Obituaries in Kansas Newspapers (arranged by city)
Clayton D. Swisher
Clayton D. Swisher, 77, of Seneca, Kansas, died Sunday, September 22, at a Seneca care home, where he had been a patient for one day. He had cancer the past two years.
He was born February 19, 1925, the son of John and Helen Richardson Swisher, on a farm near Vermillion, Kansas. He attended school at Onaga and later moved to Los Angeles with his father. On May 25, 1942 he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, where he was trained as a rifleman. He served during World War II in the South Pacific, China, and stateside. After his discharge on May 25, 1946, Clay returned home to Onaga and completed his high school education. He was a natural athlete and played sports in school.
He moved to Topeka and attended Washburn College for two years. Clay was employed by Goodyear Tire Company and also by the Veteran's Hospital. As a member of the Reserve, he was again called into active duty during the Korean Conflict from August 7, 1950 until April 13, 1951. In 1958, he received an honorable discharge from the Reserve.
After moving to Ventura, California he was employed by the Camarillo Youth Prison for 25 years teaching work skills to prisoners and doing maintenance. In 1987 he moved to Seneca where he taught and played golf.
He was married
to Virginia Wegner. They had a daughter and were later divorced. In April of 1984 he married
Christa Guenther in Ventura, California. She survives of the home in Seneca.
Other survivors include a daughter Rebecca Hicks of Santa Paula, California; a stepson, Elva Marvin of Indiana; two stepdaughters, Christine Gaines of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Kathryn Ann Marvin of Oregon; a brother Wayne Swisher, address unknown; and a sister Joy Bullock of Seneca.
Clay donated his body to the University of Kansas Medical Center. No services will be held by his request.
Memorials may be given for the Seneca E.M.T. Association in care of the family.
Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca was in charge of arrangements.
Helen P. Swisher
Helen P. Swisher, 85, of Hiawatha, KS, formerly of Seneca, KS, died Saturday, March 1, 2003, at a Hiawatha care home. She had been a resident there since the spring of 2001.
She was born January 28, 1918, at Havelock, NE, the daughter of Leonard and Georgia Rowland Lair. When she was a child the family moved to Bayard, NE, where she graduated from high school in 1935. Following graduation, she and her family lived in Los Angeles, CA.
On December 15, 1937, she married
Jack Swisher in Los Angeles. They later moved to Topeka where she worked at Stormont-Vail Hospital. She trained as a nurse and graduated with honors in the LPN program at Stormont-Vail Hospital in the late 1950s. In 1967 they moved to Seneca, where they opened the Sears Store and catalog business. She was also employed at the Seneca Hospital in surgery, as well as often working nights.
Helen was a member of the Christ Lutheran Church in Topeka. She was a member of the Seneca Business & Professional Women’s Club. She attended many Legion baseball games while her husband was coaching. Swisher Field in Seneca is named after him.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack, on April 30, 1996, and a great-granddaughter, Abby Ellner on April 27, 1992.
Survivors are two daughters, Barbara Wood of Hiawatha, Janice Kessler of Boonville, MO; four grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Memorials may be given for the American Legion Baseball Program or the Alzheimers Association and sent in care of the family.
Private inurnment services will be held at a later date.
Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca is in charge of arrangements.
Eulalia "Lela" Tangeman
Eulalia“Lela” Kongs Tangeman, 88, Seneca, died late Tuesday evening, May 25, 2004, at her home.
Lela was born Sept. 26, 1915 at the Kongs homestead east of St. Benedict to Louis and Anna Kramer Kongs. She attended St. Mary’s School in St. Benedict, and before marrying worked as a housekeeper.
On April 23, 1936, Lela married
Leo B. Tangeman at St. Mary’s Church in St. Benedict. They farmed east of Baileyville. Lela was a homemaker, a skilled and loving cook, a fierce card player, a patient counselor, a loyal and wise friend, a devoted wife and mother. She attended Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca and was a long-time member of Sacred Heart Church in Baileyville. They moved into Seneca in 1980.
Survivors are husband Leo; three daughters, Jane Bergman of St. Louis, MO, Judy Glynn of Axtell, and Susan Tangeman of Philomath, OR; a son, David of Topeka; four sisters, Sr. Susan Kongs, C.S.J. of Concordia; Rita Feldkamp of Baileyville; Dorothy Ronnebaum of Seneca; a brother, Louis Kongs of Topeka; and six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by brothers Fr. Vincent, Walter, and Donald Kongs.
Mass of Christian burial will be at 10 A.M., Saturday, May 29, at Sts. Peter & Paul Church, Seneca. She will lie in state after 8:30 A.M. Friday at Lauer Funeral Home, where a rosary will be prayed at 2 and 7 Friday. Burial will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Baileyville.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital Equipment Fund, and sent in care of the family.
Leta R. Tangeman
Leta R. Tangeman, 77, of Seneca, died Saturday, August 16, 2003, at St. Francis Hospital in Topeka.
She was born April 13, 1926, at Seneca, the daughter of Anthony and Rose Vondenkamp Henry. She graduated from Sts. Peter & Paul High School in Seneca in 1944. Following school, she worked for Hallmark Cards and then for a bomber aircraft plant in Kansas City doing clerical work.
On September 10, 1945, she married
Wilfred Tangeman at St. Mary's Church at St. Benedict, KS. They lived and farmed in the St. Benedict community until December of 1993 when they moved to Seneca.
