LTC Ellis Dudley Dinsmore, (USAR Ret)
November 21, 2011
Ellis Dudley Dinsmore, Sr., 82, Shawnee, Kansas, went to be with his Lord Jesus Christ, Monday, November 21, 2011, at the Kansas City Hospice House, Kansas City, Missouri.
Dudley was born September 11, 1929, in El Paso, Texas, to Andrew D. “Cub” and Laurene Dinsmore. Growing up he lived in numerous places around the state of New Mexico and spent most of his adult life in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He married Rose Payne on July 28, 1958, and they were blessed with 53 wonderful years together. Dudley graduated from New Mexico Military Institute in 1952 and entered active duty as an armor officer in the United States Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After serving his country for 24 years in the United States Army Reserve, culminating as commander of the 383rd Quartermaster Battalion, 90th ARCOM, Dudley retired in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
In addition to his reserve duties, Dudley was a construction supervisor with Burn Construction Company in Las Cruces where he was employed for over 35 years.
Dudley and his wife, Rosie, moved to the Kansas City area in 2000. He continued serving his community and country by supervising the building of Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church and serving as an usher. One of Dudley’s greatest joys was serving at the International Loan Closet at Fort Leavenworth where he and his family served international officers, from over 90 countries, attending Army Command and General Staff College.
Dudley was a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. He attended Harvest Bible Chapel of Kansas City where he served as a greeter.
Dudley was preceded in death by his daughter, Sherri Hill on October 11, 2011. Survivors include his wife, Rose F. Dinsmore; son-in-law, Donald Hill, Shawnee, Kansas; daughter, Cindy Goforth and husband, Kerry, Shawnee, Kansas; son, Ellis Dudley Dinsmore, Jr. and wife, Debbie, Las Vegas, Nevada; seven grandchildren and one great granddaughter.
Visitation and Graveside Service
Visitation will be from 3:00-5:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 23, 2011, at the Amos Family Chapel of Shawnee. Graveside service will be 10:00 am Friday, November 25, 2011, at the Leavenworth National Cemetery.
Memorial Contributions
Memorial contributions may be made to the Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care, 9221 Ward Parkway, Suite 100, Kansas City, Missouri 64114-9808.
Francis “Frank” Hashman
November 18, 2011
Francis “Frank” E. Hashman, 84, of Olathe, Kansas, passed away November 18, 2011.
Frank was born June 24, 1927, in Kansas City, Kansas, to the late Frank and Margaret Hashman. He attended Bishop Ward High School and Rockhurst College. Frank honorably served our country as a United States Marine during WWII. On June 30, 1951, Frank married the love of his life, Kate. He began his career with Southwestern Bell in Kansas City, Kansas, and retired in April of 1979. He was a proud member of the Telephone Pioneers of America, the VFW #7397, and St. Joseph Parish, Shawnee, Kansas.
Frank was a loving husband, a wonderful father, grandfather, and a good friend. He never met a stranger.
He is preceded in death by his parents Frank and Margaret; his brother Robert, sister Regina, daughter Karen, and grandsons Charles and Sam.
Survivors include his wife of 60 years Kate; sister-in-law Sister Marie Neff, BVM; children, Ann Sidharta (Joni), Pat (Karen), Kevin (Clare Rockenhaus), Bridget Cezar (Craig), Colleen Abraham (Mark), Maureen Dice (David), Cathy Duncan, Beth Hansen (Brian) and Paul; 27 grandchildren; 4 step grandchildren; 10 great grandchildren; 7 step great grandchildren; 1 step great great grandchild; and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation and Funeral Service
Visitation will be from 9:30-10:30 a.m., Monday, November 21, 2011, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 11311 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, Kansas; Mass of Christian Burial will be follow at 10:30 a.m. Burial with full military honors will be at 1:30 p.m. at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Lenexa.
