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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS OBITS KELLY, LILLIE VEVA Mrs. Lillie Veva Kelly, 81, died Friday, November 10, at 11:45 a.m. at the Manor Nursing Home where she had been a resident for about two years. Her home address was 204 Front Street in Cherryvale. Mrs. Kelly was born June 23, 1897, in Nemaha County, Neb., the daughter of Samuel and Lizzie (Kennedy) Gilliland. She had resided in Cherryvale most of her life. Survivors include one son, Albert Lee Jones, Bend, Ore.; one brother, V. D. Gilliland, Fall River; and one grandchild. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Arnold Jones and George Kelly who she later married. Funeral services were held Monday at 2 p.m. in Webb & Rodrick Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Don Burchett, pastor of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, officiating. Burial was in Fairview Cemetery at Cherryvale. (The Cherryvale Citizen, November 15, 1978, submitted by Robert King) Curtis Darell Allen, 64, of Route 1, Liberty, died Saturday morning at his home of an apparent heart attack. He had not been ill previously. He was born December 27, 1913, in rural Liberty, the son of Dell Jay Allen and Kate M. (Coleman) Allen. He attended schools in Liberty and graduated from Independence High School. After his schooling he helped his father farm. On August 22, 1936 he was married to Opal G. Lett at Neosho, Mo. After their marriage they farmed in rural Liberty. He entered the U.S. Marine Corps in 1944 and was discharged in 1945. He returned to their present farm in 1950 and retired in 1976. Mr. Allen was a member of the Liberty United Methodist Church, the American Legion Post 20 in Coffeyville, the Hard Pan Grange of Liberty and the Kansas Livestock Association. Survivors include his wife of the home, two sons, Dell M. Allen, Manhattan; Coy Curtis Allen, Humbolt; one daughter, Mrs. Jerry (Suzie) Myers, Manderville, La.; his father, Dell J. Allen, Wichita; one brother, Jim Allen, Wichita and six grandchildren. Services were held at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Liberty United Methodist Church with the Rev. Olin K. Hamlin officiating. Burial was in the Liberty Cemetery. American Legion Post 20 conducted the graveside flag presentation. A memorial fund has been established with the First United Methodist Church. The Ford Funeral Service of Coffeyville was in charge of arrangements. (The Cherryvale Citizen, November 15, 1978, submitted by Robert King) Mrs. Kepner Is Dead at Home Mrs. Harry J. (Dovie Lee) Kepner, 74, died at 2:30 a.m. today at her home, 103 1/2 W Martin. In failing health several years, Mrs. Kepner had been seriously ill the past year. She was hospitalized a number of times and dismissed the last time on March 9. Funeral arrangements, under direction of Ford Funeral Home, are incomplete. Mrs. Kepner was born in Indian Territory, now Nowata County, on Nov. 6, 1886, to the late Edward and Nettie Billups. She spent her early youth in that vicinity and later lived in California, Kansas City and Atchison. On April 15, 1914, she married Kepner in Kansas City. He survives at the home. Also surviving are one son, Kenneth, Concordia, Kan.; a brother, Pete Billups, Houston, Tex., Formerly of Coffeyville; and two grandchildren. The Kepners moved from rural Atchison to Coffeyville in 1932. For many years they lived at 901 Illinois. She was an earlyday member of the Presbyterian Church. (The Coffeyville Daily Journal, Coffeyville, Montgomery, Kansas, March 29, 1961, page 2, column 6, submitted by Jan Dishon) Services for Harry J. Kepner will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow in the First Christian Church. Casketbearers: A. H. Acridge, H. E. Furnas, Robert E. Hovis, Frank M. Downey, W. B. Livington and Edward J. Gooch. Rev. W. E. Furnas officiating. Burial in Elmwood Cemetery. The body will lie in state at the Ford Funeral Home until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. (The Coffeyville Daily Journal, Coffeyville, Montgomery, Kansas, May 8, 1964, page 2, column 7, submitted by Jan Dishon) Autopsy Reveals Beating Fatal to Harry Kepner Harry Jerome Kepner, 78, a retired carpenter and refinery worker here, died yesterday in Coffeyville Memorial Hospital apparently of injuries he suffered in a beating Friday. An autopsy last night showed that Kepner died of internal injuries, county attorney Bill Watson said. Harvey Lee Diggs, 58, of 1102 Willow, was