Obituaries in Kansas Newspapers (arranged by city)
David F. Lauer
David F. Lauer, 73, Seneca, KS, died early Tuesday evening, December 6, 2005, at the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca. His death was due to complications from treatment for prostate cancer.
He was born November 21, 1932, in Seneca, Kansas, the son of Cyril J. and Geneva C. Severin Lauer. He grew up in Seneca and graduated from Sts. Peter & Paul High School in 1950. While he was home, he worked in the family business, the Lauer Funeral Home. He also worked for the State of Kansas before he enlisted in the US Air Force in 1951.
He served in Korea during the Korean Conflict with the 5th Comm Squadron, 315th Air Division as a radio repairman and was discharged in February of 1955. After attending Donnelly College in Kansas City, he transferred to the University of Minnesota where he graduated in 1958 with a degree in mortuary science. In 1959 he served his apprenticeship back home in Seneca at Lauer Funeral Home. He lived and worked in Phoenix for a short time before returning to work at Welander-Quist Funeral Home in Minneapolis in the fall of 1960.
On May 26, 1962, he married
Sally Pape at St. Olaf’s Church in Minneapolis. They lived in Bloomington, Minnesota, where Dave continued to work for Welander-Quist until March of 1966, when they moved to Seneca to take over the family business. As third generation owners of the Lauer Funeral Home, Dave and Sally continued the service begun in 1901 by Dave's grandfather, Philip Lauer.
Dave was a member of Sts. Peter & Paul Church, the St. Joseph Society, and served on thecemeterycommittee. He was also a member of the Earl W. Taylor Post #21 of the American Legion, the Seneca Memorial Post #7458 of the VFW, the Knights of Columbus (4th Degree), the Kansas Funeral Directors Association, the National Funeral Directors Association, the Seneca Chamber of Commerce, the Nemaha County Historical Society, the STEP Foundation, the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, and the Hiawatha Amateur Radio Club. He served on the Board of the Seneca Hospital for 15 years and was the past president.
Dave was a passionate amateur radio operator for many years, going by the call letters KBØMU, and sporting various large antennae atop the funeral home for contacting all reaches of the globe. His other hobbies included photographing people, collecting all the latest electronic gizmos, listening to classical/jazz/blues, and keeping a large yard stocked with more and more trees and plants. Shown in the photo is the annual bloom of his tulip row along the 4th Street front of the funeral home.
Survivors are his wife, Sally of the home, a daughter, Andrea Lauer of Basel, Switzerland; three sons, Chris of Seoul, South Korea, Mike of Tokyo, Japan, and Tim, his wife Heidi, and a granddaughter expected in February of Taipei, Taiwan; a sister, Jean Nyquist of Travelers Rest, SC; two brothers, Don of Albuquerque, NM, Jim of Olathe, KS; a special aunt, Jean Koelzer, age 102, of Seneca; and neices and nephews.
Mass of Christian burial will be 10 A.M. Saturday at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca. The burial will be in the church cemetery. The rosary will be prayed on Friday at 2 and 7 P.M. at the Lauer Funeral Home where he will lie in state after 4 P.M. Thursday.
Memorials may be given for Sts. Peter & Paul School, or Nemaha Valley Community Hospital, or Nemaha County Historical Society, and sent in care of the family.
Geneva C. Lauer
Geneva C. Lauer, 70, of Seneca, KS, died on Sunday, March 27, 1977 at the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca.
She was born on March 18, 1907 on a farm northwest of Baileyville to Fred and Clara (Rastle) Severin. She graduated from St. Michael's High School in Axtell and attended St. Mary's College in Leavenworth.
On Septemeber 12, 1927 she married
Cyril J. Lauer at St. Michael's Church in Axtell. Geneva and Cyril jointly owned and operated Lauer Funeral Home, founded by Cyril and his dad Phil as the first modern funeral home in Nemaha County. Previously families held visitations and services in their own homes, but Geneva and Cyril help introduce the new custom of holding visitations at dedicated facilities at Lauer Funeral Home.
As an active partner in the business with her husband Cyril, Geneva earned a funeral director's license, which she held until her retirement in 1966.
Geneva enjoyed handiwork of any kind and was an expert seamstress. She continued seamstress projects, such as assisting her granchild Chris in sewing a priest marionette for a school project, even when she was suffering from advanced arthritis.
Along with her husband she enjoyed many remodeling projects for updating what had been a vacant house for many years into a first-class funeral home and living space. From her many remodeling projects and precise instructions to the work crews (and her husband!) you would guess she was a civil engineer.
