Obituary of Alberta Weddle
Alberta Grace Weddle, 90, formerly of Fort Scott, passed away Thursday morning, October 17, 2024, at Ascension St. John’s Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was born on April 2, 1934, in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of Lars Huggins and Hazel Leona (Hawks) Huggins. She married Russell Marvin Weddle on July 21, 1949, in Kansas City, Missouri, and he preceded her in death May 26, 1994.
Alberta grew up in hard times as an only child, having lost an infant sister, Ilene, and a young brother, Freddy. She stayed with her Great-grandma McCoy and Grandma Grace most of the time, and because things were so hard, she often didn’t have much food to eat, toys, or the simple things that other children had. Alberta, however, was not defined by her circumstances, and instead chose who she would grow up to become.
Alberta found and fell in love with Russell Weddle, a career-military man, and in July of 1949, they began their lives together. She followed him from the East Coast to the West Coast as he served our great country first in WWII and then combat in Korea. Eventually, along came their children, Ray, Marie, Julie, and Morine. Russell wanted to stop having children at four, but Alberta always wanted seven children, having grown up an only child. Otherwise, Connie, Albert, and Carol, their children, and the children following them would not be on this planet.
Alberta treasured each and every one of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. Everything centered around family for her. She “took care of business,” always giving, and touched the lives of everyone who entered her home and who she met. She was a doer, not a talker. She loved kids, no matter who they were: her own family, children she met in restaurants, especially babies. She was “Mom” to her children’s friends in many ways. Alberta was not a social butterfly, but instead spoke in a genuine way, conveying that she was listening and truly cared.
Alberta had beautiful, soul-piercing eyes, and loved shiny, sparkly, glittery everything! She loved red birds, flamingos, and flowers, and purple was her favorite color. She was not a complainer, instead she was always thankful and grateful. She was sweet and peaceful, and would wash your mouth out with soap if you even THOUGHT about the F-word! Alberta accepted and loved Jesus, and taught her family about the need to ask for forgiveness, and to just to talk to Him. Read John 3:16 and Romans 10:9-10, and believe in His Word. She built character into each of her children while still letting them be themselves. She gave them the power to choose who they could be.
Alberta is survived her children, Ray Weddle (Connie), Deerfield, Missouri, Morine Santmeyer (Jim), Tulsa, Oklahoma, Connie Snyder (Roger), Chelsea, Oklahoma, Albert Weddle (Susan), Fort Scott, Carol Carter (James), Owasso, Oklahoma, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents and grandparents; infant sister Ilene, brother, Freddy; two daughters, Grace Weddle and Julie (Skaggs) Kantz; a grandson, Matthew Weddle, and great-granddaughter Cadence Marie Crumbly.
Matthew Kendrick will officiate funeral services at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 24, 22024, at the Fort Scott Church of the Nazarene, with burial following at the Evergreen Cemetery, under the direction of the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home.
A family visitation will be Wednesday evening, October 23, 2024, 6:00-7:00 p.m. at the funeral home.
Friends and family may sign the online guest book and share memories at www.konantzcheney.com.
Obituary of William Sampson, Jr.
William “Will/Bill” James Sampson, Jr., age 45, a native of Fort Scott, KS passed away Saturday, October 19, 2024. He was born July 23, 1979, in Fort Scott, KS the son of William James Sampson, Sr. and Mary Lynn Wiggans Sampson, both Fort Scott natives. He attended school in Fort Scott from kindergarten through high school. Bill was married to Jennifer Leighty for 21 years. They later divorced. He worked at Ward Kraft for 13 years. He later transitioned to BNSF Railroad where he worked for 12 years as a Union Signalman.
Bill enjoyed surrounding himself with family and friends, wind therapy, fixing things, working on cars, hunting, and exploring nature.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents; paternal grandparents Harry and Wilma Sampson; and maternal grandfather, Donald Wesley Wiggans.
