Longtime Iola attorney and area historian Clyde Toland and his wife, Nancy, a former elementary teacher, are this year’s Farm-City Days city marshals.
Either apart or together, the two have made a lasting impression to area folk through their contributions.
September marked Clyde’s 40th year of practicing law in Iola. He began with Toland and Thompson, which consisted of his father, Stanley, uncle Frank Thompson, and brother John Toland. The firm dissolved in 2006, when John died. Clyde has practiced since as the Law Office of Clyde Toland, LLC.
And while law is his occupation; teaching remains a passion. Clyde considers part of his service to clients an educational opportunity, to teach a smidgen of law as it pertains to their circumstances. He also has seized opportunities to share his interest in history, most notably in promoting Iolan Maj. Gen. Frederick Funston’s impact on history and Buster Keaton’s birth in Piqua.
“I like opportunities to share my knowledge” in many other ways as well, Clyde observed. When members of the Iola High Class of 1965 has its 50th reunion this weekend, classmates will take a literary walk around the downtown square. Clyde assembled a program that identifies who worked where on the square, many of whom were relatives of classmates.
Because of a massive stroke in 2009, Clyde won’t be at the reunion.
“The stroke was a fluke caused by a blood clot forming in a clear artery,” Clyde recalled, in concession to transparency. “I was left 65 percent paralyzed, but by fighting back with more than 1,500 hours of therapy to date, I am only about 20 percent paralyzed. My goal continues to be total recovery.”
He returned to part-time law practice four months after his stroke.
NANCY wrapped elementary teaching around 16 years as a stay-at-home mom to three children. She never said no — to PTA, Cub and Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Sunday School, vacation Bible school, and anything else that came her way that she deemed helpful to her children or the community.
“Clyde’s contributions have been huge for Iola, but I’m more behind the scenes,” Nancy said. She almost blushed when it was mentioned she touched hundreds of young lives as an elementary teacher. “It is nice to see young people who I remember having had as students,” Nancy allowed. And it’s rewarding for her to see all who have been successful.
In 2006, Nancy became director of Christian education at First Presbyterian, and served until her retirement in 2013. When she completes her current term as an elder at the end of 2016, Nancy will have served 10 1/2 years. She remains active with Chapter L of P.E.O. and is a member of the Iola Reads Committee.
THAT THE TWO met is a story in itself, Clyde said.
It was 1971 and Clyde had recently completed a master’s degree in 17th century English history from the University of Wisconsin.
Though eager to teach, Clyde faced stiff competition finding a job. Nationwide, about 2,600 students had the same goal; 10 times the number of available positions.
“I came home and had no clue what I was going to do,” Clyde said. After some research, his decision was one that had hovered in the background — to attend law school. His father was a well-established Iola lawyer, which had given him liberal exposure to the profession. Having earned his bachelor’s degree in modern European history from the University of Kansas made application to its law school a given.
Nancy Hummel grew up in Prairie Village on the edge of Kansas City. Because of her father’s employment, she moved to Newark, Ohio, where she graduated from high school and completed a degree in education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. A position at an elementary school in Wayne, Pa., occupied the next three years, with a caveat, she was required to work toward a master’s degree. Penn State was her first choice, but cost was prohibitive. Nancy looked elsewhere, including state schools in the Midwest.
“I was accepted at KU, Oklahoma and Colorado,” she said. She intended to visit each. With KU her first stop she went no further — “I knew it was the one.”
Nancy moved into an apartment; Clyde lived across the street. Labor Day 1973 was monumental. Nancy was sitting on the edge of her apartment’s swimming pool. Clyde glanced out his apartment window, and was smitten. He pulled on his swimming trunks and scooted across the street, more intent on Nancy than taking a dip.
They were married less than a year later in Lawrence. While he studied law, Nancy taught in Topeka.
IOLA’S historical narrative is a passion for Clyde. He conceived the idea of moving Funston’s boyhood home from 3 miles north of Iola to the town square. The project began in 1991, and was completed in 1994. Restoration and opening it as a museum came a year later.
The project transformed the west side of the Iola square, which was left a shambles by a huge fire in 1990. Because of Funston’s significant role in U.S. history, the Funston center attracts visitors from throughout the nation. Clyde also was principal designer of the Allen County Museum, which opened next door in 2000.
From 2006 to 2009, he served as executive director and curator of the Allen County Historical Society Museum, with a mission to ensure key projects were implemented. To accommodate his volunteer role, he limited his law practice to mornings, and took on museum duties in afternoons.
In 1991, Clyde proposed an annual Buster Keaton Celebration at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, which began in 1993 and has been a prominent feature in Iola since.
Volunteerism is a jewel he thinks should be in everyone’s crown, and frequently encourages others. “Everyone has different talents and interests, and everyone can make a contribution to the betterment of the community,” he said. “Where would we be without volunteers?”
His lengthy biography reads like a Who’s Who of Iola. Clyde is a Rotarian, a member of First Presbyterian Church — “Nancy is an elder, but I work behind the scenes” — as well as other organizations and is author of numerous accomplishments. In 1988 he received the Kansas Bar Association Outstanding Service Award; in 1996, he and U.S. Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker were the first recipients of the Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences of the University of Kansas.
The Tolands have three children: David, executive director of Thrive Allen County, wife Beth and two children, Caroline and William, Iola; Andrew and wife Anna, Powell, Wyo.; and the Rev. Elizabeth Smith and husband the Rev. Bart Smith, Tucson, Ariz.