Memorial Contributions
The family suggests memorial contributions to:
Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas
9720 W. 87th Street
Overland Park, Kansas 66212
or
Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care
12000 Wornall Road
Kansas City, Missouri 64145
Verna Marie Shuler Armbruster
November 18, 2011
Verna Marie Shuler Armbruster, 96, died peacefully Nov. 17, 2011 at Sunrise Senior Living, Lenexa, KS, where she had been a resident for almost 6 years.
Verna was born Oct. 7, 1915 in Kansas City, KS to the late Frank and Emma Lindsay Shuler, and graduated from Wyandotte High School in 1933. Verna worked in the office of Wolferman’s grocery store on the Plaza where she met her first husband, Charles Tothill. They married in 1942 and had a daughter. Lt. Tothill was killed in action in the Pacific in 1945. Verna remarried in 1955 to Jack Ford, and they lived in Leawood until Jack’s death in 1966. In 1971, Verna married Elmer Armbruster, a former classmate at Wyandotte High School. They lived in California for 33 years until Elmer’s death in 2005.
In addition to her husbands, Verna is preceded in death by her brother Francis Shuler and his wife Mildred; brothers-in-law George Carroll and Albert Armbruster.
She is survived by daughter Verna Tothill Rose (John); Elmer’s children Judith Jonsson (Lennart), Andrea Hazle, and Alan Armbruster; sister Margaret Carroll; brother- and sister-in-law, Ed and Roma Armbruster; five grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank the staff at Sunrise Senior Living for their excellent care for the past six years.
Celebration of Life Services and Contributions
A celebration of life will be held from 3:30-5:30 pm, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011 at the Lenexa United Methodist Church, 9138 Caenen Lake Road, Lenexa, KS 66215. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Shawnee Mission Medical Center Foundation, 7315 Frontage Rd., Suite 221, Merriam, KS 66204.
Vivian Rockwell
November 16, 2011
Vivian Rockwell, 88, of Shawnee, Kansas, went to be with the angels in heaven on November 16, 2011, at Shawnee Gardens Nursing Home. Vivian was born May 20, 1923, in Providence, Rhode Island.
Vivian is survived by two daughters, Dawn and her husband Curtis “Skip” Blake of Lenexa, Kansas, and Mildred Lambert of Shawnee, Kansas; two grandsons, Christopher LaFontaine of Alaska, and Rocky Blake of Lenexa; a granddaughter, Samantha Blake Lambert of Lenexa; and a great granddaughter Adriana of Florida. Vivian was preceded in death by her husband Cecil, a son Walter, and a son-in-law, Michael Lambert.
Services
There are no services scheduled at this time.
JoAnn McKnight
November 15, 2011
JoAnn McKnight, 80 of Roeland Park, Kansas, passed away November 15, 2011.
JoAnn was born June 12, 1931, in Horacio, Arkansas, to Homer and Grace (Ayers) Pickett. JoAnn and her husband James were active members of the Gospel Tabernacle Church, 934 Scott Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas, where he pastored during the mid 1960’s to the mid 1970’s. JoAnn had a love for singing and song writing, essays, crafts, and mission work in Israel and Jamaica.
JoAnn is survived by her husband of 62 years, James G. McKnight, sons, Glenn McKnight and his wife Heidi, Randy McKnight, and Tommy McKnight; 7 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; 1 great-great-grandchild; brother Harlan Pickett; niece Ellen Robinson; along with many other nieces and nephews.
Visitation and Funeral Service
A visitation will be held from 6:00-9:00 p.m., Sunday, November 20, 2011, at the Amos Family Chapel of Shawnee. A funeral service will be 11:00 a.m., Monday, November 21, 2011, at the Belton Gospel Tabernacle Church, 811 S. Cleveland Avenue, Belton, Missouri. Graveside service will be at 2:00 p.m. at Shawnee Mission Memory Gardens, Shawnee, Kansas.
Roberta Rie Willm Meyer
November 15, 2011
Roberta Rie Willm Meyer passed away on October 7, 2011, at the age of 91 years old.
She was born in Newton, Kansas, on February 1, 1920. She later married her loving husband Max Meyer. They enjoyed a blessed 60 years of marriage together.
