Lawrence and Delma Rourk, Iola, will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary at an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. June 6 at the home of their son and daughter-in-law, Larry and Angie Rourk, at 1410 Neosho St. in Humboldt. Their daughter, Debra, and grandsons, Paden and Avery Rourk, will co-host the party. A family luncheon will precede the open house.
Lawrence Rourk and Delma Harris were married June 14, 1950, at the Allen County Courthouse in Iola by Judge Dunlap. Evelyn Geffert and Duane Harris attended the couple.
Friends and relatives are invited to attend the open house. The couple requests no gifts. Cards may be sent to the couple at 920 Highway 54, Iola.
[Anniversary] Kenneth and Lucile Bacon
Kenneth and Lucile Bacon, Moran, will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary on June 6.
Kenneth Bacon and Lucile Deer were married June 6, 1945, by a justice of the peace in Iola. He is a retired farmer and rancher. She is a homemaker and retired from H.L. Miller and Son in Iola.
Celebrating with the couple will be their children, Harley and Beverly Fuhrman, Bronson, Charles and Cris Bacon, Moran, Doug and Paula Bacon, Towanda, Jason and Cindy Mefford, Mapleton, and Phil and Jean Davolt, Valley Center. The couple have 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Cards may be sent to the couple at 4581 North Dakota Rd., Moran, KS 66755.
[Anniversary] David and Carol Rowe
Former Iolans David and Carol Rowe, Crane, Mo., will be honored at a 50th wedding anniversary celebration from 2 to 4 p.m. June 5 at the Senior Citizens Center in Crane.
David Rowe and Carol Caldwell were married April 16, 1960, in Miami, Okla.
Hosts for anniversary party will be Cathy Rowe and Joe Rowe.
He is retired from the U.S. Air Force. She is a homemaker.
Friends and relatives are invited to attend. The couple requests no gifts. Cards may be sent to the couple at 205 E. Maud, Crane, MO 65633.
Gerald Welsh
Gerald Welsh, 74, of Selma died Wednesday, May 26, 2010, at his home.
He was born Aug. 26, 1935, in Garnett, to Olin and Marjorie (Steele) Welsh. He graduated from Kincaid High School.
He made his home a farm near Selma where he was a cattleman and a farmer. He was a member of the former Kincaid Fertilizer Company and Anderson County Rural Water District No. 5 board.
On Dec. 4, 1954, he married LaNelle DePoe.
He is survived by his wife of the home; three sons, Daniel and his wife, Carla, McGregor, Texas, and Donald and Lester and his wife, Deborah, Garnett; three daughters, Christena McGhee and her husband, Kendall, Neosho Falls, Pamela Yoder and her husband, Andy Ray, Garnett, and Beth Davis, Colony; a brother, Ronnie and his wife, Patty, Stillwater, Okla.; a sister, Leila Thompson and her husband, Howard, Garnett; 19 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews and friends.
An infant brother, Gary, died earlier.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Kincaid Selma-United Methodist Church. Burial will be in Kincaid Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service Chapel in Garnett.
Memorials to Midland Hospice or Kincaid-Selma United Methodist Church may be left at the funeral home. Online condolences for the family may be left at feuerbornfuneral.com.
Track athletes take center stage
How great was that list of state track champions?
I’m in Wichita today and tomorrow looking to add a couple more names to the list.
The state meet this weekend at Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University is the championship event long known as hosting the largest collection of high school athletes in a single place in Kansas. It’s also the one event where all classifications of schools in Kansas are represented.
Going through “A Century of Milestones” — the official history of 100 years of Kansas high school track and field — was very interesting. Many former individual state champions have accepted invitations to return to take part in the centennial celebration.
I’ve been covering high school sports as a reporter since 1979. I saw names of student athletes I covered early in my career. I even found names from my hometown popping up here and there.
My first state champions covered while at the Register were two in 1987. Betty Collins of Yates Center and Audra Comstock of Crest, both in their respective divisions of the high jump. That prepared me for coverage of the first Iola High School state champion in my tenure here, Bill Hobbs in the Class 4A high jump.
The 1993 season for the Mustangs was impressive. I remember that team winning every race at the regional but the hurdle races. They went to the state meet and swept the three relay races, Webb Mechling won the 200-meter dash and Justin Faulhaber with the race of his life to win the 3200-meter run crown.
Witnessing Jason Weilert of Humboldt win back-to-back Class 3A javelin titles in 1990-91 was great. John Martin of Yates Center won the 200- and 400-meter races in Class 3A in 1995.
