HEMBREE, NANCY ELIZABETH
Nancy Elizabeth Hembree was born October 8, 1855,
in Stone County Missouri, and died at her home in Coolidge, Kansas, Friday, January 17, 1930. She was the daughter
of Lewis and Rade hembree. In 1874 she was united in marriage to James M. Kendall. This marriage was broken by
the husband's death, March 4th, 1904. There were seven children born to this union; Florence, Minerva, Alice, William,
John, Bertha and Frank.
Mrs. Kendall has lived in this community for 40
years, and was widely known. She was a member of the Coolidge Presbyterian Church. Those left to mourn are two
daughters - three sons, seven grandchildren, four sisters, and one brother, besides many other relatives and friends.
Two daughters are dead; Florence, who passed away in 1919 and Minerva, who died in 1918.
The funeral was held Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock
in the Presbyterian Church at Coolidge, Kansas, and was very largely attended, the Church being filled to capacity.
The music was in charge of Mrs. William Patterson of Holly, who provided three musical numbers - one used at the
cemetery and two at the Church. The Rev. Dr. Gorby, pastor of the Holly Presbyterian Church had charge of the funeral
and read a short Scripture Lesson, offered Prayer and read the obituary. He also spoke a very few words of personal
eulogy on the life of Mrs. Kendall, who had attained the ripe age of 74 years, 3 months and 9 days. (submitted
by Linda Burwick)
CHANCE, DELANA "DEE
DEE"
Delana "Dee Dee" Chance, 27, of Millington
passed away Monday January 23,2006 in Memphis. There will be a memorial service Sunday, January 29 at 6 p.m. at
the Flame on Madison Ave. Ms. Chance, a sales representative for Unifirst Corportation is survived by her parents,
Lowell and Carlen Chance of Millington, two sisters, Sabrina Chance of Millington and Noreena Chance of Memphis,
two brothers, Jeremy chance and Delano Thomas, both of Memphis; two nieces, Jackey and Cheyenne Sneller of Millington;
four nephews, Andrew Sneller of Millington, Chance and Angelo Thomas of Memphis and Wyatt Chance of Japan, several
aunts, uncles and cousins. (The Commercial Appeal, January 27, 2006)
COLEMAN, JOHN R.
Coleman, John R., 55, construction worker, died
Sunday, Aug. 27, 2000. Service 10 a.m. Thursday, Garnand Funeral Home.
Survivors: daughter, Dawn Sahr, of Bismarck, N.D.; brother, Charles of Bird City, sister, Charlotte Mueller of
Bartlesville, Okla., two grandchildren. Memorial has been established with Garden City Area Veterans Honor Guard
Fund. (The Wichita Eagle, August 29, 2000)
HAMLIN, EMMA O.
Emma O. Hamlin, 72, homemaker, died Saturday, April
19, 1986. Service 11 a.m. Tuesday, First Christian Church.
Survivors: husband, Frank S., son, Glen LeMoyne Olson of Oklahoma city; daughter, Sandra Haskell, Sherryl Henson
both of Hutchinson, sisters, Alice Willour of Ransom, Wilma Demuth of Wichita, five grandchildren, two great-grandchildren.
Memorial has been established with the American cancer Society. Elliott Mortuary is handling the arrangements.
(The Wichita Eagle, April 21, 1986)
WESTEMAN,
BESSIE ORENE
Westeman, Bessie Orene, 85, homemaker, died Saturday,
Oct. 31, 1998. Service 2 p.m. MST Wednesday, Syracuse First Christian Church.
Survivors: sons, Arthur, Freddie, Rodger all of
Syracuse, Jerry of Wichita, daughters, Orene Martin on Johnson, Arlene Kirby of Syracuse; sisters, Edna Rowe of
Lamar, Colo., Helen Seal of Holly, Colo., 16 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren. Memorial has been established
with Hamilton County Library. Greene Funeral Home. (Wichita Eagle, November 2, 1998)
WESTEMAN, IVA J.
Iva J. Westeman, 75, homemaker, died Thursday,
May 24, 1990. Service 10 a.m. Tuesday, United Methodist Church.
Survivors: husband, Archie, sons, Doug of Syracuse,
Archie L. of Aztec, N.M.; daughters, Doris Ford of Mount Vernon, Wash. Juanita Lewis, Marsha Spargo, both of Aztec,
seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren. Memorial has been established with the American Diabetes Association.
