Warren Kenneth Harris, 90, of Blue Mound died Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011, at Mercy Health Center in Fort Scott.
He was born Nov. 14, 1920, northwest of Blue Mound, to John and Beulah Ingram Harris. He attended Prairie Valley and Blue Mound Schools graduating from Blue Mound High School in 1941. He then attended Blue Mound Trade School for welding.
He served his country in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II in battles in northern France, Normandy, central Europe, Rhineland and Ardennes.
He married Julia “Mary” Gotheridge on Aug. 2, 1943, while on leave. Warren and Mary farmed and raised livestock for many years. He was a member of the Blue Mound school board, water board, ASCS, Blue Mound Methodist Church, joining in 1949, Masonic Lodge No. 286, Blue Mound, Scottish Rite Consistory and Mirza Shrine, Kincaid Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Centerville American Legion.
He is survived by his wife of the home; a son, Dennis “Denny,” Blue Mound; a daughter, Jacqueline “Jackie” Harris Norris, Blue Mound; granddaughter, Angela “Angie” Terry; and three great-grandchildren, Brandon, Austin and Jenna Terry.
Warren was preceded in death by a brother, Lee Ray, a sister, Cleda Townsley, nephew, Delbert Harris, niece, Elvera Harris, and a great-grandson, Jaden Terry.
Funeral services were Wednesday at Blue Mound United Methodist Church. Burial was in Sunny Slope Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to Shriner’s Children’s Hospital or Blue Mound United Methodist Church.
Coffel-Schneider Funeral Home, Mound City, was in charge of arrangements. Online condolences for the family may be left at www.coffelschneider.com.
Bass services
Memorial services for John E. Bass, 87 of Iola, whose death on Monday at his home was reported in Wednesday’s Register, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Wesley United Methodist Church in Iola.
Cremation has taken place. A private family inurnment will be in Highland Cemetery in Iola at a later date.
A complete obituary will be in Saturday’s Iola Register.
Memorials to Ward Chapel A.M.E. Church may be left at Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel of Iola, which is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences for the family may be left at www.iolafuneral.com.
Robert Buscher
Word has been received of the death of Robert Buscher of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., former owner of Iola Cinemas, on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011. He was 74.
IMS 7th grade loses
COLUMBUS — Iola Middle School’s seventh-grade volleyball team lost matches Tuesday to Columbus.
Columbus beat the Pony A-team 25-13, 19-25, 15-10. The top servers on the night for Iola were Alexis Hselop, Alaynah Donovan and Sydney Wade.
IMS seventh-grade coach Stacy Sprague said O’Della Lohman stepped into the sixth position for the A-team and played very well. Sprague said Lohman had one of the best passes of the night.
In B-team action, Columbus won 25-21, 21-25, 15-11. Lohman led the Ponies in serving followed by Bailey Hubbs, , Rylee Knavely and Megan Helman.
Sprague said Helman and Hubbs have shown a lot of improvement in their serving.
Iola holds a jamboree tonight at the IMS gym.
Eagles land second in golf tournament
FORT SCOTT — Uniontown High’s Eagles captured second place at Tuesday’s Fort Scott Invitational girls’ golf tournament.
The Eagles were five strokes away from first-place Anderson County and one shot ahead of Parsons. Anderson County shot a 214 team total followed by Uniontown at 219 and Parsons at 220.
Yates Center High’s Wildcats ended up in a tie for ninth with Caney Valley. Both teams shot a 266.
Chanute’s Danae Decker was the top medalist with a 45.
Uniontown’s Sabrena McAnulty carded a 50 for the fifth-place medal. Veronica Harrison, also of Uniontown, was a ninth-place medalist with a 52.
Emily Simpson was just out of the top 10 with a 53 for the Eagles. Monica Ramsey shot a 63 followed by Anna Oberle with a 67 and Jordan Mason with a 75.
“I’m very happy with the way we played,” said Jason Tourtillott, UHS golf coach. “All the girls had some holes that gave them trouble but were able to put it behind them.
“It’s nice to start off the season with some success and have something to build off.”
Yates Center’s Emily Baker finished with a 53. Becky Wendland carded a 59 followed by Marlana Buchanan with a 78 and Bailee Stuber at 76.
Living up to being dangerous
“Teams in losing streaks are dangerous.”
That is a sentence seen in The Pressbox in 2010. I was referring to Parsons High’s Vikings. Coming into last year’s Southeast Kansas League game with Iola High’s Mustangs, the Vikings were mired in a 21-game losing streak. They had one win in 29 games.
The Vikings were dangerous last year, thumping the Mustangs 63-20. The Vikings finished 4-5.
Tables have been turned. The Mustangs have lost 12 straight games going back to the 2009 season.
It is time for the Mustangs to be dangerous.
As with most high school teams, the Mustangs and Vikings are different than last year’s squads. The Vikings have a new head coach and run a double-wing offense.
The Mustangs have switched to a two-back offensive set as their base. After last week, the Mustangs are working around several injuries, including a season-ending knee injury to their starting fullback.
Devin Culler, a senior, has moved into the fullback spot and has worked well in the short week of practice for Iola. Both teams are committed to running the football.
IOLA HIGH’S Fillies are struggling on the volleyball court to start the 2011 season. They are 2-5 going into tonight’s home match against Louisburg.
Fillies, it is time to be dangerous.
Start tonight and build toward Saturday’s Iola High Invitational tournament. Find the combination on the court that opponents don’t want to face.
Being dangerous in competitive sports starts with the simple things.
It starts with one good pass or one good serve. It starts with one tackle, one block, one run.
