was up for anything, whether it was cruising the Nile in Egypt, exploring in Tibet or riding a jitney in Bangkok. An avid bridge player, Lolly played with her many good friends all her life. Lolly attended St. Johns the Evangelist Catholic Church in Lawrence. Lolly moved to Durango in 2002, where she continued her active life and travels throughout the U.S. She took her greatest pleasure in the accomplishments of her sons and attended many events with them, from down home barbeques to elegant art world affairs, to state capitols, to the White House. An avid sports fan, Lolly never missed watching her son Lynn at tennis matches or a Jayhawks basketball game. A graveside service will be held at Mount Calvary Cemetery, 1605 Oak Hill Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66044 on Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. followed by a celebration of Lollys life at the 23rd Street Brewery located at 3512 Clinton Parkway, Lawrence, KS. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a donation be made to the Haskell Alumni Association, 155 Indian Ave., Lawrence, KS 66046, (785) 832-6627. Arrangements are being handled by Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home in Lawrence.
Elizabeth “Eliza” Neal
Funeral services for Elizabeth “Eliza” Neal, 81, Lawrence, will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home with the Reverend Lewis Jenkins officiating. Burial will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery.
Mrs. Neal died Friday, April 20, 2012, at Kansas City Hospice House.
She was born July, 23, 1930, in Hollandale, MS, the daughter of Ed and Carleen Jenkins.
She married Rance Neal Sr on December 11, 1948, in Hollandale, MS. He died August 4, 2006.
Mrs. Neal enjoyed fishing, cooking, gardening, and taking care of her children and grandchildren. She was a member of the New Foundation Church in Hollandale, Mississippi as well as the New Hope Baptist Church in Canton, Ohio, where her brother Lewis Jenkins is the Pastor.
Survivors include three sons, Rance Neal and wife Earnestine, Lawrence, Charles Neal, Canton, OH, and Freddie Neal and wife Cynthia, Minneapolis, MN; four daughters, Barbara Neal, St. Louis, MO, Peggy Neal, Hollandale, MS, Rosie Mae Neal, Canton, OH, and Francis Tyler, Greenville, MS; a brother, Lewis “Ed” Jenkins, Canton, OH; a sister, Margaret Henderson, Lithonia, GA; 11 grandchildren; and 18 great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Rance Neal Sr., two daughters, Joann Neal and Matilda Neal, one brother, Robert Jenkins, and two sisters, Bessie Fields and Annie Hamilton.
Friends may call from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home, where the family will receive them from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Kansas City Hospice House, sent in care of the funeral home.
Barbara Ellen Thiessen Lowenthal
Funeral services for Barbara T. Lowenthal, 69, Lawrence, KS, will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, April 23, 2012, at the First Christian Church in Lawrence, KS. Burial will be in Oakley, Kansas, on April 24, 2012. She died at home on Friday, April 20. The family will receive friends Sunday, April 22, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.
She was born on November 21, 1942, in Garden City, KS, to Peter and Tena (Brandt) Thiessen. She was graduated from Meade Bible Academy in 1960. She attended one year at Haviland Bible Junior College, Haviland, Kansas, followed by training as a hairdresser at the Vernin Beauty School in Wichita, Kansas.
She was married to Larry Eugene Isaac. Todd Jeffery was adopted in 1968 and daughter Natalie Tena was born on April 28, 1971. Barbara was a homemaker and after her divorce in 1977, she moved with the children to Kansas City where she worked as a dental assistant.
She married David Lowenthal on February 23, 1980. They made their home in Lawrence where David worked as a Certified Public Accountant. They had a part-time business taking graduation and party pictures along with three partners that engaged the entire family while the children were growing up. The part-time business was sold in 1994. Both Barbara and David turned their attention to other interests that included traveling and hunting. Barbara harvested many deer.
Over the years Barbara has hosted many foreign students driven by her interest in people and learning more about other places. She led several to know Christ and remained in touch with them. In 2002 they went to China and connected with one of the foreign students she had befriended. Their final vacation together was a tour of Egypt this last October.
Barbara’s faith has always been a key part of her life. She firmly believed in salvation through Christ and imparted the importance of this belief to her children, her husband, and would always find an opportunity to share her faith with others. She was active in a bible study group and was a member and volunteer at various churches in Lawrence.
She was diagnosed with stage IV gallbladder cancer this past January. She fought this battle with cancer with grace and dignity and complete faith in Christ. She was preceded in death by her parents and her step-mother, Zelma, who raised her after her mother died when she was four, and her brother, Norman Thiessen.
She is survived by her husband David, her children Todd Isaac, Lawrence, KS, and Natalie Isaac, Denver, CO, her mother-in-law Ruth Lowenthal, Lawrence, KS, sister-in-law Darlene Thiessen, Lawrence, KS, sister-in-law and brother-in-law Deb and Ron Teeter, Lawrence, KS, brother-in-law and sister-in-law Richard and Kathy Lowenthal, Scott City, KS, nephew Kevin Thiessen and family, Rogers, AR, and niece Tayna Luder and family, Overland Park, KS, and a host of other family members and friends.
Memorial gifts can be made to Wycliffe Bible Translators or Family Life Broadcasting System in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.
Jerry L. Lathrom
Graveside services for Jerry L. Lathrom, 66, Lawrence, will be 11am Monday, April 23, 2012 at Oak Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Lathrom died Monday, April 16, 2012 at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
Ethel M. McKelvey
Funeral services for Ethel Mae McKelvey, 96, of Lawrence, will be held at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, April 19, at First Southern Baptist Church, 4300 West 6th Street, Lawrence. Mrs. McKelvey died peacefully Saturday, April 14, at Brandon Woods surrounded by her family.
