Category: Obituaries

William H. Yockey

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Private family services for William H. Yockey, 93, Lyndon, were held Saturday, with entombment in the Mount Hope Cemetery in Topeka.

Mr. Yockey died Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

He was born Feb. 9, 1918, in Quenemo, the son of William and Mabel Blair Yockey. He grew up in Quenemo and graduated from Quenemo High School. He moved to California in 1939 and lived there until 1951 when he moved back to Lyndon, where he had lived since.

He was a farmer and stockman most of his life. He had served as a city councilman and mayor for Lyndon and was a county commissioner for Osage County. He was a member of the Osage City Presbyterian Church and the Euclid Lodge No. 101 A.F. & A.M. in Lyndon.

He married Dorothy Goodman on July 26, 1945, in Burbank, Calif. She preceded him in death Dec. 8, 2008.

Survivors include two sons, Dr. Charles and wife Nancy, of Lawrence, and Dennis and wife Peggy, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; his sister, Ruth Loper, of Santa Ynez, Calif.; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

The family suggests memorials to the LMH Endowment Association, sent in care of Feltner Funeral Home, 818 Topeka Ave., Lyndon, KS 66451.

Delmar E. “Del” Dey

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Graveside services with military honors for Delmar E. “Del” Dey, 88, Topeka, formerly of Lawrence, will be 1:00 p.m. Friday, January 6, 2012 at Osborne Cemetery, Osborne.

Mr. Dey died Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, at St. Francis Health Center in Topeka.

He was born Apr. 18, 1923, in Osborne, the son of LeRoy Albert and Millie Edith Eaton Dey. He graduated from Osborne High School in 1941. He then enlisted in the United States Navy, serving on the battleship USS California, and participated in invasions of Marianas, Phillipines, Okinawa, and the occupation of Japan. He was honorably discharged in 1946, and later graduated from Fort Hays State College in 1949.

Mr. Dey taught and coached in high schools for several years. He was a charter quartermaster of the Osborne Veterans of Foreign Wars Post, a current member of Alford-Clarke VFW Post 852 in Lawrence, and a member of the Saqui Masonic Lodge #160 in Osborne.

Survivors include two sons, Dennis Eugene Dey, Lenexa, KS, and Michael LeRoy Dey, Gallipolis, OH; a daughter, Mary Kathleen Flin, Topeka, KS, and eight grandchildren.

Helen Pauline (Peg) Martin

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Funeral services for Helen Pauline (Peg) Martin, 89, Lawrence, will be at 11 a.m. Friday, December 30, 2011, at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, with Reverend Kent Winters-Hazelton officiating. Interment will follow at Chapel Hill Cemetery, Kansas City, Kansas.

Mrs. Martin died December 26, 2011, at her son’s home.

She was born January 28, 1922 in Kansas City, Kansas the daughter of Robert and Vivian Roberts Quisenberry.

She graduated from Wyandotte High School and was a homemaker. She married Ernest H. Martin. He preceded her in death in 1995.

Mrs. Martin traveled around the world with her husband, he was in the military. After his release they made their home in Lawrence.

She was the youngest of five sisters who also have gone before her and will see her soon.

Survivors include one son, Jeffrey W. Martin and wife Phyllis, Lawrence; one daughter, Sharon R. Draper and husband Eddie, Thornton, Colorado; five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Friends may call from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday, and 9 a.m. to service time Friday at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to Visiting Nurses, in care of the funeral home, 601 Indiana, Lawrence, KS 66044.

Cecil Ray Pearson

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Cecil Ray Pearson, passed away on Sunday, December 25, 2011, at Baldwin Healthcare Center.

He had been a resident of the Baldwin Healthcare Center. He was born March 27, 1930, to Paul and Maggie Esther Dunn-Pearson.

He lived in North Lawrence most of his life, and made his living as a truck driver. He served in the U.S. Army, and was a member of the North Lawrence Baptist Church.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Meldean Hicks-Pearson.

He leaves behind 3 brothers; Stanley of Milton, Florida, Murvin of Springfield, Missouri, and Arnold of Lawrence; three sisters, Nadine Young of Springfield, Missouri, Aleen Barnes of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Jenice Easum of Lawrence; and 4 step-children, Connie, Steve, and Richard McMillin of Lawrence, and Mark McMillin of Lecompton.

Mr. Pearson was cremated.

Max Lee Rife

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Memorial service for Max Lee Rife, 84, Lawrence, will be held at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, December 29, 2011, at Plymouth Congregational Church, with the Reverend Dr. Peter A. Luckey officiating. A reception will follow the service in the Mayflower Room at the church.

