Womack sale draws a crowd

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June 8, 2011 - 12:00 AM

Onlookers came out in droves Tuesday for a one-of-a-kind sale, featuring a wide assortment of heavy construction equipment, tools and scrap iron belonging to the late Johnny Womack.
The sale took most of the day on one of the city’s most conspicuous properties, a strip of land stretching along the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad corridor from U.S. 54 to Bruner Street.
Watching it all with a wistful eye was Evelyn Thohoff, Womack’s long-time companion.
Womack died Feb. 10. It was at a family meeting just three days after Womack’s funeral that the family decided to sell the items from the property at an auction.
“And it took all three months to get this ready,” Thohoff said.
A cadre of family, friends and other volunteers helped sort through the voluminous piles of metal products collected by Womack for more than 27 years.
Rarely an evening went by without somebody at the site, with much of the work occurring on weekends.
“It was overwhelming to see how many people offered to help,” Thohoff said.
Many of the sale items dealt with Womack’s trade as a house mover. But amid the large motors, cables, piles of tires and scrap metal were a few eclectic items.
Porcelain commodes and urinals were in one pile. Rows of stoplights and railroad crossing lights filled another area. Airplane fuel tanks and other pieces of aviation equipment reflected Womack’s passion for flying small aircraft. Even a boxcar and crossing signals were sold.
“You know Johnny,” Thohoff said. “He never threw anything away.”
The land on which the equipment sat, formerly owned by Iolan Jack McFadden, is now city property, acquired in a land and cash swap. The city will clear the land to accommodate extension of the Prairie Spirit Trail from Cofachique Park to the north edge of Riverside Park.

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