In her younger years Roberta modeled for department stores in Kansas City, Missouri, and also posed for the renowned artist Richie Cooper. Later in her life she became the Vice President of the Counsel of Clubs and also the President of the Hawthorne Club in Kansas City, Kansas. But most of all she enjoyed being with her family. She was the proud mother of son Ronald Meyer, daughter-in-law to Marilyn Meyer as well as grandmother to Marisa and Ryan Meyer.
The family would like to thank the compassionate staff and physicians at Shawnee Mission Medical Center and the Kansas City Hospice House.
Graveside Service
There will be a private graveside ceremony in Mound City, Missouri.
Memorial Contributions
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Roberta’s honor to the American Heart Association or the Kansas City Hospice House.
Patricia Joyce Hobson Law
November 14, 2011
Patricia Joyce Hobson Law, age 69, passed away November 14, 2011 of congestive heart failure at Delmar Gardens of Lenexa.
Patricia was born in Salina, Kansas, to Wyman Arnett Hobson and Virginia Lucile Willis Hobson and graduated from Salina Central High School in 1960. She attended the University of Kansas — where she met her husband, Elmo Adrian Law — and graduated with a bachelor’s of science in nursing in 1964. She worked as a medical-surgical nurse at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, as an office nurse for a physicians’ practice at Country Club Plaza and as medical-surgical instructor at St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing in Kansas City. She retired from nursing due to a back injury and became a circulation librarian at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park.
Patricia spent a lifetime taking care of others, including her patients and her family, but struggled with chronic health problems of her own — including Menetriere’s disease of the stomach, depression and diabetes — as a result of her childhood bout with polio. In her later years, Elmo cared for her physically while she provided emotional support for him. In tribute, he wrote:
“A lifetime of companionship,
romance and tremendous support.
She called me her rock,
I called her my light,
Together we built a lighthouse!”
Patricia loved to explore new things, and threw herself wholeheartedly into activities and crafts, from cooking to doll collecting to sewing to scrapbooking. Even as her energy waned, she jumped into a new world of popular culture, gaining interest in television shows and quizzing family about celebrities she’d never heard of before.
When her struggles were great, she found joys in simple pleasures: having her hair washed, snuggling with her toy poodle, being read to, or watching her grandson draw beside her.
Along with her husband and son, Randall David Law, Patricia is survived by her daughter-in-law Hannah Wolfson and adored grandson Alexander Ward Law. Other surviving family members include: her niece, Kimberly Hobson Piira of Seattle, Washington, and her family; her cousin, Steve Sankey and his wife Karen of Niwot, Colorado; her aunt, Vesta Sankey of Ames, Iowa; her uncle, Larry Hobson and his wife Patsy of Scandia, Kansas; and longtime friends Leyden Pauli of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Judy Peterson Driscoll of Russell, Kansas. She was predeceased by her parents, her brother, David Wyman Hobson, and her sister-in-law, Sylvia Lloyd.
Special thanks goes to the staff at Delmar Gardens and the hospice staff of Vitas, who made her comfortable in her final days.
Memorial Service
A memorial service will be held 1 p.m. Saturday, November 19, 2011, at Amos Family Chapel of Shawnee.
Memorial Contributions
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to March of Dimes’ post-polio efforts at 4400 College Boulevard, #180, Overland Park, Kansas, 66211 and include Patricia’s name on the check.
Earl Raymond McCauley
November 13, 2011
Earl Raymond McCauley, 91, of Merriam, Kansas, passed away peacefully early Sunday morning, November 13, 2011.
Mac, as he was known by all who knew him, was born February 4, 1920, in Cherokee, Iowa. He enlisted in the Army Air Force after the outbreak of World War II and was sent to Kansas City for training as a radio operator. Here he met his future bride Josephine. Three and a half years of decorated military service intervened. Mac saw service in North Africa, Sicily, the “Boot” of Italy, France, central Europe and Germany and was engaged in eight separate battles and campaigns.