Max Lee Rife was born November 9, 1927, in Harper County, Kansas, the son of Casper and Grace (Ford) Rife. He attended schools in Harper County and Anthony. In 1946 he joined the US Navy and served as a Submarine Serviceman until his discharge in 1948. Before graduating in 1951 from Southwestern College, Winfield, Max married Wilma Stratton on December 29, 1948. Max earned a Master’s degree from the University of Kansas in 1968. Max taught and coached in Geneseo and at Inman, where his team won a state championship in basketball. He moved to Lawrence in 1956 as head basketball coach, where he became the basketball coach with the most wins in LHS history including many league championships. He coached and taught history at Lawrence High School until named Associate Principal in 1968, serving in this capacity until his retirement in 1991.

As an athlete at Southwestern College he lettered in track, football and basketball. He was named by the Topeka Daily Capital as an All-CIC football player in 1949 and 1950. He received honorable mention on the Little (small college) All-American Football team in 1950. In 1994, he was inducted into the Southwestern College Athletic Hall of Fame.

As a coach, Max’s enthusiasm and determination inspired his athletes to succeed on and off the court. This influence is reflected in the many calls and letters he has received throughout the years. Because of his long tenure and service as coach and administrator at Lawrence High School, he was inducted into the Lawrence High School Hall of Honor in 2005.

Max Rife loved Lawrence High and (for the most part) Lawrence High loved Max Rife. He truly enjoyed the challenge of interacting with teenagers. For 35 years, Max counseled, disciplined, kidded, mentored and lovingly hassled the youth of Lawrence.

Max greatly enjoyed living in Lawrence and was passionate about KU Sports. His other passions were trading and sometimes modifying cars, organizing excursions in a great variety of recreational vehicles, water skiing, boating, camping, and country living with frequent trips to town. Among his greatest joys was conversing with friends, students, rivals, acquaintances, car dealers, barbers, restaurant servers, shop keepers, perfect strangers and his cats Blanche and One-Eyed Jack. His sharp sense of humor was a defining characteristic and his stories and conversation will be missed by family and friends.

Max is survived by his wife, two sisters Lois McKee, Anthony and Donna Coble, Severy. Other survivors include four children, Kurt Rife, Kansas City, MO; Joel Rife and his wife Nancy Coleman, Albuquerque, NM; Trish Rife and her husband Patrick Robinson, Greenville, TX; Libby Rife and her husband Ed Holub, Denver, CO. Other survivors include four grandchildren, Shannon Rife, Wilson Rife, Jacob Robinson and Sam Robinson. He was preceded in death by his parents and his daughters-in-law Patti Rife and Gail Massey.

The family will greet friends from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 28 at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to the Lawrence Schools Foundation, or the Lawrence Humane Society, in care of the funeral home, 601 Indiana, Lawrence, KS 66044.

A private inurnment will be held at a later date.

Charlotte Smith Bruey

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Funeral services for Charlotte Smith Bruey, 85, Lawrence, were held Wednesday, Dec. 14 in Caldwell, with burial at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Bluff City.
She died Friday, Dec. 9, 2011, in Lawrence.
She was born Feb. 1, 1926, in Terre Haute, Ind., the daughter of Joseph Lansford Coakley Smith and Reba Schulmeyer Smith.
She attended Glenn elementary and high schools, and graduated in 1944. She attended the St. Louis Institute of Music from 1944 to 1948, and she received her master’s degree in music from Indiana State University in 1951.
Mrs. Bruey was a pianist and piano teacher, and was also an orchestral musician in the Wichita Symphony and St. Louis Philharmonic. She played the double bass.
She won the State and National High School Contest in Michigan at the age of 15, and she won the Indiana state contest in 1941 and 1944. She was one of six Young Artists’ winners with the St. Louis Symphony in 1947.
She married Robert Bruey on Dec. 22, 1951, in Caldwell. He survives.
Other survivors include three daughters, Lou Ann and Randy Gebhards, Lawrence, Patty and Mickey Tidwell, Lakeland, Fla., and Shirley and Jim Sweetman, Castro Valley, Calif.; a brother, Norman and Charlotte Smith, Rantoul, Ill.; and five grandchildren.
The family suggests memorials to the Alzheimer’s Association’s Central and Western Kansas Offices, 347 S. Laura, Wichita, KS 67211.

Paul H. Getto, D.D.S.

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Paul Henry Getto, D.D.S., 94, passed away at home December 21, 2011 surrounded by family. Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m., Saturday, December 24, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1011 Vermont Street, Lawrence. A reception at the church will immediately follow the service.