Green Funeral Home. (Wichita Eagle, May 27, 1990)
WESTEMAN, RODGER
RAY
Syracuse - Rodger Ray Westeman, 68, died Aug. 21,
2007 at St. Catherine Hospital, Garden City.
He was born Feb. 12, 1939, in Syracuse, the son
of Fred W. and Bessie O. Smith Westerman. He graduated in 1958 from Coolidge High School. He spent his whole life
in the Bear Creek Community as a farmer.
He was a lifetime member of the NRA, past board
member of Syracuse Co-op, the Syracuse Moose Lodge, FSA County Committee and numerous gun clubs.
On July 14, 1961, he married Donetta Donnel at
First United Methodist Church, Syracuse. She survives.
Other survivors include a son, Mike Westeman, Syracuse,
a daughter, Rashelle DeWeese, Liberal, two brothers, Jerry Westeman, Wichita and Freddie Westeman, Syracuse, two
sisters, Orene Martin, Johnson and Arlene Kirby, Syracuse, two grandchildren and numerous other family members
and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and a
brother, Arthur L. Westeman.
Funeral will be at 10 a.m. MDT Friday at the First
United Methodist Church, Syracuse. Burial will follow in the Hatton Cemetery, Bear Creek Community.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the
Hamilton County Library, Coolidge Alumni or the First United Methodist Church in care of the funeral home. (The
Hutchinson News, August 23, 2007)
GLOVER, JOHN T.
John T. Glover, a longtime Coolidge resident, died
Tuesday afternoon at the Kansas Masonic home in Wichita, where he had resided since March of 1958. Mr. Glover had
been in ill health two months prior to his death. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at the Syracuse
Presbyterian church with Rev. William Borst officiating. Burial will be in the Syracuse cemetery with Masonic graveside
services. Mr. Glover, 88, was born Aug. 26, 1873, at Humansville, Mo. He was a retired farmer and had lived at
Coolidge for 30 years. He was a member of Masonic Lodge No. 316 at Coolidge, the I.O.O.F., Order of the Eastern
Star and Rebekahs. Mr. Glover is survived by one brother, Elmer Glover of Fall River, and several neices, including
Mrs. Carl Palmer of Syracuse and Mrs. Clifford Low of Coolidge, nephews and cousins. (Syracuse Journal, January
31, 1962, submitted by Cheryl King)
BRUNSON, SUSIE GLOVER
Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday
in the Coolidge Presbyterian Church for Mrs. Susie Glover Brunson, a former Cooledge resident, who passed away
Monday night at Poeblo. Mrs. Brunson, who was in her late 80's, was a aunt by marriage of Mrs. Carl Palmer and
Mrs. Clifford Low. Mrs. Brunson moved to a homestead south of Cooledge in the early 1900's and later lived in Holly
before moving to Pueblo. Interment will be in the Cooledge cemetery. (Syracuse Journal, March 23, 1966, submitted
by Cheryl King)
BENNETT, A. H.
A. H. Bennett, Hamilton county representative to
the state legislature, and well known western Kansas famer and stock man, was killed instantly Thanksgiving morning
when a tractor he was driving left the state highway on the overpass a few miles east of Granada, Colo., and rolled
to the bottom of the embankment. Mr. Bennett's head was crushed in the fall. There was no witness to the accident,
so the exact cause will never be known. Mr. Bennett was on his way from his ranch south of Coolidge to other land
south of Granada, driving a small farm tractor with a posthole digger attachment. The accident occured on the downhill
side of the overpass, the machinery knocking over about half a dozen post of the retaining rail before it finally
toppled over. It is surmised the tractor gathered too much speed on the downhill pull and Mr. Bennett lost control,
or that he pulled too close to the side of the road to avoid another vehicle. The body was taken to Holly by the
Morich Funeral Home. The deceased is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Clifford Low of Coolidge, and Mrs. Carl Palmer
of Syracuse. Other near relatives surviving are: three sisters, Mrs. Hattie Hines, Soda Springs, Idaho; Mrs. Mollie
Wood, Dexter, Kan., and Mrs. Nora Stocking, Carnegie, Okla.; two brothers, Virgil Bennett of Cedar Vale and Russell
Bennett of Dexter. All these relatives except Russell Bennett were present for the funeral service. Mr. Bennett
was elected to his third term in the state legislature in the general election last month. At various times in
the past he has served on the Coolidge school district board, and since he moved to Hamilton county in 1913, he
has been active in many community and civic affairs. In addition to his livestock and farm interest in both Kansas
and Colorado, he was also director of the Valley State Bank, Syracuse. Funeral services were held in Syracuse Sunday
afternoon, in charge of Rev. O. Ray Pomeroy, Methodist minister and burial was beside his wife in the Syracuse
cemetery. The Coolidge Masonic lodge, of which he was a past master was in charge of services at the grave. Mr.
