Obituaries

Richard “Dick” Bond (9/18/1935 – 7/23/2020)

Dick Bond, 84, of Overland Park, KS, died on July 23, 2020 of natural causes. He was born September 18, 1935 to Ivy and Florine Bond. He graduated from Shawnee Mission High School, KU and KU Law School. He married Sue Sedgwick in 1958 and they have two children, Amy Bond of Fairway, KS and Mark Bond of TN. He is also survived by his grandchildren Spencer Davis, John “Patrick” Sokoloff and Eden Sokoloff. He was an Eagle Scout and Order of the Arrow. At KU, he was President of his social fraternity, President of his honorary fraternity and a member of the All Student Council. In law school, he was President of the Student Bar Association and a member of the National Moot Court team. After law school, he practiced law in Mission, Kansas and became the first City Attorney of Overland Park. He became Chief of Staff for Congressman Robert Ellsworth for six years, Congressman Larry Winn, Jr. for 18 years and then Congresswoman Jan Meyers. Dick was appointed to the Kansas Senate in 1986 and then elected to three four year terms. He served as Senate President from 1997 until 2001. As President, he was the principal catalyst for the major Capital Restoration Project. He has served on numerous corporate boards including five bank boards, the most recent being Bank of Blue Valley and two boards for Midwest Trust Company. His interest in education included 5 years on the Kansas Board of Regents and served one year as chair. He served many years on the KU Edwards Campus Advisory Board and as its chair. He was the originator of the Education Research Triangle that has raised millions for KU Cancer Research, KU Edwards Campus and K-State Olathe Campus. He served on a KU Chancellor Search Committee and a Vice-Chancellor Search Committee. From KU Law School, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award and the James Woods Green Medallion. From the KU Alumni Association, he was awarded the Fred Ellsworth Medallion. He was also awarded KU’s highest award, the Distinguished Service Citation and from KU Endowment Association named an Honorary Life Trustee. On the Johnson College Community Foundation, he served as its chair and received numerous awards including Johnson Countain of the Year. He was the founder of the Some Enchanted Evening annual fundraiser for students’ scholarships. Dick served KVC for many years in their capital fundraising, raising over 10 million dollars. He was President of Kansas City, KS. Rotary and a member of Overland Park Rotary and a Paul Harris Fellow. He was a Board Member of KCPT, Shawnee Mission Hospital Foundation and received the Richard Edmonds award. He was also a Board Member of the Overland Park Chamber, KU Medical Center Advancement Board, Youth Friends, Kansas Action for Children, United Way, United Community Services, Safehome, KU Gold Medal Club, YMCA, Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, KU Law Society Chair and many others. He was also a member of the Kansas Bar Association and the Johnson County Bar Association where he received their highest award, the Justinian Award. Dick was a long time active member of Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church as a trustee, choir member, ordained elder and served on many committees. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church 9300 Nall Ave., Overland Park, KS 66207. Or, his last fundraising effort was to benefit the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center at 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Mail Stop 3012, KC, KS 66160. Online contributions may be made at www.kuendowment.org/give. Please indicate donations are for the Dick Bond Memorial. Services are pending. Online condolences may be expressed at www.amosfamily.com (Arr. Amos Family Funeral Home 10901 Johnson Dr., Shawnee, KS 66203; 913-631-5566) (Ed. note: It was my privilege to serve on Dick Bond’s staff when he was President of the Kansas Senate. He was the consummate professional, the ultimate gentleman. He was always class personified. The world is reduced by his departure from it. Rest in peace, sir. You are missed. pVs)

George William “Bill” Frick (6/7/1944 – 7/5/2020)

George William “Bill” Frick passed away on July 5 in Palm Desert, CA. He was born in Ft. Scott, KS, on June 7, 1944, to Ethel and Phillip Frick (KU L ’36). According to family lore, Phil took one look at his newborn son and left for World War II. Bill grew up in Ft. Scott, attended public schools and graduated valedictorian of his class. He attended the University of Kansas, joined Phi Delta Theta fraternity, served as President of the Student Union Activities and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and With Distinction. He began law school at the University of Michigan, but he returned to Kansas to marry Helen Louise Bush whom he met on the University of Kansas summer language program in Spain.

Bill completed law school at KU, was on Law Review, and upon graduation, moved to Kansas City where he joined the Dietrich Davis law firm. There his daughter, Caroline Jane Frick, was born. Bill had been active in a local environmental organization and decided to relocate to greater Washington to join the newly formed Environmental Protection Agency. Bill served as head of the water lawyers, then air lawyers and was appointed General Counsel of the Agency at age 30. His son, Charles William Frick was born in Maryland. Upon leaving EPA, Bill joined the startup law firm of Van Ness Feldman.