He is survived by his daughter, Kaitlynn Sampson (Jonathan Harp); and son Dakota Wiley (Amelia); grandchildren Emmett and Hudson Harp, and Henry Wiley; girlfriend Catrina Canfield-Hurl and her children, Jarika and Preston, Johnny and Dora, and Jamison, and grandchildren Autumn, Mayleigh, and Rowan; maternal grandmother Betty Wiggans; cousin Patrick Earnest; and friend Doug Sinn. Also surviving are his biker brothers, BNSF Union family, and many family and friends.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM Monday, October 28th, at the Cheney Witt Chapel.
Cremation will follow.
The family will receive friends from 1:00 PM until service time Monday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested to Care to Share and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, P.O. Box 347, 201 S. Main St., Fort Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted online at cheneywitt.com.
Social Meals For Senior Citizens Starts November 4 in Fort Scott
On November 4 at 11 a.m., a new place for senior citizens to get healthy meals and an opportunity for social engagement will begin at Buck Run Community Center, 735 Scott Avenue, Fort Scott.
“60+ Nutrition Bourbon County is the name of the program,” said Kathy Brennon, Executive Director of Southeast Kansas Area Agency on Aging.
“We currently provide approximately 1,000 home-delivered meals a month to 72 people in Bourbon County, from Monday through Thursday,” she said. “This is generally known as Meals on Wheels, but there are other organizations that provide meals to individuals in their homes.”
The meals are cooked in the agency’s industrial kitchen in Pittsburg and transported to Fort Scott to be portioned for home delivery.
The Older American Act, OAA funding has two goals: to provide healthy meals to homebound individuals and, for those not homebound, to also provide a healthy meal and opportunities for social engagement which contributes to health and well-being, she said.
“The funding is primarily through the Older American Act which is federal funds, and also funded by the State of Kansas,” she said. “This funding has a required match which is provided with county funding and donations.”
Volunteers Are A Key Component Of The Funding
” For Fort Scott, there is only one SEKAAA paid staff, with volunteer staff doing the home delivery. Last year, volunteers provided over 2000 hours of assistance. Without these committed volunteers, the program couldn’t occur,” she said.
“Volunteers can be daily, one day a week, or whatever works for the person. Sometimes a business or church takes home- delivery as a project and commits to a specific day or week and they rotate their staff.”
“We do conduct background checks for all our volunteers. Volunteers frequently say they get so much out of the experience and typically people are so grateful. If someone is interested in volunteering they can call 620-305-1539 for more information.”
The Target Participants
“The target participant is individuals 60 and older. The spouse of the participant, regardless of age, and individuals less than 60 years of age with a disability, who reside in the home with and accompany a participant are also eligible to participate.”
If interested, the person must make a reservation by calling 620-305-1539.
Why this service?
“I started at SEKAAA as executive director in 2021,” she said. “I had a vague knowledge of the nutrition program but did not realize how important it was to the participants. We were coming off the COVID restrictions, in which we were slowly opening our meal sites. Social isolation and poverty is an identified concern for the elderly in the nine-county area, Allen, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson, Woodson.”
“Veivek Murthy, US Surgeon General reports that there is significant health concerns associated with loneliness. He reports that the health impact of social isolation is similar to what is caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
Chrome-extension://
Social Meals Together Are Important
“Home delivery is a very important service we provide, but we also believe that people meeting together for a healthy meal and seeing and making friends is also important. In our surveys of the congregate program, 35.6% of our participants eat alone. America’s Health Ranking reports that nearly 10% of Kansans age 60 and over face the threat of hunger. Murthy’s Social Connection Advisory reports that studies have shown that socially connected people live longer and are typically healthier. We at SEKAAA made it a goal to promote social connections whenever possible.”
“In Bourbon County over 26% of the population is over the age of 60 and it is anticipated it will continue to grow,” she said. “This program helps us meet our organization’s mission of helping people age their way, by having resources in place to keep people in their communities healthy and safe as long as possible.”
“There is a requested donation of $2 per meal, but no one is denied a meal. We do accept SNAP (foodstamps), she said.