Ethel was born July 7, 1915, in Stratton, Nebraska, the daughter of James Elvis and Frances Ann Smedley Sanderson. She attended school in Desoto, Kansas and had cosmetology schooling at Vanity Beauty Shop in Lawrence. She married Herbert McKelvey on August 19, 1931, in Olathe, Kansas. She opened Ethel’s Beauty Shop in Lawrence in 1956. She was a member of First Southern Baptist Church, where she volunteered as a Sunday School teacher, the Knife and Fork Club, and attended Christian Women’s Club. She enjoyed reading, traveling, working on her yard, and visiting at nursing homes.
Survivors include two daughters, Virginia Noel, of San Diego, California; Barbara Forman, and her husband, John Forman, of Buckeye, Arizona; 7 grandchildren, 25 great grandchildren and 21 great-great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Herbert McKelvey, on Oct. 31, 1984; daughter Vera Ruth McKenzie on Nov. 27, 1999; brother Robert Sanderson on June 29, 2011; and her parents and two sisters, Eva Shore and Ella Russell.
Friends may call from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, at the funeral home, and the family will receive friends from 10 a.m. until the service time on Thursday, April 19 at the church.
The family suggests memorials to the Grace Hospice in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.
Elbert (EC) Leak
Memorial Service for Elbert (EC) Leak will be at 1:00 pm. Friday April
20, 2012 at the First Presbyterian Church, 2415 Clinton Pkwy,
Lawrence,KS. Family visitation will follow the service.
The family suggests memorials to the Disabled American
Veterans of the Topeka VA Hospital, the American Legion, LMH Endowment
Association, or the First Presbyterian Church Parish Nurses.
Christopher Swan
We are having a celebration of life for Christopher on Saturday, April 14, 2012. It will start at 1:00 p.m. Please come by and share your favorite Chris stories. It will be held at our home at 706 Acorn, in Eudora, Kansas.
Chris will be truly missed by his family, his parents Dennis and Ramona Kemberling and Michael and Donna Swan, his sisters Sarah Marie Swan, Debra Kemberling, his niece Vivian Mirah Swan, and his foster sisters Dana Duran and Debbie Marie Merz, and all of his extended family and countless friends.
If you want to honor him with a memorial, please do so at any of the following: Lawrence Humane Society, Operation Wildlife, or Douglas County Visiting Nurses / Hospice.
Most of all, we hope you will honor him by living your best life. Love unconditionally, be generous, be kind, and above all, smile. You never know who you might touch.
We hope to see you on Saturday.
Eugene Larry Holmes
Eugene Larry Holmes, Lawrence, Kansas, passed away peacefully at Midland Care Hospice House in Topeka, Kansas, Thursday, April 5, 2012, after an eight-year battle with kidney cancer. A kind and loving man, Larry lived life to the fullest valuing experiences over possessions and sharing his joy with countless family and friends throughout his 62 years.
Born on May 3, 1949, in Baton Rouge La., to Colonel Eugene J. Holmes and Irene Laptad Holmes. Larry grew up experiencing and enjoying many cultures and countries as part of a military family. He lived in Germany, Greece and France before moving to San Rafael, Calif., and enjoying the San Francisco Bay area in the mid-60s.
He married Nancy Lynn Brammer on November 17, 2006.
Throughout his career, Larry owned and managed many businesses including Bryan Bookkeeping and Tax Service, Holmes and Yates Real Estate in Fayetteville and A Landscape Company in Bentonville, Ark.
Larry is survived by his wife Nancy Holmes of Lawrence, son Aaron along with his wife Kristin and three sons Jackson, Spencer and Wyatt of Fayetteville, son Van along with his wife Alison and son Alexander of Santa Monica, Calif., stepdaughter Leslie Price along with her husband Tyler of Kansas City, stepson Owen Phariss of Lawrence. Also, mother Irene Holmes, brother Bob Holmes and sister Linda Burnett, all of Fayetteville AR
Services will be held Monday, April 9, at 11:00 a.m. at Moore’s Chapel in Fayetteville. Burial will be held at the Fayetteville National Cemetery under the direction of Moore’s Chapel.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Midland Care Hospice House, 200 SW Frazier Circle, Topeka, KS 66606, or the American Cancer Society, 901 N. University, Little Rock, AR 72207.
Paul Kenneth Laughlin
Graveside inurnment services for Paul Kenneth Laughlin, 88, Tahlequah, Okla., formerly of Vinland, will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Apr. 14, 2012, at Vinland Cemetery.
Mr. Laughlin died Dec. 3, 2011, in Tahlequah.
He was born Mar. 12, 1923, in Vinland, the fourth child of John and Ruth Laughlin. He graduated from Vinland High School and Pittsburg State University, where he was chosen for ‘Who’s Who of American Universities.’ He served in the United States Navy from 1942-46, and had celebrated 59 years of marriage to Maxine Dorothy Fox.
Paul retired from Farmland Industries following 30 years of service. He thoroughly enjoyed gardening, bowling, traveling, golfing, and being a poet. After becoming legally blind, he attended rehab offered by the Veterans Administration in Waco, Tex., where he learned life skills and how to operate a computer.
He was preceded in death by his son, Bob Laughlin, his parents, John and Ruth Laughlin, sisters Almina Olmstead and Moleta Schmidt, and brothers Kermit Laughlin and John Laughlin Jr.
Survivors include his loving wife, Maxine Laughlin, Tahlequah; sister Shirley Harsin, Topeka; and many nieces and nephews.
Honorary urnbearers are Jay Laughlin, Floyd Schmidt, Jack Olmstead, Gary Olmstead, Jason Harsin, Jared Harsin, and David Ade.