After a decade in the Washington area, the family returned

to Kansas City to be closer to family and longtime friends and for Bill to become a partner in the law firm Lathrop Koontz. After three years in Kansas City, Bill was recruited back to Washington to serve as General Counsel of the American Petroleum Institute. Upon retirement from API, Bill rejoined his friends at the Van Ness Feldman law firm. He retired to travel extensively internationally with Helen Louise, who was employed by the World Bank Group. They summered in their mountain home near Estes Park, CO where Bill served as President of the Summer Residents Association, and spent their last several winters in Palm Desert, CA.

Bill is survived by his wife of 53 years, Helen Louise; his daughter Caroline (Adam Brown) and grandson Will Page; his son Charles William (Bethany Medford Frick) and his grandchildren, Katie and Charlie; his sister Christie Reynolds and brother, Phillip Frick of Wichita, KS, and 10 nephews and nieces. A memorial service will be held at a later date but in lieu of flowers, the family suggests a contribution in his name to one of his favorite organizations: The University of Kansas Endowment in support of Study Abroad (P.O. Box 928, Lawrence, KS 66044); his daughter’s nonprofit, the Texas Archive of the Moving Image (www.texasarchive.org / 3908 Avenue B, Suite 306, Austin, TX 78751) or the Estes Park Public Library (https://estesvalleylibrary.org / PO Box 1687, 335 East Elkhorn Avenue, Estes Park, CO 80517).

John M. Gaffney Jr. (3/1/1940 – 7/6/2020)

John M. Gaffney Jr. was born March 1, 1940 to John M. Gaffney and Mary Louise (Woestemeyer) Gaffney in Kansas City, Kansas. John graduated from Washington High School in Kansas City, Kansas in May 1958. On September 14, 1963, John and Barbara Ann Middaugh were united in marriage in Lawrence, Kansas. To this union, two children were born, a daughter, Jonna, and a son, Johnny.

John attended the University of Kansas, completing a Bachelor’s Degree in education, attending graduate school, and later receiving a Juris Doctor. After becoming a lawyer in 1979, John and his family moved to Anthony, Kansas where he joined Ronald D. Albright in the practice of law. John retired in the summer of 2016.

John was a member of the Anthony Kiwanis Club, The Harper County Bar Association, the Kansas Bar Association, and the Kansas Honor Scholars program.

On July 6, 2020, John passed away at home. He was preceded in death by his parents, his older sister Faye Wood, and his grandson Gabriel Gaffney. He is survived by his wife Barbara, his daughter Jonna, his son Johnny, his granddaughter Mackenzie, and his grandson Jack.

Cremation and burial have taken place. Memorials in memory of John may be made to Wounded Warrior Project or Habitat for Humanity’s Veterans Build and may be sent in care of Prairie Rose Funeral Home, 602 E. Main St., Anthony, KS 67003.

Hon. Fred Schuyler Jackson (8/5/1935 – 8/1/2020)

Judge Fred Schuyler Jackson passed away Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020, after a long illness.

He was born Aug. 5, 1935, to Schuyler Wood Jackson and Esther Watson Jackson of Topeka. He graduated from Topeka High School, where he began dating Mary Jo McNair. They married on Aug. 17, 1957, following their graduations from Washburn University. He then attended Washburn University School of Law, graduating with his juris doctorate in 1960.

He began his career as an assistant county attorney for Shawnee County. He joined the law firm of Stumbo & Irwin before establishing his own law practice. From 1966 to 1968, he served as a U.S. Commissioner (now known as Magistrate), appointed by U.S. District Court Judge George Templar.

During his 20 years of private law practice, he also served as an adjunct professor in the Washburn School of Law, where he taught negotiation and settlement.

He was sworn in as a judge of the Shawnee County District Court on Aug. 18, 1980. During his years on the bench, Judge Jackson presided over numerous high-profile civil and criminal cases. When he announced his retirement, The Topeka Capital-Journal editorial board commended Judge Jackson as “a rock-solid jurist. He is, in short, a judge’s judge.”

A scholar and a gentleman, Judge Jackson demanded decorum in his courtroom. When necessary, he could convey his indignation with a few measured words or a steely glance. The Capital-Journal editors wrote, “If every judge had Jackson’s sense and legal acumen, the state never would have passed sentencing guidelines that remove a lot of a judge’s discretion in criminal cases. But not every judge is Fred Jackson.”

Judge Jackson retired in 1999 but continued to serve as a senior judge until 2011. For the Kansas Supreme Court, he served as one of three judges on the Kansas Judicial Ethics Advisory Panel from 1999 to 2019.

He was a member of the Topeka Bar Association, Lawyers Club, the Kansas Bar Association and the American Bar Association. For more than 40 years, he also belonged to The Jayhawker Club, which was founded in the early 1900s as a men’s literary group.

