Obituaries Archives - Page 6 of 320 - Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home & Crematory Inc. (2024)

Jim Combest – July 7, 1948 – May 14, 2024

James G. “Jim” Combest lived a life that many people could never dreamed of. Despite having physical and mental challenges, Jim traveled throughout the United States and Canada, enjoying the sights and scenes and fishing whenever and wherever possible.

He was born at Lawrence Memorial Hospital on July 7, 1948, and lived for the first few years of his life in Eudora, Kansas. He and his dad, Norman, and his mom, Esther, and his brother Mike, moved to Pomona, California in 1955 so that Jim could get more help in schools and for his dad to find better work. Jim grew up loving to go to Yellowstone with his family, fishing whenever he could in Big Bear Lake, and watching his big brother race cars and play basketball. He and his family moved several times over the next few years: Maryland, Utah and finally settling back in Lawrence, KS. After finishing high school, Jim began working in the Sanitation Department for the City of Lawrence, during which time he earned several awards for his attendance.

Jim was married and divorced twice and owned his own home. He loved to take bus trips with his family and loved going to Branson. But he really loved fishing out at Clinton and would go often until he finally had to move into Assisted Living a few years ago.

Jim died on May 14, 2024, while living at Tonganoxie Terrace. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Mike and a bunch of dogs and cats that he called his kids. He leaves behind his nieces, Lee Ann Combest Dyess (and her husband Scott), Elizabeth Combest Florence, Caitlin Combest and nephew Michael Combest and his sister-in-law Hannes Combest along with five great nieces and five great nephews and one great, great nephew! The family will hold a private service to share “Jim stories” at a date in the future.

The family would like to thank Janice Miller of Lawrence, the staff at Monterey Village Assisted Living Facilities, Tonganoxie Terrace and the Interim Hospice of Topeka and Interim Hospice of Kansas City for their love and care of Jim during the last few years. Jim – we hope you find the lakes are full of fish wherever you land and that you catch the biggest one ever!!

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Interim Hospice or to the Lawrence Humane Society.

Memorial services for Brian S. Kubota will be at Immanuel Lutheran Church at 3pm on Friday, May 31, 2024. Brian died Sunday, May 19, 2024. He will be laid to rest at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence, KS.

Brian Shigeo Kubota was born in Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii on March 16, 1943 to Shigeomi and Bernice Aiko (Hamamura) Kubota. He attended Koloa Grammar School and Kauai High School in Lihue, Hawaii. He graduated from Iowa State University, Ames, IA, with a degree in Landscape Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning. He married Virginia (Ginny) Gutz on April 29, 1967. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children: Vicki, Chicago, IL and Jeff, Lawrence, KS. Also surviving are siblings: Adele (Don) Stevens, Honolulu, HI; Louella Rita, Makawao, Maui, HI; Sue Kubota, Honolulu, HI; and Burt (Debra) Kubota, Koloa, Kauai, HI. He was also Uncle to eight nieces and nephews.

After graduating from Iowa State University, Brian was employed by Howard, Needles, Tammen & Bergendoff from 1966-1969. He then moved to Lawrence, KS and worked for the city as the Assistant Planning Director. In 1970 he joined the partnership of Robertson, Peters, Erickson, and Williams and also worked as Assistant Professor of Architecture from 1972-1973. In 1978 he established Landplan Engineering, a branch of Peters, Kubota, Glenn. Some of Brian’s well-known urban design projects are Downtown Lawrence, Maupintour Travel Service (International Headquarters Building), Lawrence City Hall, Alvamar Country Club, Broken Arrow and South Junior High Schools, Lawrence Public Library and Trailridge Apartments. Alvamar West Golf Course, Orchards Golf Course, Holcomb Park and Buford M Watson, Jr. Park are additional site plans he designed. Brian won awards for Maupintour, Lawrence Town Center, Lawrence City Hall, and the Federal Office Building, Topeka, KS.

Brian served as National President and Vice President of ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) and many boards and task forces throughout the years. He also served as ASLA Prairie Gateway Chapter trustee for several terms. He attained Fellowship status in ASLA due to his contributions, professional accomplishments, attitude, and character. He was President of the Boys’ Club, Board Member of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, and Building Committee Member/Consultant of Immanuel Lutheran Church. He was also a Consultant for Corpus Christi Catholic Church and St. Lawrence Catholic Center.

After retiring from Landplan Engineering, he developed The Villas, one of Lawrence’s first empty-nester, single-family home developments and The Cove, a townhouse empty-nester development. He’s been a consultant for numerous developers throughout his career.