Simple little things done right build into bigger and better things — wins. Coaches from the beginning of time have talked about doing the little things — fundamentals — right, time in and time out.
On the volleyball court, it usually comes down to serve receive. Making a good first pass allows a team to set the volleyball and deliver with a hit. Passing is a starting point for everything else on the court.
Another factor is serving. If a team cannot put good serves over the net, it’s tough to get on a run. Although volleyball has changed to rally-scoring, which means either team can win the point on a serve, holding serve is still one of the fundamentals of the game.
Football has a lot of little things to be done to be successful. Sometimes even doing all the things right, other teams are just better.
But … if you don’t tackle well defensively, you don’t give your team a chance to win. If you don’t block well offensively, you are not giving your team an opportunity to move the football and score — to win. Holding onto the football, winning the battles at the line of scrimmage whether you are on offense or defense, catching the football — every little thing counts.
Any team sport depends on each player doing the job they are assigned. Every player is important. Every assignment is important.
Frank Mittelmeier
Frank Ronald Mittelmeier, 73, Iola, Kansas, died Friday, Sept. 2, 2011, at Iola Nursing Center.
He was born Aug. 9, 1938, in Erie, Pa., the son of Frank A. Mittelmeier and Alyce (Cellini) Matthews. He grew up in the Erie area and served two years with the U.S. Army.
On July 25, 1964, he married Thelma Jean Fosdick in Mound City. They made their home in Cleveland, Ohio, until moving to Iola in 1974. Thelma preceded him in death on Nov. 16, 2007.
He worked for Haldex in Iola until he retired. He was a member of St. John’s Catholic Church, Knights of Columbus and the Iola Elks. He enjoyed reading history, loved learning and was well known for his ever-present sense of humor.
He is survived by two sons, Mark and Paul, both of Iola; five grandchildren, Jenna Mittelmeier, Lawrence, and Blake, Hunter, Tristan and Kyler Mittelmeier, all of Iola; his mother, Alyce Matthews, Erie, Pa., his stepmother, Myrtle Nye, Erie; a brother, Darrell Matthews, Erie, a sister, Suzanne Bliel, Erie; and his mother-in-law, June Fosdick, Iola.
He was preceded in death by his father, Frank A. Mittelmeier, and his stepfather, James Matthews.
Memorial mass will be at 6 p.m. Thursday at St. John’s Catholic Church in Iola, the Rev. Robert B. Wachter the celebrant. Inurnment will be in the Sunny Slope Cemetery in Blue Mound at a later date.
Memorials to the Allen County Animal Rescue Facility or Children’s Mercy Cardiovascular Clinic may be left with Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel of Iola, which is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences may be left at www.iolafuneral.com.
John Bass
John E. Bass, 87, of Iola died Monday, Sept. 5, 2011, at his home.
Information about his life and funeral arrangements will be announced when provided by Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel of Iola.
Online condolences for the family may be left at www.iolafuneral.com.
Walter Smith
Walter Cobb Smith, 90, retired president of Emprise Bank in Moran, died Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011.
Survivors include his wife of 69 years, Billie; son, Richard (Mary) Smith, Newton; daughters, Ruth (Doyle) Pharris, Sun City, Ariz., and Linda Brower and Nancy Smith, both of Wichita; brother, Ray (Nadine), Hesston; sister, Marjorie Davis, Greensburg; grandchildren, Heather (Kevin) Kloft, Angela Brower, Erik (Cassie) Pharris, Karen Brower, Janelle (Roger) Hickey and Clint (Brandy) Smith; great-grandchildren, Madison, Dominick, Genevieve, Vivian, Wyatt and Grace; brother-in-law, John Hayse; and sister-in-law, Pat Tanner.
He was preceded in death by a son, David, grandson, David Brower, sister, Mary Hayse, and brothers-in-law, Bob Tanner and Dale Davis.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Bethany United Methodist Church, 1601 S. Main, Wichita. Memorial graveside services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday in Fairview Cemetery in Greensburg.
Memorials may be sent to Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, 313 S. Market, Wichita, KS 67202 and/or Bethany United Methodist Church, 1601 S. Main, Wichita, KS 67213.
Culbertson-Smith Mortuary of Wichita in charge of arrangements.
‘Jay’ Branscum
Henry “Jay” Branscum, 32, of Cairo, Mo., died in the Line of Duty on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011.
He was born May 18, 1979, in Pauls Valley, Okla., to Clifford O. and Irma “Pepper” L. (Sides) Branscum.
On Feb. 14, 2007, he married Kim Darnell.
He was volunteer firefighter in LaHarpe serving as assistant chief and recently moved to the Cairo area and joined the Northeast R-IV Fire Association. Jay achieved his accredited certified nurse’s aide (CNA) certificate in the state of Missouri in 2007. Jay worked for Moberly Pick A Dilly and was recently appointed as the assistant manager.
Survivors include his wife, Kim, stepson, Tyler Chandler, his mother, Irma “Pepper,” stepfather, Michael Weiland, sister, Kimberly Smith, brother, Timothy Branscum, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Jay was preceded in death by his father, Clifford, and paternal and maternal grandparents.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Timber Lake Christian Church, 1624 Gratz Brown, Moberly, MO 65270. The Family will receive friends from 8 to 10 a.m. Thursday at the church. Burial will be in Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Jacksonville, Mo., 1479 County Rd. 1675 with full firefighter honors.
Memorials to Jay Branscum Memorial Fund may be sent in care of Bank of Cairo and Moberly, 207 E. Rollins St., Moberly, MO 65270.
Arrangements are under Memorial Funeral Home of Columbia, Mo. Tributes may be left online at www.memorialfuneralhomeandcemetery.com.