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Barbara Gardiner Hearon
Memorial service for Barbara Ann Gardiner Hearon, 62, of Ventura, Calif., will be 1 p.m. Thursday at the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, Ventura.
Mrs. Hearon died Thursday, May 8, 2003, at her home. She had cancer.
She was born Sept. 19, 1940, at Garden City, the daughter of Mervin and Hallie Gardiner. She graduated from Garden City schools and then attended Oklahoma College for Women, graduating in 1962. She served in many leadership roles in college including the elected office of student body president and was Miss O.C.W. in her senior year. Throughout her life, she maintained her interest and connection with her alma mater (now known as the University of Science and Art of Oklahoma).
She began her professional career as a high school home economics teacher in California at Shafter High School where she met Ray Hearon. They were married in 1966. They moved from Bakersfield, Calif., to Ventura County in 1967, and she became a guidance counselor at Simi Valley High School, a position she had for 21 years. In 1974, she and her husband built a home in rural Somis and spent the next 26 years there. They moved to Ventura in 2000.
Mrs. Hearon retired from education in 1989 after a year's leave of absence spent traveling in Australia, New Zealand and other countries with her husband. They had visited every continent except Antarctica.
After retirement, she devoted much of her time to volunteer activities developing a passion for the mission of her P.E.O. sisterhood and serving as a docent for the Ventura County Museum of History and Arts. She served three terms as president of her local P.E.O. chapter and a term as chair of the State Committee for the P.E.O. Loan Fund.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by her mother, Hallie Gardiner of Lawrence; two sisters, Beverley Morgan of Lawrence, and Becky Bigler of Arcadia, Okla.; her stepchildren, Mark Hearon of Moorpark, Calif., Marie Elder of Bakersfield, and Rhonda Cleeland of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.; two aunts; five grandchildren; one great-grandchild; two nieces; and three nephews. She was preceded in death by her father; a brother, Dr. Ted Gardiner; and a granddaughter, Kelsey Elder.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the P.E.O. Educational Loan Fund, 3700 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50312-2899; University of Science and Art of Oklahoma, 1727 W. Alabama, Chickasha, OK 73018-5322; or the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, 100 E. Main St., Ventura, CA 93001.
Charles Carroll Funeral Home, Ventura, is in charge of arrangements.
The Rev. Robert R. Allen
The Rev. Robert R. Allen, 89, of Garden City, died Saturday, May 10, 2003, at Robert J. Dole Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Wichita.
He was born Feb. 9, 1914, at Ottawa, the son of Fred Russell and Mary Beda (Allen) Allen. He attended school in Ottawa. A piano player since the age of 9, he began performing as a jazz pianist with several bands and started making solo appearances while in high school. He then enrolled in Ottawa University and majored in music.
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army as a member of the Air Force Special Service Band. During that duty, he was chosen to give a command performance for King George of England. After his discharge from the service, he returned to Ottawa University to continue to study music theory.
In 1951, he enrolled in the Niles Bryant School of Piano Tuning Techniques in Washington, D.C. While there, he was the winner of the Horace Heidis 52nd Broadway National Talent Show Finals in New York City, which was shown nationally on television and performed in Boston Symphony Hall.
In 1955, while serving as the accompanist for the Mount Carmal Baptist Church Choir on its national tour, his career went a new direction. He attended Topeka Baptist Seminary and served three years as an associate minister of Antioch Baptist Church in Topeka. In 1964, he received his ministerial degree from the American Bible Institute in Kansas City, Mo., and was ordained into the ministry.
The Rev. Allen pastored the Mount Zion Baptist Church in Abilene until moving to Nicodemus and pastoring the church there in 1967. In 1971, he became the senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Garden City and also received his doctorate in divinity from American Bible Institute. He had served Second Baptist Church for 32 years.
Well known in Garden City for his community service with his music, he especially enjoyed doing musical performances at the grade schools during the Christmas season. He was a past president of the Garden City Ministerial Alliance and belonged to the Noon Kiwanis Club.
On April 18, 1959, he married Elnoria V. Holmes at Topeka. She survives. He also is survived by five daughters, Melodie Allen, Teresa Atkins, Bobbie Allen, Betty Allen and Valerie Vallejo, all of Garden City; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Funeral will be 2 p.m. Thursday at the First United Methodist Church, Garden City, with the Rev. W.C. Tillman and others officiating. Burial will be in Valley View Cemetery, Garden City, with graveside rites conducted by Garden City Area Veterans Honor Guard.
Visitation hours are until 8 tonight and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Garnand Funeral Home, Garden City. Memorials to the Rev. Robert R. Allen Memorial Fund may be sent in care of the funeral home, 412 N. Seventh St.
Jerome L.J. Peitz
Jerome L.J. Peitz, 83, of Liberal, died Sunday, May 11, 2003, at Southwest Medical Center in Liberal.
Welcoming of the body will be 4 p.m. Wednesday at St. Anthony Catholic Church, Liberal. Rosary and vigil service will begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday, followed by a Knights of Columbus rosary. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10 a.m. Thursday at the church, with the Rev. Patrick Keyes officiating. Burial will be in Liberal Cemetery.
Mr. Peitz was born May 9, 1920, at Colwich, the son of Martin F. and Anna Seiler Peitz. He attended school in Colwich and in Garden City.
For several years, he worked as a mechanic in the sugar beet factory in Garden City. A Liberal resident since 1959, he was a mechanic and shop manager for the Chrysler dealership there for 25 years before retiring in 1984. He was a member of St. Anthony Catholic Church and a third degree member in the Knights of Columbus.