Paul was born October 1, 1917 in Jeannette, Pennsylvania to Michael and Ernesta Getto, who were originally from the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The youngest of six surviving children, Paul graduated from Jeannette High School and then followed his older brothers, Mike Getto, a KU assistant football coach (1929-1939 and 1947-1950) and All-American tackle at the University of Pittsburgh (1928), and Ernest J. Getto, M.D., a graduate of KU Medical School, to Lawrence to attend the University of Kansas. Paul’s professors at KU included Dr. James A. Naismith, inventor of the sport of basketball and founder of the KU basketball program. After KU, Paul attended the University of Kansas City School of Dentistry (now UMKC Dental School), graduating in 1942.

During college, he met his future wife, Winnifred Hagberg, while both worked at the Eldridge Hotel in Lawrence. Paul and Winnie were married October 10, 1942 in Montgomery, Alabama, where Paul served four years in the U.S. Army Air Force Dental Corps. This fall Paul and Winnie celebrated their sixty-ninth wedding anniversary.

Following his military service, Paul and Winnie lived two years in DuBois, Pennsylvania while Paul practiced dentistry. In 1948, they returned to Lawrence where Paul continued to practice dentistry and oral surgery for 38 years until his retirement in 1986. During retirement, Paul was active in volunteer work for the Boy Scouts of America, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Douglas County Senior Services (which honored him with the Jim Seaver Award in 2008), the Lawrence Visitor’s Center and other organizations. He was a member of the American Dental Association, the Kansas State Dental Association, the Douglas County Dental Society, and the Lawrence Rotary Club.

Paul was a wonderful, cheerful man, loved and admired by all who knew him. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by his brothers Anthony Getto, Dominic Getto, Mike Getto, Ernest J. Getto, M.D. and his sister Anna Wilps. Paul is survived by his wife of 69 years, Winnie Getto; his son Paul, and wife Kathy, of Topeka, Ks; his son Charles, and wife Carol, of Lenexa, Ks; his daughter Jane Getto Allen, and husband Stephen, of Lawrence; and seven grandchildren. The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be sent to Trinity Episcopal Church, Lawrence Memorial Hospital or Douglas County Visiting Nurses.

Robert E. “Bob” Walker

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Graveside services for Robert Earl “Bob” Walker, 88, Lawrence, will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Oak Hill Cemetery, with the Rev. Don Cunningham officiating.

Mr. Walker died Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, at Brandon Woods at Alvamar.

He was born Dec. 4, 1923, in Minot, N.D., the son of George E. and Bessie Britten Walker. He graduated from high school in Aberdeen, S.D., and later attended Northern State Teacher’s College in Aberdeen. He served in the United States Navy aboard the USS Richmond during World War II.

Mr. Walker was a regional supervisor for the United States Department of Labor out of the Kansas City, Mo. office, and retired after 17 years of service. He was a 25-year member of the First Methodist Church of Aberdeen, a former member of the Scottish Rite, and a former commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Aberdeen.

He married Stella L. Tribble on Jan. 29, 1944, in Aberdeen. She survives of the home.

Others survivors include a son; Craig Walker and Annelee Marsh, Lawrence; a daughter, Sherry L. Bauer and Charles, Lawrence; four grandchildren, James, Kelly, Jenny, and Grady; seven great grandchildren; and one great-great grandchild.

He was preceded in death by his parents, a son, Mark Walker, and a brother, Lyle Walker.

Friends may call from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, where the family will receive them from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The family suggests memorial contributions to The Salvation Army, or the Lawrence Humane Society, in care of the funeral home, 601 Ind., Lawrence, KS, 66044.

Danny L. Coyne

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Memorial services with military honors for Danny L. Coyne, 57, Lecompton will be at 10a.m. Monday, December 19, 2011 at the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home and Crematory, Lawrence. Mr. Coyne died Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at St. Luke’s Hospital, Kansas City, MO.

He was born January 9, 1954 in Topeka, the son of George E. and Betty J. Griffin Coyne.

Mr. Coyne graduated Topeka High School in 1972. In high school he was a State Champion in backstroke on the swim team.

He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from September 29, 1972 until his release on Sept. 28, 1976. After the service he worked at F.M.C. for 20 years and the University of Kansas for 10 years.

Mr. Coyne was preceded in death by a brother Mike Coyne in 1989.

Survivors include his parents and his wife Penny D. McCurdy of the home.

The family will receive friends Sunday from 3p.m. to 4p.m. at the funeral home.

Memorials may be made to the Lawrence Humane society in care of the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana, Lawrence, KS 66044.