Cara Hess took gold medals in the long jump and triple jump in 2002 for Gridley High School, then in 2004, as a senior, she captured another triple jump gold.
That is Southern Coffey County High’s lone state track championship as Gridley and Le Roy combined to create SCCH.
Molly Lonergan is a two-time Class 4A discus champion. Her winning throw of 150 feet, 7 inches in her second straight title in 2000 has stood as the Class 4A state meet record.
That is in jeopardy this weekend. Kearsten Peoples, Ottawa High senior, has the best throw in the state this year in the discus at 160 feet.
The state high school track meet allows people to enjoy the top athletes from all sizes of schools over a two-day period. I’ve always enjoyed talking to not just the area champions but all the athletes from our area schools — Iola, Humboldt, Marmaton Valley, Crest, Uniontown, Yates Center and Southern Coffey County — after they’ve competed at the meet.
The younger athletes vow to be back next year. The seniors are happy they were able to end their career there.
Speaking of the list the Register printed Thursday, there were several incomplete entries — those without first names or relays without runners’ names — that we’d really like to fill in.
If anyone knows who these people are, please drop us a line. Also, if anyone was left off the list please contact us and we’ll make note of it.
The final portion of the 2010 state meet will be televised live on Cox channel 22 beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and concluding with the crowning of team champions.
It is the first live broadcast of the event.
A repeat broadcast will air at 6:30 p.m. on June 5 and 11 and will in-clude additional footage not available during the live telecast.
Area wreck kills teen
A Verona, Mo., teenager was killed in a single-vehicle accident north of Colony Thursday morning.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Mary Robertson, 13, died after she was ejected out the back of a utility vehicle driven by Connie McCormick, 45, Verona.
McCormick was southbound on U.S. 169 when the vehicle left the right side of the roadway, entering the ditch at 8:14 a.m., according to KHP. The vehicle, a 1999 Ford Expedition, vaulted over a culvert at 700 Road, overturned end-to-end twice and ejected Robertson, who was not wearing a seat belt.
McCormick, who was wearing a seat belt, was taken to Allen County Hospital for what were described as “disabling” injuries.
Hayes services
Graveside memorial services for C. Opal Hayes, whose obituary was published in the March 18, 2010, Iola Register will be at 11:30 a.m. Monday in Highland Cemetery in Iola.
Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapels of Iola is in charge of arrangements.
Gerald Welsh
Gerald Welsh, 74, of Kincaid died Wednesday, May 26, 2010, at his home.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Kincaid-Selma United Methodist Church. Burial will follow in Kincaid Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service Chapel in Garnett.
Memorials to Midland Hospice or Kincaid-Selma United Methodist Church may be left at the funeral home. Online condolences for the family may be sent to feuerbornfuneral.com.
‘Ed’ Masterson
Former Iola resident William “Ed” Masterson, 65, of Jacksonville, Fla., died Thursday, April 15, 2010.
He was born Sept. 12, 1944, in St. Paul, Ark., to Lily Mae and Charles Ona Masterson.
He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Margery (Holland) Masterson; two daughters, Gina Riley and Stacey Manning, Jacksonville; four grandchildren, Phillip, Morgan, Sydney and Owen; and was the brother-in-law of Madalyn Varnell and Rodger Holland, Iola, Connie Shetlar, Moran, Roy Holland, Humboldt, and Linda Overton, Boynton Beach, Fla.
‘Chuck’ Womelsdorf
Charles D. “Chuck” Womelsdorf, 76, of Chanute died Wednesday, May 26, 2010, at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City.
He was born April 28, 1934, in Fort Scott, to Henry Webster and Leah Elsie (Allen) Womelsdorf. He grew up in the Mapleton, Xenia and Blue Mound areas.
He married Lois Marvin in 1957. They had five children and later divorced.
He owned a tire shop in Colony in the mid 1970s. He later worked as a pipeliner and then as a carpenter. He enjoyed fishing.
He is survived by three sons, Charles Dean Jr. and his wife, Patty, Moran, Dennis, LaHarpe, and Dereck and his wife, Tammy, Iola; two daughters, Terri Nicholls and her husband, Ron, Ottawa, and Teresa Burton and her husband, Rick, Gas; two sisters, Dixie Ramsey, Colony, and Kay Womelsdorf, Missouri; 12 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.
A brother, Dan, and an infant sibling died earlier.
Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Welda Cemetery.
Memorials to American Heart Association may be left at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service in Garnett. Condolences for the family may be left online at feuerbornfuneral.com.