On Sept. 23, 1941, he married Eleanor Marie Pfannenstiel at Garden City. She died Oct. 29, 1985. He also was preceded in death by his parents; five brothers; one sister; a son, Leroy; a daughter-in-law; and a grandson, Chris.
He is survived by two sons, Ernest Peitz of Liberal, and Steve Peitz of Plainview, Texas; six daughters, Mary Ann Peitz and Anita Mitchell, both of Liberal, Geraldine Norton of Moore, Okla., Cathy Morlen and Patricia Reifschneider, both of Longview, Texas, and Janet Ledford of Orlando, Fla.; a brother, Cecil Peitz of Wichita; a sister, Bernadine Rohar of Stafford; 19 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.
Visitation hours are 4 to 8 p.m. today and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday at Miller Mortuary in Liberal, and 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the church. Memorials are suggested to the St. Anthony Catholic Church Building Fund or the Alzheimer's Association, both in care of the mortuary, 908 N. Lincoln, Liberal, KS 67905.
J.B. Ater Jr.
J.B. Ater Jr., 39, died Thursday, May 8, 2003, in Houston.
He was born Dec. 17, 1963, at Liberal, the son of Jack Sr. and Mary Arlene Ater. He graduated from Ulysses High School in 1983.
Survivors include his father, Liberal; his grandmother, Wilma Ater, Liberal; and five sisters, Rene Fry and Kim Ford, both of Ulysses, Christy Taylor of Amarillo, Texas, Denny Eslick of Lakin, and Debby Ater of Wichita. He was preceded in death by his mother.
Dr. Virgil L. Ward
ULYSSES - Funeral for Dr. Virgil L. Ward, 77, will be 10 a.m. Tuesday at the First United Methodist Church, Ulysses, with the Rev. Dennis H. Livingston officiating. Burial will follow in Ulysses Cemetery, with military rites conducted by Charles B. Hart Post No. 79.
Mr. Ward died Saturday, May 10, 2003, at Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital in Ulysses.
He was born Jan. 5, 1926, at Tribbey, Okla., the son of Jessy and Hattie M. Lloyd Ward. He grew up on a farm in Rawlins County and went to a country school in Achillas. While living in Oberlin, he attended Decatur County High School until quitting to help on the family farm after his father's death. He then joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served in World War II.
After his discharge from the service, he took an equivalence test and started attending Kansas State University and later graduated from St. Louis University School of Dentistry. He set up a practice in Ulysses in 1953.
Mr. Ward was a member of the American Dental Association, Kansas Dental Association, First United Methodist Church and Delta Sigma Delta Dental Fraternity, served several terms on the Ulysses School Board and the Library Board, and belonged to Charles B. Hart American Legion Post No. 79 at Ulysses.
On Jan. 1, 1948, he married Mary Ella Battin at Manter. She survives. He also is survived by three sons, Robert D. Ward of Angleton, Texas, Dr. John R. Ward of Hugoton, and Dr. Larry G. Ward of Wichita; a daughter, Nancy Ward of Garden City; a sister, Vida Gilbert of Deerfield, Colo.; a sister-in-law; 14 grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by one brother and two sisters.
Visitation hours are until 8 tonight at Garnand Funeral Home, Ulysses. Memorials are suggested to the church, in care of the funeral home, 405 W. Grant, Ulysses, KS 67880.
Vestal Marshall
Vestal Marshall, 59, died Saturday, May 10, 2003, at his home in Lucas.
He was born Feb. 28, 1944, in Patrick County, Va.
A resident of Lucas for five years, moving from Tribune, he was a retired service technician for Sunflower Telephone Co.
He is survived by his wife, Kay Marshall of Lucas; two daughters, Diane Gentry of Tribune, and Audrey Cummings of Garden City; two brothers, Virgil "Buck" and Steven "Pete" Marshall, both of Ararat, Va.; three sisters, Verlie Bishop of Ararat, Yvonne Hawks of Hillsville, N.C., and Shirley Hill of Winston-Salem, N.C.; four grandchildren; and his mother, Lottie Marshall of Ararat.
Funeral will be 2 p.m. MT Wednesday at First Baptist Church, Tribune, with the Rev. Mark Randolph officiating. Inurnment will take place later in Greeley County Cemetery, Tribune.
Visitation hours are 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Rodrick & Minear Funeral Home, Lucas, and before service time at the church in Tribune. Memorials are suggested to the Marshall Grandchildren Education Fund, in care of First National Bank in Tribune.
Kenneth G. Wiens
CIMARRON - Funeral for Kenneth G. Wiens, 70, of Cimarron, was to be 2 p.m. today at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Dodge City, with the Rev. Randall L. Jahnke officiating.
Mr. Wiens died Friday, May 9, 2003, at Western Plains Medical Complex in Dodge City.
He was born Jan. 5, 1933, at Cimarron, the son of Daniel W. and Hulda Kliewer Wiens.
A lifetime resident of Cimarron, he was the owner and operator of Wiens Oil for 29 years and had worked at Cimarron Insurance for 10 years.
Mr. Wiens was a member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church of Dodge City. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and was awarded the United Nations Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
On Nov. 27, 1955, he married Lucille Westerman at Nashville, Kan. She survives. He also is survived by three sons, Steve Wiens of Haysville, Greg Wiens of McPherson, and Roger Wiens of Johnson City; a daughter, Linda Ricker of Raymond; a sister, Betty Johnson of Marion; and nine grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Memorials are suggested to the Holy Cross Lutheran Church Building Campaign or the Cimarron Library, both in care of Burkhart-Ziegler Funeral Chapel, 1901 N. 14th Ave., Dodge City, KS 67801.