To learn more:
Obituary of Sheryl Harper
Sheryl Irene Harper (Garten) 85, formerly of Peculiar, MO passed away Sunday, October 20, 2024 at her home in Ft. Scott, KS.
Sheryl was born April 7, 1939 at the family farm in rural Peculiar. She was the eldest child of John L. Garten and Glessie I. Garten (Phillips).
She married Donald Gene Harper Sr. on May 18, 1957 at Harrisonville Baptist Church. They were blessed with six children Donnie, Jonalin, Sherri, Jeff, John Philip, and Tim.
Sheryl lived most of her life in and around Peculiar and worked as Postmaster at Peculiar Post office, where she retired. She also worked as the secretary for the Superintendent of Raymore-Peculiar School District for many years. She played the piano at Peculiar First Baptist Church and Pleasant Prairie Baptist Church.
Sheryl was preceded in death by her beloved sons, Jeffrey Harper and John Philip Harper, her parents John and Glessie Garten and one brother J. L. Garten Jr.
Cherishing her memory are her loving husband of 67 years Donald Gene Harper Sr., her surviving children Donald Harper Jr. (Julie), Hutchinson KS, Jonalin Witt (Larry), Raymore, MO, Sherri Catron, Harrisonville, MO, and Timothy Harper (Janet), Ft. Scott, KS; two sisters, Saleta Hentschel (David), Dee Ora Hunter (Joe), one brother, Mark Garten (Gale); ten grandchildren: Amanda, Matthew, Laura, Ashleigh, Zach, Michael, Katie, Seth, Jonathan, and Shaydon – plus numerous beloved great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins.
A memorial service will be held on Monday, October 28th at 1:00pm at the First Baptist Church of Freeman, 303 N. Washington St, Freeman, MO 64746.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Mount Carmel Hospice left in care of Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, PO Box 347, Ft. Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guest book at cheneywitt.com.
Chamber Coffee Hosted by Sleep Inn on October 24
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Infrastructure Grant For Corridor in Olathe
Governor Kelly Announces KDOT Awarded
Nearly $98M for I-35, Santa Fe Corridor Project
in Olathe
TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) has awarded the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) a nearly $98 million Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant to improve the I-35 and Santa Fe Street corridor in Olathe.
“This announcement is a win for Kansas and everyone who travels I-35 through Olathe,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “This project represents my administration’s work to modernize and strengthen the infrastructure and transportation links that support commerce and economic growth across the state.”
The I-35 Santa Fe Forward project, which targets one of the region’s most congested corridors, seeks to eliminate bottlenecks at two interchanges: Santa Fe Street and Old Highway 56, address access management issues on Santa Fe Street, replace aging infrastructure, and provide multimodal access across I-35 to connect communities on both sides of the interstate. Currently, the crash rate on I-35 surrounding the Santa Fe interchange is more than two and half times the state’s average, with nearly half of all crashes consisting of rear-end crashes at lower rates of speed.
INFRA, funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is a competitive grant program supporting multimodal freight and highway projects of national or regional significance to improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of transportation for freight and people in and across rural and urban areas. The grant application was submitted by KDOT in partnership with the City of Olathe.
Governor Kelly sent letters to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of this project.
“Since coming to Congress, I’ve made it a priority to advocate for our community’s local infrastructure needs,” said Representative Sharice Davids, KS-03. “That’s why I voted for the bipartisan infrastructure law. This law creates good-paying jobs, strengthens our supply chains, helps lower costs, and will make our roads more efficient and dependable. I’m thrilled to see these funds coming to Kansas with the I-35 Santa Fe Forward project and investing in improvements that our region will see for generations.”
“We are grateful to our federal and local partners who have been working with KDOT to move this project forward,” Secretary of Transportation Calvin Reed said. “With this funding, we can tackle important infrastructure improvements that will enhance efficiency and connectivity, providing smoother travel for residents and businesses across the region.”