In March of 1966, with both Geneva and Cyril having health problems, the funeral home was sold to their son David and his wife Sally.
Geneva and Cyril retired to a small house brought in from the country and set on the same block just west of the funeral home. Cyril preceded her in death on October 13, 1967. As Geneva's problems with arthritis and other health problems became more severe, her sister Jean Koelzer came from Kansas City to live with her.
Geneva took strong interest in the lives of her grandchildren, who called her "Neenee." She took great delight in drawing her grandchildren into handicraft projects, especially the children of her son David, since they lived nearby in the funeral home. She and her sister Jean created a tradtion of Easter egg coloring and Christmas cookie decorating with whatever grandchildren where available. For grandchildren visiting from out of town, she played matchmatcher finding other kids for her grandchildren to play with via the grandchildren of her friend network.
In the early 1970s she became a fanatic about following news about the developing Watergate scandal in Washington D.C., going so far as to become the only person in samll-town Seneca, KS with a subscription to the Washington Post. She created scrap books of news clippings relating to Watergate that she later willed to her grandchildren. Even before the Watergate scandal, she would often quiz her grandchildren about world and national current events to instill a sense of social responsibility.
She was a member of Sts. Peter & Paul Church and St. Ann's Altar Society at the church in Seneca. She was also a member of the VFW Auxiliary #7458 and the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital Guild.
Survivors include three sons, David of Seneca, Donald of Los Alamos NM, and James of Olathe; a daughter, Jeanann Colle of Denver; four brothers, Fr. Frank Severin, S.J. of St Louis, Henry Severin of Ellensburg, WA, Frederick of Fredericksburg, IA, and James of Omaha; two sisters, Jean Koelzer and Anna Marie Gruetze, both of Seneca; and 16 grandchildren.
Besides her husband Cyril, she ws preceded in death by two brothers, Urban and Bernard Severin.
Rosaries were prayed on Sunday and Monday evenings at Lauer Funeral Home. Mass of Christian burial was offered on Tuesday at Sts. Peter & Paul Church. Burial was in the church cemetery.
Pall bearers were Collette Colle, Gregg Colle, Janelle Colle, Terri Lauer, Joe Lauer, Chris Lauer and Stephanie Lauer. Honorary pall bearers were Chris Colle, Annette Colle, Martha Lauer, Greg Lauer, Kristi Lauer, Ann Lauer and Joel Lauer.
Memorials may be given for the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital or the Seneca Library.
Philip J. Lauer
Philip J. Lauer, 52, of Seneca, KS, died at 8:45 am Tuesday morning, January 10, 1933 at his home, due to complications of throat disease.
Phil was born on December 12, 1880 to John Joseph Lauer, Sr. and Maria Marguerite "Maggie" (Machinot) Lauer in the Fidelity area. His parents had both immigrated from the Alsace Lorraine area of France. When he was two years old the family lived in Blaine in Pottawatomie County. When he was 12 the family moved to Moodyville in Rock Creek Valley, north of Westmoreland.
In 1901 Phil and his brother Tony came to Seneca and bought the furniture business of John Reinhart. As was usual practice of the day, the furniture business also included an undertaking business, which was run by Phil. At various times, Phil partnered in the furniture and undertaking business with John Wempe, Ed Wempe, A.H. Hutton and Clyde Jenkins. His funeral parlor and furniture shop was located on the east end of Seneca's Main Street business district.
Phil married
Anna M. Wempe on May 17, 1904 at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca.
In 1927 Phil and his son Cyril opened Lauer Funeral Home on 4th and Roanoke in Seneca, the first modern funeral home in Nemaha County, KS. Phil continued to assist his son Cyril there until two years ago, when his health began to fail.
Phil was active in his community, serving at various times as county coroner, city council member, and other civic roles. He was also a long-time volunteer with the Seneca Fire Department.
Phil was a genuinely well liked man full of brotherly sympathy for people in poor health or otherwise in need, and was always ready to lend a helping hand. He had not been well since a fire in his shop on January 17, 1927. Friends and family have speculated that fumes from the fire, which included celluloid material creating noxious smoke, may have brought on his throat disease. After the fire he was hoarse for some time. In recent months difficulty in talking returned. He was also weakened by an attack of the flu last July.