Brian and Ginny spent many winters in Naples, FL. He also loved to golf and enjoyed trips on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Many family vacations were spent with relatives in Hawaii and exploring other parts of the country. A little-known fact about Brian is that he enjoyed singing karaoke.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2104 Bob Billings Pkwy, Lawrence, KS 66049 or Visiting Nurses of Douglas County, P.O. Box 1260. Lawrence, KS 66044.

Graveside services for Walter Gibson, 72, Lawrence, will be 11 am, Thursday, May 23, 2024, at Memorial Park Cemetery. A visitation will be from 6-7 pm, Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.

Mr. Gibson died Friday, May 17, 2024 at home.

He was born July 1, 1951, in Lawrence, KS, the son of Walter R. and Dellane (Morrow) Gibson. He graduated from Lawrence High School in 1970.

He joined the United States Airforce in 1970. He was honorably discharged in 1975. After returning from the service he went to Washburn Tech and got ASE certified and worked as a mechanic at K-Mart, LRM, Lawrence Bus Company, and Progress Vanguard.

He married Sally (Sweet) Gibson on December 11, 1982 in Lawrence, KS. She proceeds him in death.

Other survivors include two daughters Tamera and husband Jim, of Topeka Rebecca and husband Mark of Carbondale, a step-son John, Paola, 2 sisters Pat, Lawrence, and Frieda, Newton. 3 granddaughters, August Alexandra, Xaria and nephew Matt.

He is proceeded in death by his grandparents, and a brother Cecil.

The family suggests memorial contributions be sent to Veteran Affairs, P.O. Box 1260, Lawrence, Kansas 66044.

Services for Mary Lou McGonigle will be held at 2:00 P.M. Thursday, May 23, 2024 at Lawrence 360 Church. A Visitation will be 1:00 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. on Thursday also at the Church.

Mrs. McGonigle died May 14, 2024 in Lawrence, Kansas. She was an elementary school teacher at Kensington School in Kansas City, Missouri from 1949 to 1959 and also at Line Creek Elementary School in North Kansas City, Missouri for three years. She taught remedial reading at India-Kaw Valley Schools from 1975 to 1985 when she retired from school teaching. She received a B.A. in Education from U.M.K.C in 1950-her graduate work from K.U. in Lawrence in 1975-1976 to give her certification to teach remedial reading. Mary enjoyed teaching Bible Studies at Eudora Care Center and Brandon Woods Retirement Center. She was also active in Church activities.

She was preceded in death by a daughter, Linda Sue Schusler in 1948; a husband, Richard A. Schusler in 1974, her mother in 1980,one sister, Carol Ann Anderson and a nephew, Arthur. She was united in marriage to Glen McGonigle in 1987 and he preceded her in death on June 9, 2000. Mary Lou is survived by two nephews, John and David and a niece, Penny Sue King. Memorials may be sent to Lawrence 360 Church, Women’s Ministry or Missions care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home of Lawrence. Arrangements are Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana Street,Lawrence, Kansas 66044.

Ernie Joe Chaney, M.D. passed away on May 16, 2024. He was 96. He was born December 28, 1927, in Frontenac, Kansas to Elbert Zenith Johnson and Louise Elizabeth (Richards) Johnson. When he was very young, Elbert and Louise divorced and he was adopted by Louise’s second husband, Tom Chaney.

Ernie was a 1945 graduate of Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Kansas. He served our country in the United States Navy from 1945 through 1947, when he was honorably discharged. In August of 1951, he married his forever soulmate, Margie Lee (Hall) Chaney of Wellington, Kansas. He attended Wichita State University and was accepted into the University of Kansas Medical School after three years of undergraduate studies. Margie worked to support them both while he attended KU medical school in Kansas City, graduating in 1956. After graduation Ernie and Margie moved to Tacoma, Washington, where he interned for a year at Tacoma General Hospital.

In 1957, he and Herb Doubek, M.D., a medical school classmate, were recruited and moved to Belleville, Kansas to start a family medical practice. It was called “Chaney & Doubek, MDs.” The name was alleged to have been decided by the flip of a coin. Ernie and Herb had a genuine family practice: stitching wounds, setting broken bones, counseling patients’ mental health needs, and delivering countless babies in the North Central Kansas area. It was rare for Dr. Chaney to sleep through the night.

In his earliest days as a young country doctor, Ernie made firm commitments to his patients, to medicine, and to medical education.

In the 1960s and 70s, he took his wife and three young boys on medical mission trips to the mountains of Guatemala one summer and then to Honduras a few summers later.

From 1970 to 1983, while practicing medicine in Belleville, Dr. Chaney was a Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in both Kansas City and Wichita. He staunchly advocated that family physicians should have a specialty of their own and testified in support of that proposition in Kansas and in Washington, D.C. He served as the President of the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians in 1970.

In 1981 he was elected as the President of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the second largest medical organization in the United States. One of his greatest honors was to serve as a representative of all the family physicians of America.