Following the war, he returned to Kansas City and this area was his home for the rest of his life. Mac had many skills and had many occupations during his long working life: auto assembler, cement contractor, railroad fireman, tug boat worker, over-the-road trucker, milkman, television repairman, route salesman, chemical salesman, auto salesman, furniture salesman, bartender, tree surgeon, plumber, auto mechanic and construction worker. He was a master gardener in his spare time.
In April of 1946 he married Josephine who survives him after a loving marriage that lasted more than 65 years. Mac is also survived by sons, James of Lawrence, Kansas, Daniel and wife Lisa of Peachtree City, Georgia; daughter, Kathleen and husband Myron McCune DVM of Sutherland, Nebraska; seven granddaughters, Jamie McCauley Feldmeyer and Kathleen McCauley of Lawrence, Kansas, Gwynne McCauley of Springfield , Missouri, Paige McCauley of Peachtree City, Georgia and Jessica McCune Hatch, Josie McCune Lee and Jennifer McCune of Kearney, Nebraska; and sister, Edie Lewis of Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Visitation and Funeral Service
Visitation and Rosary will begin Thursday at 10:00 a.m. followed by a funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. at St. Pius X Church, 5500 Woodson Street, Mission, Kansas. Burial will follow at Resurrection Cemetery, 83rd and Quivira, Lenexa, Kansas.
Memorial Contributions
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to:
John Paul II Elementary School
c/o St. Pius X Church
5500 Woodson Street
Mission, Kansas 66202
or
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care
13316 West 98th Street
Lenexa, Kansas 66215
Shirley R. Weaver
November 13, 2011
Shirley R. Weaver, 74, of Kansas City, Kansas, passed away November 13, 2011.
Shirley was born April 4, 1937, in Bakersfield, California, to George and Lena (Mullin) Richards. Shirley was the most hard working, loving mother and gran who never had a bad thing to say about anyone. She had a love for the outdoors and will be greatly missed by her loving family and endless friends.
She is survived by a daughter Fonda Boan and husband Floyd; son George Weaver and wife Marty; sisters, Carolyn Faddis and Marlyn Hampton; grandchildren, Felicia Ziolo, George James Weaver, Chandi Levin, Brock Weaver and his fiancé, Laura Winkler, and by Rachel Weaver and her friend Matt Bowyer; and great-granchildren; Mckinzie Weaver, Lexi Ziolo, Skylar Weaver, Ava Levin, Madison Ziolo, Lia Levin, Ryder Weaver, and Sage Bowyer.
Visitation and Funeral Service
A visitation will be held from 10:00-11:00 a.m., Thursday, November 17, 2011, at Haven Baptist Church, 3430 Hutton Road, Kansas City, Kansas, where she was a proud member. The service will follow at 11 am also at the church, with burial in Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
Memorial Contributions
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Helmut Rippel
November 12, 2011
Helmut Rippel, 69, of Shawnee, Kansas, passed away, Saturday, November 12, 2011, at his home.
Helmut was born in Budapest, Hungary, and immigrated to Missouri in 1956. He was with Todd and Sargent in Ames, Iowa, for 23 years before founding Industrial Project Services, Inc. He retired on October 31, 2011.
He is survived by his wife Virginia “Becky” Rippel of the home; a daughter, Annemarie Gremminger and her husband, Robert, of Shawnee, Kansas; five grandchildren, Brendon and Morgan Fisch and Maggie, Lizzie, and Anna Gremminger; two sisters, Ute Rippel, Mesa, Arizona, and Helma Martinez, San Antonio, Texas.
Visitation and Funeral Services
Visitation will be from 6:00-8:00, Tuesday, November 15, 2011, at the Amos Family Chapel of Shawnee. Funeral service will be 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 16, 2011, at the chapel. Burial in Jefferson, Iowa.
Memorial Contributions
The family suggests contributions to Heartland SPCA (Animal Haven), 9800 w. 67th Street, Merriam, Kansas or Kansas City Hospice, 10100 W. 87th Street, Suite 100, Overland Park, Kansas 66212.