Construction on the I-35 and Santa Fe Street corridor between Ridgeview Road and Mur-Len Road is scheduled to begin in late 2026 with a total project cost of nearly $278 million. The City of Olathe is contributing $40 million. KDOT will contribute $140 million through the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation (IKE) Program, a 10-year program that addresses highways, bridges, public transit, aviation, short-line rail, and bike/pedestrian needs across Kansas.
“The new I-35 and Santa Fe interchange wouldn’t be possible without the partnership of KDOT and the leadership shown by our congressional delegation, including Sen. Jerry Moran, Sen. Roger Marshall, and Rep. Sharice Davids,” Olathe Mayor John Bacon said. “We are grateful for the support of our partners and for their understanding of just how important this project is to Olathe and to the region.”
More information on the KDOT IKE Program can be found here: https://ike.ksdot.gov/.
For additional details on the U.S. DOT Infrastructure for Rebuilding America Program, visit https://www.transportation.
###
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports Oct. 22
LMC Newsletter Oct. 21, 2024
|
|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wreaths Across America Fort Scott National Cemetery Date for Cut-Off Extended.
Registration Closing Friday for Governor’s Water Conference
Register by Friday, October 25
Registration for the 2024 Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas closes this Friday, October 25. The conference will take place on Wednesday, November 13 and Thursday, November 14 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan, KS. Register here before Friday to reserve your spot.
The conference will feature presentations on:
- Surface and Groundwater Issues
- Emerging Issues and Research
- Education and Outreach
For more information, including the draft conference agenda and speaker bios, visit the Governor’s Water Conference page at kwo.ks.gov under the News & Events section.
# # #
As the state’s water office, KWO conducts water planning, policy coordination and water marketing as well as facilitates public input throughout the state.
The agency prepares the KANSAS WATER PLAN, a plan for water resources development, management and conservation.
Grants to Revitalize Dilapidated Downtown Buildings Available
Commerce Announces New Round of Funding for HEAL Grants
TOPEKA – Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland today announced that $1.5 million is available for a fifth round of Historic Economic Asset Lifeline (HEAL) grants to revitalize dilapidated and underutilized downtown buildings in small communities across the state. These grants help close the financial gaps for communities striving to make their downtown districts economically vibrant.
Since Commerce launched the program in 2021, nearly $5 million has been awarded to fund 87 different community projects throughout Kansas.
“In order to succeed, brick and mortar businesses need the brick and mortar – and all the parts of their building – to be in good condition,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “With $20 billion of new private investment pushing into all parts of Kansas, HEAL grants give communities a chance to create their own momentum, turning downtown buildings that were once storage or pigeon roosts into stores, coffee shops and upper floor lofts.”
The HEAL grant helps communities bring revitalize downtown buildings as spaces for new or expanding businesses, housing, arts and culture, civic engagement, childcare or entrepreneurial activities.
Submitted projects must show potential to be economic drivers in the community and demonstrate that the space will be occupied by the end of the project. There must be proof of 1:1 matching funds from the building owner that will be required at the time of application.
The application opens November 1 and closes January 31, 2025. Awardees will be notified in April. Communities that received HEAL grants in spring 2023 or fall 2024 are not eligible to apply for this round of funding.
A virtual webinar about the specifics of the program is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Monday, November 4. Registration is required for the webinar. A Zoom link will be provided after registration is completed. To register for the webinar, please click here.
For additional information about HEAL grants, the webinar and the online application, please visit here.
About the Kansas Department of Commerce:
As the state’s lead economic development agency, the Kansas Department of Commerce strives to empower individuals, businesses and communities to achieve prosperity in Kansas. Commerce accomplishes its mission by developing relationships with corporations, site location consultants and stakeholders in Kansas, the nation and world. Our strong partnerships allow us to help create an environment for existing Kansas businesses to grow and foster an innovative, competitive landscape for new businesses. Through Commerce’s project successes, Kansas was awarded Area Development Magazine’s prestigious Gold Shovel award in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and was awarded the 2021 and 2022 Governor’s Cup by Site Selection Magazine.
###