Bennett was born October 16, 1885, near Pittsburg, Polk county, Mo. When he was 15 years old the family moved to
Chautauqua county, Kansas. In 1914 he moved to Hamilton county and settled on a homestead south of Coolidge. Besides
his terms as a state legislator and school board member, Mr. Bennett served as township trustee for six years.
Honorary pall bearers at the funeral service were E. M. Scott, F. J. Steward, F. M. Carter, Floyd Breeding, state
representative from Morton county, M. U. Bray and Ivan Bray of Denver, and W. F. Hubbard, state representative
from Stevens county. Active pall bearers were E. C. Bray, Everett Willhite, Lance Crittenden, Paul Crist, George
Williams and Orval Aldwin. Other out of town relatives and friends here to attend funeral services for Mr. Bennett
Sunday were; Mr. and Mrs. Francis Cunningham and Miss Bonnie Wood of Arkansas City; Wayne and Neva Bennett of Cedar
Vale; Hugh and Joan Stocking of Carnegie, Okla.; Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Glover, Holly; John Glover of LaHarpe; Mrs.
Mary Roberts, Bolivar, Mo.; Mrs. M. U. Bray, of Denver. (The Syracuse Journal, December 2, 1948, submitted by Cheryl
King)
LOW, CLIFFORD
Funeral services will be held Thursday morning
for Clifford Low, 66, who died Tuesday morning at Hamilton county hospital. Mr. Low, a farmer and rancher in the
Coolidge area for several years, had been in ill health since suffering a stroke some time ago. He was born in
Centenal, Mo., June 17, 1913, and moved to Syracuse in 1932. He was married to Naomi Bennett in Syracuse July
18, 1937, and had lived in the Coolidge area for many years. He also operated the Border Realty Co. there. Mr.
Low served with the Air Force in World War II. He was a member of Coolidge Lodge No. 316, A.F. & A.M., serving
several times as master, and was a past district deputy. He also was a member of the Syrcause Eastern Star Chapter
No. 326, the Syracuse Methodist Church and Wichita Consistory. He is survived by his wife, of the home; one son,
Carl of Odessa, Tex.; one daughter, Nikki Low of Coolidge; a sister, Mrs. Marjorie Floyd of Johnson; and two grandchildren.
The funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Syracuse Methodist Church with Rev. Tom Sheldon officiating.
Interment will be in the Syracuse cemetery with Masonic and military rites. The family suggests memorials to
Hamilton county hospital. (The Syracuse Journal, January 16, 1980, submitted by Cheryl King)
PALMER, DELVA BENNETT
Funeral services were held Monday afternoon for
Mrs. Carl (Delva) Palmer, 61, who died Friday at Colorado General Hospital at Denver following a short illness.
Mrs. Palmer, a long time resident of Hamilton county, had been hospitalized at Denver for about a month, after
becoming ill while returning from a tour through Mexico. She was born March 31, 1909 in Waneta and moved to the
Coolidge area with her parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Bennett. She had been a resident of the county the
past 47 years. She was married to Carl Palmer in Syracuse Dec. 10, 1944. Mrs. Palmer operated Delva's Yarn Shop
in Syracuse, moving it to a Main St. location from her home last year. She formerly taught in the Syracuse schools.
She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Syracuse, Coolidge Chapter of Order of Eastern Star, of which
she was past worthy martron and past district aide, and of the Coolidge Rebekah Lodge. Survivors include her husband;
two sons, Oliver of Emporia and Ovie of Kansas City; a sister, Mrs. Naomi Low of Coolidge; and one grandchild.
The services were held at 2 p.m. Monday in the Syracuse Presbyterian Church, with interment in the Syracuse cemetery.
Officiating were Rev. Walter Zenah of Spearman, Tex., former pastor of the church here, and Rev. Charles Chipman,
pastor of the United Methodist Church. (The Syracuse Journal, March 24, 1971, submitted by Cheryl King)
