Ron and Kindith Holman found a bit of sports history recently.
The Holmans were sorting through old photos left behind by Delores “Dee” Hummel, when they found a team photo of the LaHarpe High School 1949-1950 girls basketball team.
Hummel, the former Deloris Wells, died Nov. 16 at the age of 90.
Hummel was the aunt — and a leading mother figure — of Kindith Holman while Holman was a youngster.
“We’d always heard stories about her playing basketball, but we hadn’t seen the photo until we found it,” Ron Holman said.
The photo identifies the LaHarpe Panthers team as “1949-1950 Champs,” although the Holmans were uncertain what kind of championship the team won.
A check through the Register’s archives also came up empty, with only occasional references to “LaHarpe Panthers” athletics, mostly football and boys basketball.
After high school, Hummell married twice and worked for years at Coleman Manufacturing before returning to Southeast Kansas, first to Yates Center, and then to Iola for the past decade or so.
Hummell never had any children, “but she was like a mom to my wife,” Holman noted. “We just thought people needed to see the photo besides us.”
