Stories from Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Viola Ann McClanahan, age 44, resident of Fort Scott, Kan., died Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013, at Mercy Hospital, Joplin, Mo. She was born March 7, 1969 in Springdale, Ark., the daughter of William Alex Parsons and Mary Elizabeth King Parsons. Survivors include her mother, Mary Parsons and a brother Ronald Parson, both of Fort Scott. There was cremation under the direction of Cheney Witt Chapel. No service is planned at this time...

George Hurd, 76, died Wednesday Aug. 28, 2013, at his Newton residence. He was born Oct. 2, 1936 in Fort Scott, Kan. Funeral Mass will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Newton, Kan., with the Reverend Jim Mainzer presiding. Recitation of the Holy Rosary will be 6:30 p.m. Tuesday evening at Petersen Funeral Home Chapel. Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday evening with the family receiving friends until 8:30 p.m. following the Rosary...

Gregory Wayne Hembree, age 51, resident of Fort Scott and formerly of Overland Park, Kan., died unexpectedly Monday morning, Sept. 2, 2013. He was born Sept. 3, 1961, in Fort Scott, the son of Jack and Joan Tredway Hembree. He graduated from Fort Scott High School with the class of 1980. ...

Earnest M. Lord, age 88, of Bronson, Kan., passed away on Aug. 31, 2013, at his home. He went to join his wife of 62 years. He was born Nov. 27, 1924 near Avard, Okla., the son of Ralph Earnest and Mary Donetta (McKinley) Lord. Earnest grew up in Woods County, Okla., but in 1942, his family moved to Oceanside, Calif., and graduated high school there...

Margaret Elizabeth Neden, age 83, a former resident of Fort Scott, and more recently of Forsyth, Mo., died early Friday, Aug. 30, 2013, at her home following a cancer illness. She was born Dec. 29, 1929, in Kansas City, Mo., the daughter of Clarence Eugene Cowen and Helen Jane Carrier Cowen. ...

Robert Earl Bruce, Jr., 55 of Fort Scott, died Friday afternoon, Aug. 30, 2013, at Mercy Hospital. He was born Feb. 26, 1958 in Geneva, Ill., the son of Robert Earl and Virginia Carol McCraigh Bruce. He married Sherry Kay Latino on Nov. 21, 1980, in Fort Scott, she survives of the home...

Flora Mae Shirley, age 83, resident of Fort Scott, Kan., died Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013, at her home. She was born Sept. 27, 1929 in Fort Scott, the daughter of Ralph Marion Snow and Florence Redden Snow. Flora was a graduate of both Fort Scott High School and Fort Scott Community College. ...

When Frank Halsey began making his bike trail at Gunn Park in August 2009, he did a lot of daydreaming during the manual labor that the trail blazing took. "Three years ago I envisioned this," Halsey said just after the runners left the start line at the first Frontier Fanatic Trail Race on Saturday at Gunn Park...

Help is needed to ensure that the nearly 7,000 flags posted on the Fort Scott National Historic Site parade grounds remain safe during the week they will be displayed for the Symbols of Sacrifice event. The flags will be set on Thursday by several youth volunteers, according to Jim Scott, member of Friends of the Fort. Each flag represents an individual who lost their lives in the Middle East during the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan...

Symbols of Sacrifice, scheduled to kick off Saturday and run through Sept. 14 in recognition of those who have died in the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, is shaping up as organizer Anne Emerson had hoped. "I was hoping it would be very large," Emerson said. ...

PLEASANTON -- Uniontown's volleyball team finished second here Saturday in the season-opening Three Rivers League Tournament. The Eagles, 30-11 last season, won their first four matches before losing to Jayhawk-Linn in the finals. "I was very pleased with our performance in the tournament," Uniontown head coach Jackie Hall said. ...

TYLER, Texas -- Were it not for miscues and penalties, Fort Scott Community College's football game here against Tyler Saturday night could have been at the least more competitive. But the Greyhounds committed penalties that gave the Apaches' offense reprieves and robbed their own offense of at least two touchdowns. And they scored on just two of five opportunities when they had the ball inside Tyler's 10-yard line, one of those scores coming after the hosts had the game well in hand...