Phil is survived by his wife Anna; seven children, Margaret Barbara Lauer, a registered nurse who attended him through his illness, Anthony John Lauer, an attendant at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Joseph, MO, Cyril Joseph Lauer of Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca; Damian Joseph Lauer of A&P company in Leavenworth, and Rosanna Clare, Mary Genevieve, and Leonard Edward Lauer of the home; four brothers, John and Peter Lauer of the Westmoreland area, Fred Lauer of Sheridan, WY, and Anthony Lauer of Seneca; and four sisters, Anna Conrad of Los Angeles, Margaret Smalley of of Springfield, MO, Josephine Ernst of Yakima, WA, and Anna Karnowski of Seneca.
He was preceded in death by his father John Joseph Lauer, Sr. on March 29, 1899 in Blain, KS; his mother Maggie on April 19, 1920 in Blaine; and brothers and sisters.
He was a member of the Sts. Peter & Paul Church and the Knights of Columbus in Seneca.
Burial was in the Sts. Peter & Paul Cemetery. Pall bearers were Ed Herold, William P. Firstenberger, Joe Vogel, F.W. Severin, Tony Lueb, and Frank Geary.
Kenneth M. Lechner
Kenneth M. Lechner, 67, of Seneca, Kansas, died south of Seneca, Kansas, Monday, October 14, 2002.
He was born March 31, 1935, on a farm southwest of Nebraska City, Nebraska, the son of Tate and Agnes Kuhlman Lechner. When he was three months old, his mother died. His grandparents, Henry and Christina Fischer Hermesch east of Kelly, Kansas, raised him. He attended St. Bede's School at Kelly and helped on the farm. Later he earned a G.E.D.
Kenny farmed the Hermesch homestead east of Kelly before his marriage. On May 14, 1956, he married
Bernita "Bea" Stegeman at Wheaton, Kansas. She survives of the home. They lived and farmed in the Kelly area and moved into Seneca in 1987. Kenny was employed at Skillet Ready Mix at Centralia, Lortscher Agri Service and Metzger's Dairy at Oneida, and for Seneca Ready Mix and Seneca Fertilizer. He had also worked part-time at the Kramer Liquor Store and the Pony Express Liquor Store.
He was a member of Sts. Peter & Paul Church, the St. Joseph Society at the church, and a former member of St. Bede's Church. He was an umpire for the Kelly Baseball League. Kenny enjoyed bowling and playing cards.
Survivors besides his wife, Bea, are five daughters, Deb Christian of Hiawatha, KS, Connie Thorson and Karen Lechner, both of Horton, KS, Kristina "Tina" Brinker of Shawnee, KS, and Kimberly Henry of Goff; two brothers, Francis Lechner of Trenton, IL and Leonard Lechner of Fremont, NE; four sisters, Larine Hespen and Marie Koeppo, both of Nebraska City, and twins Elsie Hicks of Omaha and Evelyn Rowe of Ragland, Alabama; and nine grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a daughter, Katherine "Kathy" Lechner on October 3, 1990.
The mass of Christian burial will be 10 A.M. Saturday at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca. Burial will be in St. Bede'sCemeteryat Kelly. The rosary will be prayed at the Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca on Friday at 2 and 7 P.M.
Memorials may be given for St. Bede'sCemeteryor for Seneca's South Park and sent in care of the family.
Harry E. Leem
Harry E. Leem, 74, of Seneca, Kansas, died on Saturday, October 27, 2012, at his home.
Harry was born on January 25, 1938 to Harry and Ouida Hamberlin Leem in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended Messick High School in Memphis, and was in Navy ROTC program. In 1956, at the age of 18, he joined the Air Force, and thereafter served in the Tennessee Air National Guard.
He married
Shirley Houtz of Marysville, Kansas on June 7, 1958 in Topeka. The couple celebrated 54 years of marriage together.
Harry was employed by the Revlon Corporation prior to opening his own business, Printing Etc., in Seneca. He served as Executive Director of the Seneca Chamber of Commerce for six years.
He was a member of the American Legion and enjoyed playing golf at Spring Creek Golf Course in Seneca. The pursuit of knowledge was Harry’s primary goal in life.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Survivors include his wife Shirley of the home; his children, Kent Leem of Houston, Texas, Kelly and husband Jerry Siler of Sugar Land, Texas and Kristine and husband Richard Sarsons of Alberta, Canada; a brother George Leem of Memphis, Tennessee; and three grandchildren.
Funeral service for Harry will be 2 PM Wednesday, October 31, at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca. Full military honors will be provided by the Seneca Memorial Post #7458 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Earl W. Taylor Post #21.
Memorials may be given in Harry’s memory for the Seneca American Legion.