arrested yesterday before Kepner's death and was charged with felonious assault. The complaint will be amended and Diggs will be charged with first degree manslaughter. Those charges are in process of being filed, Watson said. Watson said Diggs had admitted entering Kepner's home 203 W 111th, Friday. He admitted that he had struck Kepner with his open hand and several times with his fist, Watson said. Diggs told Watson that Kepner was causing trouble between Diggs and his wife. The case was brought to officers attention Monday when Kepner's son, Kenneth, Route 2, visited his father and found he had been beaten. The elder Kepner was admitted to the hospital Monday afternoon. Otto Ivy, assistant police chief, said Kepner identified Diggs as his attacker before he died. Kepner was born Dec. 29, 1885 at Bloomington, Ill. He moved to Kansas with his parents at the age of 6 and the family settled on a farm near Atchison. After completing his education, he engaged in farming and married Dovie Lee Billups in 1914 at Kansas City. He farmed in the Atchison vicinity until 1923 when he moved to Coffeyville and started working for the Co-Operative Refinery in 1941. He retired Dec. 29, 1950. Mrs. Kepner died here in 1961. He was a member of the First Christian Church Men's Class. Survivors: one son, Kenneth L., Kepner, Route 2; two grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Funeral: 11 a.m. Saturday, First Christian Church, Rev. William E. Furnas; burial Elmwood Cemetery. The body will lie in state at the Ford Funeral Home Chapel until 9:30 a.m. Saturday. (The Coffeyville Daily Journal, Coffeyville, Montgomery, Kansas, May 7, 1964, page 1, column 4 and 5, submitted by Jan Dishon) "City Man, 78, Reported Beaten The beating of a 78 year old Coffeyville man was reported to police this morning. Kenneth Kepner, Route 2, told officers that his father, Harry Kepner, 203 W 11th, was badly beaten Friday afternoon. He said he learned of his injuries today. The son said his father told him that Harvey Diggs, 1102 Willow, broke in his back door Friday afternoon and told him that he was going to kill him. He proceeded to beat him, according to what the father told the son. A doctor examined him and found no broken bones. Kenneth Kepner told police his father had both eyes blacked, a laceration on h is right cheek and numerous bruises and contusions. At press time, no charge had been made against Diggs, who was reported out of town for the day." (The Coffeyville Daily Journal, Coffeyville, Montgomery, May 4, 1964, page 1, column 5, submitted by Jan Dishon) Mrs. Betty Jeanette Letts, 36, wife of Cleo B. Letts, 2802 W. 9th, died at 6:55 p.m. yesterday in Coffeyville Memorial Hospital. She had been in failing health several years and seriously ill one week. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Salvation Army Citadel with Capt. Eugene Harris officiating. Burial will be in Restlawn Cemetery, under the direction of the Ford Funeral Home. Mrs. Letts was born in Coffeyville Nov. 28, 1926 to Ervin and Eleanor Pearce. She attended Coffeyville schools, graduated from high school here in 1944. She has lived here all her life with the exception of a few months at Sioux City, Iowa. She married Letts Dec. 25, 1945 in Coffeyville, She was active in the work of the Salvation Army and had served as secretary-treasurer several years and taught a Sunday School class. She was associated with the distribution of the War Cry, a Salvation Army magazine. She had also been an active Girl Scout worker. She is survived by her husband, and three daughters, Nancy Margaret, Pamela Sue and Ruth Alice, all of the home; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ervin Pierce, 2705 W. 8th; three sisters, Mrs. Patricia Coffey, Whittier, Calif., Mrs. Margaret Marritt, Greenville, Miss., and Mrs. Virginia Graffham, Aiea, Oahu, Hawaii. (The Coffeyville Kansas Journal, November 28, 1963, sumibtted by Robert King) Coffeyville - Cleo "Curly" Letts, 84, Coffeyville, died Thursday at Mercy Hospital, Independence. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Ford-Wulf-Burns Edgewood Chapel, with burial in Restlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, both in Coffeyville. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1022 will conduct graveside military rites. Mr. Letts was born April 20, 1916 to Hiram M. and Lela (Barker) Lett in Cherryvale, where he later attended school. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army in the North African campaign and European theater. Following his discharge, he returned to Coffeyville and married Betty Pearce on Dec. 25, 1945. He worked as a carpenter with Howard Swift Construction and other companies, as well a being self employed and building homes. He retired in 1985, but he did custodial work for the First Methodist Church. Lett was active in Salvation Army, where he was a sergeant major for more than 25 years and was a past secretary of the Carpenters Union. Survivors include three daughters, Ruth A. Felts, Liberty, Pamela S. Hainer, Edmond, Okla., and Nancy M. Tosh, Douglass; a sister, Jewell Kiddoo of Neodesha. Friends may call at the funeral home from noon until 9 p.m. Friday and from 8 until 10 a.m. Saturday. Memorials can be made to the Salvation Army. (The Independence Kansas Reporter, June 30, 2000, submitted by Robert King) Funeral services for Ivan Vernon Barker, who died Easter Sunday afternoon at 3:15 o'clock of diabetes, will be held from the Fire Baptized Holiness church Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock. The services will be in charge of the Rev. Ralph Wilson. Interment will be in Fairview Cemetery. Ivan Vernon Barker, second son of Earl and Tempa Barker, was born three and one-half miles north of Liberty, Kansas, August 11,1911. He was 16 years, seven months and 28 days old at the time of his death. Besides his parents, the surviving relatives are five sisters; Mrs. True Holt, Edith, Beuna, Clara and Alice Barker; three brothers, Alvin, Billy and Bobbie, all of this city, and a grandmother, Mrs. Anna Barker of this city. (The Cherryvale Republican, April 9, 1928, submitted by Robert King) Cherryvale - Paul F. Norris, 79, of Cherryvale, died Thursday at the Cherryvale Care Center. Services will be Monday at 2 p.m. at the First Southern Baptist Church with Pastor Jim Spradlin officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery. Friends may call at Potts Chapel of Cherryvale from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, with the family receiving friends from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Memorials are suggested to the First Southern Baptist Church. Mr. Norris was born Sept. 26, 1927 in Cherryvale to William and Myrtle (Barker) Norris. He graduated from Cherryvale High School. He married Lea Mae Riggs on April 14, 1951 in Mountain Home, Ark., and she survives. Mr. Norris was a sheet metal worker for Gooch Foods, Continental Can, Dixon Manufacturing and Ruskin Manufacturing. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and a member of the First Southern Baptist Church, American Legion and a life member of the National F.F.A. Other survivors include a daughter, LuAnn Rhodes, Cherryvale; four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. (The Independence Daily Reporter, January 19, 2007, submitted by Robert King) Opal Garnet (Lett) Allen, who lived on a farm 2 miles south of Liberty, KS, died in a car-truck collision near Burden, KS around 7 p.m. Friday, July 2, 1993. She was born on September 13, 1914, to Lela (Barker) and Matt Lett on a farm which now lies at the bottom of Elk City Lake. The nearest town at that time was Crane Station, located on the Santa Fe railroad which ran between Independence and Winfield. This was located about 2000 feet northwest of the west end of the present Elk City Lake Dam. The family moved to Cherryvale in 1915. Opal attended both grade and high school here and was married to Curtis Allen at Neosho, Missouri, on August 22, 1936. He preceded her in death at age 64, November 11, 1978. With the exception of about one year, spent in San Diego, CA during World War II while her husband was in the Marines, she lived all her life in Cherryvale and on nearby farms. She is survived by three children, Coy Allen of Humbolt, KS, Deloren Allen of Derby, KS and Suzie Meyer of Manderville, LA; five grandchildren, Karl and Melanie Allen, Brenda Hicks and Kirk and Kinnis Meyer; a sister, Jewell Kiddoo of Neodesha; two brothers, Cleo Lett of Coffeyville and Earl Lett of Cherryvale. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 8, 1993, at the Methodist Church in Liberty, KS. One grandson, Damon Allen, 15, died in the collision with her. His burial took place Wednesday, July 7, 1993 at Wichita, KS. She was also preceded in death by two infant sisters and one 76 year old brother and her parents. (The Cherryvale Gazette, July 8, 1993, submitted by Robert King)
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