She was a member of Sts. Peter & Paul Church and St. Ann's Altar Society at the church in Seneca. She was a former member of St. Mary's Church and a past president of the Altar Society. She was a leader for the Hustler 4-H Club for eight years.
Survivors besides her husband, Wilfred of the home are two sons, Roy Tangeman Anamosa, IA, and Richard Tangeman, Topeka; two daughters Wanda Lyon, Lawrence, KS and Karen Brinker, Leawood, KS; four brothers, Linn Henry, Sabetha, KS, Gene Henry, Independence, MO, Paul Henry, Seneca, and Bill Henry, Wiley, TX; two sisters, Dorothy Olberding, Seneca, and Joan Klier, Ocala, FL; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
The mass of Christian burial will be 10:30 A.M. Tuesday, August 19, at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca. The burial will be in St. Mary'sCemeteryat St. Benedict. She will lie in state after 10:30 A.M. on Monday at the Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca where the rosary will be prayed at 2 P.M. and a vigil prayer service will be conducted at 7 P.M.
Memorials may be given for Sts. Peter & Paul School Building Fund or St. Mary'sCemeteryand sent in care of the family.
Marilyn R. Tangeman
Marilyn R. Tangeman, 64, of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, died Monday, September 11, 2000, at her home after a courageous battle with cancer.
She was born November 15, 1935, at the Sabetha Hospital in Sabetha, Kansas, the daughter of Mathias and Mary Hutton Rochel. Marilyn grew up in Seneca where she graduated from Sts. Peter & Paul High School in 1953. While she was growing up, she worked at the family business, Paramount Cleaners. Marilyn was a qualified Red Cross swimming instructor and taught many lifeguard classes in Seneca. In 1957, she graduated from Mount Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas.
On August 31, 1957, she married
Arthur Tangeman at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca. He survives of the home in Oconomowoc. They lived in Manhattan, Kansas, where Marilyn taught fifth grade at Seven Dolors School. In 1960 they moved to Waverly, Iowa, where her husband was employed by Carnation - Nestle USA. She taught at Plainfield High School in Plainfield, Iowa. They moved to Oconomowoc in 1961, and she taught Vocational School in Watertown, Wisconsin and summer school at the high school in Oconomowoc.
In 1967 they were transferred back to Waverly and she taught two more years at Plainfield High School. When they moved back to Oconomowoc in 1969, she became involved in various civic activities.
She was a member of St. Jerome Catholic Church, the Catholic Woman's Club, the Oconomowoc Woman's Club, and the Evergreen Garden Club, all at Oconomowoc.
Survivors besides her husband, Arthur of the home, are: two sons, Thomas Tangeman of Minneapolis, Minnesota and Jeffrey Tangeman of Ankeny, Iowa; a daughter, Julia McQueen of Milford, Massachusetts; her parents, Mathias and Mary Rochel of Seneca.
The mass of Christian burial will be 7 P.M. Thursday, September 14 at St. Jerome Church. The visitation will be from 5 to 7 P.M. Thursday at the church. Schmidt & Bartelt Notbohm-Kreutzmann Funeral Home is in charge of Oconomowoc arrangements. A prayer service will be held at 11 A.M. Saturday, September 16, at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca, Kansas. The burial will be in Sts. Peter & PaulCemeteryat Seneca.
Memorials may be given for the Sts. Peter & Paul School Endowment Fund, St. Jerome Endowment Fund, or Oconomowoc Regional Cancer Center, and sent in care of the family.
Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca is in charge of Seneca arrangements.
Vincent H. Tangeman
Vincent H. Tangeman, 84, Centralia, KS, died early Saturday, February 21, 2004, at the Onaga Hospital, Onaga, KS.
He was born December 5, 1919, on a farm northwest of St. Benedict, the son of Henry and Agnes Bockenstette Tangeman. He grew up there, attended Bellview School, and helped on the family farm. In 1940 he went to Kansas City where he attended a school for airplane mechanics for two years. In April 1942 he joined the U.S. Navy and became a radio operator on a blimp. His blimp (shown below) patrolled the coastal waters from the northeastern U.S. to Cuba looking for German submarines.
In December of 1945 he was discharged and returned to St. Benedict. After farming with his brother for a year, he bought his present farm southwest of Centralia.
He married
to Angela Reinecke on April 15, 1947, at Sacred Heart Church at Baileyville. They farmed and raised cattle. Their son, Phil, also farms with them. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1997.
He was a member of Sacred Heart Church at Baileyville, the Knights of Columbus for over 50 years, the National Farmers Organization, and the Kansas Organic Producers. He also served on the Home Township Board for several years.
Survivors besides his wife Angela are a son, Philip, of the home; two brothers, Leo and Wilfred, both of Seneca; a sister, Johanna Wichman, Richmond, KS; and a grandson.
He was preceded in death by a daughter, Marilyn Bowder, on December 26, 1985; three brothers, Clarence, as an infant, Albert, and Lawrence; and two sisters, Ethel Wichman and Rose Burdick.
Rosaries will be prayed at 2 and 6:30 pm Wednesday at the funeral home. The mass of Christian burial will be at 11 am Thursday at Sacred Heart Church in Baileyville. The burial will be in the churchcemeterywith full military honors.
Memorials may be given for Sacred Heart Church orCemeteryor the Centralia EMT Association, and sent in care of the family.