From 1987 to 1990, Dr. Chaney was president of the Family Health Foundation of America, the forerunner of the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation (AAFP-F). Only a small handful of physicians have ever served as president of both organizations.

In 1983, Ernie and Margie left Belleville and moved to Wichita, Kansas where he became an Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita, Kansas. In 1988 he was promoted to Professor. Teaching future family physicians was his passion. From 1983 until his retirement in 1994 he was the program director of the University of Kansas School of Medicine- Wichita Family Practice Residency at Via Christi-St Joseph in Wichita. In May of 1996, he came out of retirement to serve as the interim chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, a post he held until he re-retired in January of 1997.

Dr. Chaney was board certified in family practice by the American Academy of Family Practice and the American Board of Family Practice and he held a Certificate of Added Qualifications in Geriatric Medicine. In 1991, he was awarded the Victor North, M.D., “Outstanding Teacher in the Specialty of Family Medicine” by vote of the residents of the St. Joseph Family Practice Residency. He was a member of many other professional organizations.

Over his career in medicine and academics Dr. Chaney taught at numerous professional state and national meetings and authored many scientific papers in his field.

He was an avid and unreasonable KU sports fan. For years, as a young family doctor in Belleville he was a “KU Ambassador,” which meant that he and the family hosted members of the KU football team when they came through Belleville during summers to attend the annual KU football banquet and try to sell KU season football tickets. To the thrill of the young Chaney boys and many of the youth in Belleville, they hosted such players as Bobby Douglas, John Riggins, David Jaynes, and others.

Ernie was a wonderful and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He was optimistic by nature and known for his quick wit and sense of humor. He told friends and family that anything he was able to experience after dancing at his granddaughter’s wedding would be icing on the cake. After that, he danced at his grandson’s wedding, was able to attend basketball, soccer and baseball games of his great-grandson, and soccer games and ballet recitals of his great-granddaughter. He was also present as his grandchildren graduated from college and law school and obtained masters’ degrees. He stressed the importance of education to his children. He was the first in his family to go to college.

Most of all Ernie loved Margie and raising the three boys with her. They travelled to all 50 states when he was the President of the AAFP. They loved attending parties and dances with lifelong friends over the years. In the 80s, Ernie and Margie purchased a second home at Rancho Viejo, Texas to spend more time with their grandchildren, Katie, Stuart, Liz, and Mac Chaney, who they adored. They both loved South Texas, its people, culture, and especially its winters.

The family is grateful for the caregivers of Keep Living at Home (KLAH) for allowing Ernie to remain independent and at home for as long as possible and to the people of Neuvant House for the superb care they provided after he could no longer live independently.

Ernie is survived by his son, Mitchell (Susan) of Ingram, Texas and Lawrence, Kansas; daughter-in-law, Lecia Elliott Chaney (Stuart) of Kingwood, Texas; granddaughter, Katie Czyz (Joe) of Lenexa, Kansas; grandson, James Stuart Chaney (Robin) of Austin, Texas; granddaughter, Liz Chaney of Denver, Colorado; grandson, Elliot McClain Chaney of God Knows Where, and great-grandchildren Cannon and Clara Czyz. He was preceded in death by his parents, his two older brothers James and Robert, his wife, Margie and sons, James Robert, and Stuart Andrew.

Online condolences may be made here at the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home website.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be sent to KU Endowment, 1010 N. Kansas St., Wichita, KS 67214 (memo: Ernie and Margie Chaney Fund). Online contributions may be made at www.kuendowment.org/givenow , in the choose area(s) section select “other” and in the “other purpose” text box enter “Ernie and Margie Chaney Fund.”

A Celebration of Life Service for Dr. Chaney will be held on June 22, 2024, at 10:30 A.M., at First Christian Church Lawrence, 1000 Kentucky Street, Lawrence, Kansas 66044. Lunch in the Fellowship Hall to follow.

Charles L. Bloss Jr. “Charlie”, “Bud”, “Twinkie”, “Rev CL”, passed away peacefully at his home in Lecompton on May 16th, 2024.

Charlie was born on July 31, 1946 in Battle Creek, Michigan to Mary Alice Carnes Bloss and Dr. Charles L. Bloss Sr. His family moved to Dallas, Texas a year later. He was baptized at East Dallas Christian Church in 1959 and graduated from Greenhill High School in 1965. He moved to Topeka, Kansas where he joined the Topeka Police Department as a Dispatcher and became a Reserve Officer for the Shawnee County Sheriffs Department. He graduated from the Law Enforcement Academy in Hutchinson, Kansas and became a Deputy Sheriff in 1974. He worked in multiple departments in his career: Dispatch, Warrants, Prisoner Transport, Process, Records and his last job was in Courthouse Security before he retired in 1997. He loved working in the courthouse, becoming friends with all the judges.

