Barbara Brandon Passes Away

Barbara F. Brandon, 70, died Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at a Topeka hospital.

She was born April 16, 1947 at New Orleans, LA., the daughter of Joseph and Doris Gaudin Valenti.  Barbara lived most of her life in Louisiana moving to St. Marys in 2014 and then to Rossville Health and Rehabilitation Center.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, Joseph Valenti and a sister, Diane Saucier.

Survivors include a sister, JoAnn Valenti; nephews, Chris, Joseph, Bryan and Richie; a niece, Nichole; her companion, Jeffery Gray.

Requiem Mass will be at 8:30 A.M. Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at Assumption Chapel.  A rosary will be recited at 6:30 P.M. Tuesday, March 20, 2018 at Piper Funeral Home in St. Marys where she will lie in state until 7:30 P.M.  Interment will be in Our Lady Of Peace Cemetery, St. Marys. Memorial contributions may be made in Barbara’s name and sent in care of Piper Funeral Home, 714 Maple Street, St. Marys, Kansas 66536.

Dane (04) & Kenzie Olejnik Have A Boy

Dane and Kenzie (Cordt) Olejnik, St. Marys, are proud to announce the arrival of  their son, Owen William Olejnik, born at 7:50 AM on Saturday, December  9th, 2017 at Stormont-Vail Hospital in Topeka. He  weighed 9 lbs., 9 oz. and was 21 1/4 inches long. He was welcomed home by his big
sister Olivia, age 2.  Owen is the grandson  of John & Cindi Mitchell,  St. Marys, Chuck Cordt,
Topeka, and Bob (71) & Kathy (76) Olejnik, Rossville. He  is the great-grandson  of Peggy (and the late Larry) Yingling, Walter & Betty Cordt, and the late  Joe & Dolores Floersch and Bill (39) & Tina Olejnik.

Shirley Oliver Passes Away

Shirley A. Oliver of Maple Hill, 84, died Friday, March 9, 2018 at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City.

She was born July 7, 1933 in Topeka the daughter of Joseph V. and Muriel Merillat Huggins. Shirley and her family moved about during her youth, she graduated from Delia High School in 1951 and attended Clark's School of Business in Topeka.

Shirley worked for SWB Telephone many years retiring in 1988. She later worked at Peoples State Bank in Rossville for several years. She was a member of the Maple Hill Community Congregational Church. Shirley was instrumental in the creation of the Maple Hill Senior Center and was extremely active and proud to have served as President and board member and to be a part of the "action" there. She was a past director of the Maple Hill Parks & Rec commission and had run the concession stand many years. Both Shirley and her husband Gene coached ball teams when their children were young and she played fast pitch softball many years. She was a member of the Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging. Shirley was a member of GFWC, Kiwanis, FCE and the American Legion Auxiliary.

On September 6, 1957 Shirley and Harold E. "Gene" Oliver were united in marriage in Maple Hill. He preceded her in death on August 17, 1989. She was also preceded in death by her siblings, Cecil and Jim Huggins and Muriel Huggins Wilson; a granddaughter Amber Kessler.

Survivors include three sons, Steve (Ginny) Oliver, Paxico, Harold (Shawna) Oliver, Riley and David (Peggy) Oliver, Topeka; two daughters, Debbie (John) Kessler, Blue Rapids and Linda (Alan) Miller, Alma; 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be at 11:00 A.M. Thursday, March 15, 2018 at the Maple Hill Community Congregational Church. Interment will be in Maple Hill Cemetery. Mrs. Oliver will lie in state and the family will receive friends from 6:00 until 7:30 P.M. Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at Piper Funeral Home in St. Marys. Memorial contributions may be made to the Maple Hill Senior Center and sent in care of Piper Funeral Home, 714 Maple Street, St. Marys, Kansas 66536. To leave online condolences please visit http://piperfuneralhome.com/obituaries/shirley-oliver/

Jeanette (Smith) (72) Baker Passes Away

    Jeanette (Smith) Baker, 63, of Hoyt, passed away on March 7th, 2018. Jeanette was born in Topeka to William "Bill" and Alice (Waldo) Smith on July 24th, 1954. She graduated from Rossville High School in 1972. 
    Jeanette is preceded in death by her parents; husband Don Baker; sister Mary Kelly and brother Kenneth Smith. Survivors include two daughters, Christy (Vogel) Conley (Eric) of Hoyt and Carrie Vogel of Topeka; three brothers, Bill Smith Jr. (Genita) of Topeka, Walt Smith (Julie) of Mayetta, Stu Smith (Heather) of Pinetta, FL and 5 grandchildren.
    In lieu of flowers the family asks that you make a donation in her name to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance at ocrfa.org.
    A celebration of life will be held on March 18th at 1:00 pm at the Hoyt Community Building at 8th and Highland in Hoyt, KS.