He was named Officer of the Year in 1994 by the Insurance Women of Topeka and was recognized for his bravery with the Medal of Valor for his role in the Frank Carlson Federal Building incident in 1993.

He married Beth Meinhardt on April 26th, 1986. She survives at their home. Also surviving at their home are his furkids, Ranger, Smokey and Sami He is also survived by his brother, Dr. Robert Bloss and his wife Linda of Houston, Texas, his brother, Dr. William Bloss and his wife Martha of Winterville, North Carolina, nephew Robert Scott Bloss of Liberty Hill, Texas, Nephew William Paul Bloss Jr. and his wife Roxanne of Charleston, South Carolina, niece Marilyn Bloss Koester and her husband Drew, Great niece Mary Lee Fontana, Great nephews George and John Fontana, all of Memphis, Tennessee.

Furkids that passed before him are Angel, a black Labrador that he rescued shortly after retiring and was very special to him, Sabbath, Mr. Duke, Patches, Tyger, Midnite and J. Edgar Hoover, a black cat that he gave to his wife when they first met and had for 19 years. Part of the ashes of the furkids that passed before him will be added to his ashes per his wishes. We know he is happy to be reunited with them in Heaven.

Charlie loved his Diet Mountain Dew and Twinkies. He ate so many Twinkies trying to gain weight back that the Cancer Center nicknamed him”Twinkie”. He and his two brothers all called each other “Bud” He was also called Reverand CL by a lot of his co-workers at the Sheriffs Department because the Warrants Department got Credentials of Ministry, so Charlie’s department all had to get theirs also.
Charlie loved Bald Eagles and took many exceptional pictures of them. He has a house full of Eagle figurines and pictures. He also loved elephants and has many figurines in his office. He loved James Arness and Gunsmoke and never missed a show. He enjoyed playing “Santa Claus” for a number of year after retiring. He was also a Life member of the National Rifle Association.

Memorial contributions can be sent to S.C.A.R.S. (Second Chance Animal Rescue Society) at P.O. Box 22 Auburn, KS. 66402

Celebration of Life Services will be held on Saturday, June 29th at 11:00 A.M. in the Chapel of the Lane University Museum at 625 Woodsen Ave in Lecompton,where he and Beth were married 38 years ago. Following the service, there will be a gathering at the Fellowship Hall at the United Methodist Church at 402 Elmore in Lecompton for cookies and drinks and time to visit with the family. Arrangements are with Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home of Lawrence.

Viewing for Steven Walter Bell, 69, Lawrence Kansas, will be Friday, May 24, 2024 from 11 AM to 12 PM at Rumsey-Yost funeral home.

Mr. Bell died Thursday, May 16, 2024 at Country Side Nursing Home surrounded by his family.

He was born September 21, 1954 in Lawrence, Kansas the son of Eleanor and Georgia R. Bell. He graduated from Lawrence high school in 1972, and earned a degree in business at Johnson County Community College, he also got a bachelor’s degree in business at Pittsburgh University.

Mr. Bell never married and had only one daughter named Stephanie.

Other survivors include 4 sisters, Phyllis Bell, of Phoenix, Arizona, Gloria Miller, Claudia Bell, and Merna Bell, all of Topeka, Kansas, one brother, Norman Bell, of Lawrence, Kansas, and a lot of nephews and nieces. Graveside funeral is a private funeral and will be held at a different date.

Services for William Glynn Belle-Isle, 81, will be May 18, 2024 at the First United Methodist Church – West Campus. Mrs. Pamela Belle-Isle will be sending invitations to the celebration. He died February 7, 2024 at Bridge Haven.

Please be aware of construction in this area. There is currently only one lane open in the barricades that gives you access to the church.

A visitation for Adrian Rivera-Edmonds, 9 weeks old, Lawrence, will be from 6:00-8:00 P.M. on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home. 601 Indiana Street, Lawrence, KS 66044.

Adrian passed away peacefully at home on May 15th, 2024.

He is survived by his mother, Desirae Edmonds, and his father, Carlos Rivera Quintero, and older brother, Angel Salgado-Edmonds.

Other survivors include maternal grandparents Ruben Edmonds, Karen Edmonds; and April Jennings and spouse. Along with numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, and great-grandparents.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made towards funeral service costs. Donations can be made to Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home: P.O. Box 1260, Lawrence, KS, 66044, or by calling the funeral home directly at 785-843-5111

Whitney was an artist way ahead of her time. The day she left she painted the sky to let everyone know she finally made it to the place where she can be free. She saw the beauty even in the darkest of places. When it rains, please take a moment to embrace the warm feeling, that will be Whitney wrapping her wings around you letting you know she is happy and at peace.