Spring Concert March 13

    The Rossville Jr. and Sr High  Spring Concert will be in the RHS gym on March 13 at 7:00 PM

Therese VanderPutten (14) Graduates

    Therese VanderPutten graduated Summa Cum Laude from Wichita State U. with a bachelor of arts degree in sports management.   To attain Summa Cum Laude the graduate must have a cumulative GPA of 3.95.

Taylor Bittner (17) On WSU Dean's List

    Taylor Bittner was named to the Dean's Honor Roll at Wichita State U. for the fall semester.  To attain this ranking,  the student must have a GPA of at least 3.5 and carry at least 12 credit hours.

Taylor Kirk In 4 WU Wins

Washburn University played 2 games on Friday and 2 on Sat.,  all on the road.    Taylor Kirk from Rossville plays first base for Washburn U.  Washburn is 16-4 for the season.

WU 4-2 win over Missouri Southern State U. in Joplin, MO.
  Taylor had no hits,  but was left on base twice.

WU 4-0 win over MSSU in Joplin.
  Taylor had 3 At Bats, no hits but 1 RBI.

WU 7-4 Win over Pittsburg State U.
  Taylor had 3 At Bats, one RBI, 1 Walk, 1 left on base.

WU 11-1 Win over Pittsburg State U.
  Taylor had one At Bat and got one hit (the team's only double) and 1 RBI.

Washburn U. Honor's List

Washburn University has announced its President's List honor Roll for the fall 2017 
Those from Rossville who made the President's list are:  Darria Dennison, Rose Klase & 
Cole Meier. 
Those from Rossville who made the Dean's List are: Alex Bird, Kole Davoren & Corbin 
Horak.

Rebecca (Fritz) Little Passes Away

    Rebecca Ann Fritz Little, age 77 of Topeka passed away Wednesday, March 7, 2018 at Rossville Health Care in Rossville.
    Rebeca was born June 27, 1940 in Topeka the daughter of Vernon and Elizabeth Mackie Fritz. She graduated from Silver Lake High School in 1958 where she was active with 4-H. Rebecca was a certified Master Gardener. She also served as a foster mom.
    Rebecca was preceded in death by a great granddaughter, Alice Ann McDaniel; a brother, Jerry Fritz and a sister, Bonnie Taylor. She is survived by her faithful companion of over 26 years, Jimmy Jones; her best friend, Kay Saia; a son, Jerry (Chuck Romero) Albright of Topeka; two step sons, Dean Jarmel of San Francisco and J.D. Little of Silver Lake; two daughters, Terry (Jerry) Albright-McDaniel of Topeka and Jennifer (Brent) Jarmel-Shedd of San Francisco; a step daughter, Gelene Little of Topeka; a brother, Waldron Fritz of Arizona; a sister, Heather McAlpine of Thousand Oaks, CA; eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
    Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at the Silver Lake United Methodist Church. She will lie in state Monday from noon - 8:00 p.m. with visitation from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at the Davidson Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made to the and sent in care of the Davidson Funeral Home. Interment will be at the Silver Lake Cemetery. 
http://www.davidsonfuneral.com/obituary/rebecca-little

Meg Kirk (18) Is Scholar-Athlete Of Week

Meg Kirk from Rossville High School is the KSNT Scholar Athlete of the Week    She had a 4.15 GPA.

She is a senior at Rossville and has received both an athletic and dean scholarship to attend Allen Community College where she will play softball and study nursing. Meg is a three sport athlete playing volleyball, basketball and softball and also on the dance team. She is the younger sibling to Taylor Kirk who is a junior at Washburn U.

Taylor Kirk At Washburn Softball

    Taylor Kirk had 1 RBI,  and 3 bases on balls for one at bat in last Saturday's game one of a double header with the University of Central Oklahoma  at Washburn U.
    In the second game,  Taylor had  one hit (a double,  the only extra base hit for the team), one base on balls for 2 at bats as Washburn lost 4-0 to Central OK.

    In a double header with Rockhurst on Friday March 2,  Taylor had one hit in a 4-2 win over Rockhurst in the first game.  In the second game,  Taylor had one hit and one RBI, a game in which WU had only 4 hits and 2 runs in a 2-0 win over Rockhurst

Dueling Pianos At Legion

   Dueling Pianos, Saturday, 8 p.m. to midnight March 10,  AMERICAN LEGION POST 31, 442 N. Main, Rossville. Tickets: $25-$35. (785) 584-6177.

FFA Team Places Second

    The FFA Ag Mechanics team placed 2nd out of 19 schools  at the ag mech contest. 
Individual placings:  Nathan Dohrman 3rd place, Clay Rezac 4th place, and Jarrett Ingwerson placed 6th out of 138 students.