Judge Jackson was a voracious reader and an avid outdoorsman. He enjoyed countless hunting and fishing trips with dear friends and his son, Kent. The opening weekends of pheasant and duck seasons were high holy days, and he especially loved trout fishing in Colorado.

He was a longtime member of the Topeka Jazz Workshop and St. David’s Episcopal Church, where he was a lay reader and served several terms on the Vestry.

Judge Jackson was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Patricia Jackson Hanvey. He is survived by his wife, Jo; his daughter, Jennifer Jackson Sanner, and her husband, Robert; his son, Kent, and his wife, Kali; six grandchildren, Rachel Sanner, Jackson Sanner, Claire Sanner, Schuyler Jackson, Elizabeth Jackson and Paul Jackson; his niece, Katy Hanvey Willard, of Spokane, Washington, and his nephew, Michael Hanvey, of Sydney, Australia.

The family extends heartfelt thanks to the entire staff of Homestead of Topeka who provided extraordinary care for Judge Jackson. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to St. David’s Episcopal Church. Family members will gather for a private graveside service; they hope to hold a memorial service at St. David’s when it is safe for loved ones and friends to gather.

To leave a special message for the family online, visit www. DoveTopeka.com Judge Fred Schuyler Jackson

Albert “Bert” Merritt Ross (11/20/1923 – 6/3/2020)

Albert Merritt (Bert) Ross, age 96, Mission, KS, passed away June 3, 2020, at home in Mission Square Independent Living, Mission, KS. A graveside service was held Sat., June 13, at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, 701 N. 94th St., KCKS 66112. The service was also available for those unable to attend in person via Facebook live, a virtual memorial service. The Family suggests remembrance gifts to Shriners’ Children’s Hospitals, care of Abdallah Shrine, 5300 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS, or to Southminster Presbyterian Church, 6306 Roe Avenue, Prairie Village, KS 66208.

Albert was born at home in Kansas City, KS on November 20, 1923, to Albert Mettee Ross and Marion Birch Damrell Ross. After graduating from Wyandotte High School Class of 1942 and a year at Kansas City, KS, Community College, he left this area in 1943 for training in the Navy V-12 program at Washburn University, Topeka, KS; then a semester at Harvard School of Business becoming a Naval Supply Officer. He served in the Pacific on a Barracks Ship [APL] that transported Soldiers and Marines to the Marshall Islands, flying home from Kwajalein in 1946. He enrolled in Washburn University that fall, graduating with a Business degree in 1947 and with a Law Degree in 1949, having become a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity in 1943 serving as President in the fall of 1948. He was also a member of Delta Theta Phi Legal Fraternity. Albert Merritt Ross and Ora “Gretta” (Nuttle) were married in Topeka on December 18, 1948.

Mr. Ross practiced law in Kansas City and Overland Park, KS. July 5th 1949 to retirement on December 31 1995. From 1953-55 he served as the Workers Compensation Judge of Northeastern Kansas and then 1955-56 he was the Workers Compensation Commissioner of Kansas. He had served on the Kansas Governor’s Workers Compensation Advisory Committee.

He was past president of the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, Sunflower Council of Camp Fire Girls, Lenexa Optimist Club, several Shrine organizations and 1984 through 1991, Recorder of Abdallah Shriners.

He served on the boards of the Kansas City Presbyterian Manor, The Presbyterian Manors of Mid America, the Church Development Corporation of the Synod of Mid America, was an Elder and former Deacon of the First Presbyterian Church of Kansas City KS, Knox Presbyterian Church of Overland Park, and Southminster Presbyterian Church of Prairie Village. When a youth he attended the first National Boy Scouts Camp held in Washington, DC, traveling with Scouts from all parts of the USA on Railroads. As an Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 189, Countryside Christian Church, he saw his son become an Eagle Scout.

His memberships included Wyandotte High School class of 1942 Reunion Committee, a member of Wyandotte Masonic Lodge No. 3, Casswell Consistory of Scottish Rite, The Oriental Band of Abdallah Temple and a former member of Yorkrite Masons and Shriners Royal Order of Jesters; he served the Oriental Band and the Jesters as President.

Albert was preceded in death by his parents, his stepmother Betty Jones Ross, his brother Robert “Bob” Marion Ross, and Bob’s son Robert Marion Ross, Jr. He leaves his wife of 71+ years, four children: Harriett “Hatti” Ross of the home in Mission Square; Gretchen Ross Hill, PhD., Warrensburg, MO; Nava Ross Renaud (Chris) of Redford Township, MI; and Dr. Albert Marshall Ross, IV (Kathy) of East Greenwich, RI, eleven grandchildren, and fourteen great grandchildren.

Allen L. Shelton (8/8/1943 – 8/23/2020)

Allen L. Shelton, 77, of Oberlin, Kansas, died August 23, 2020, at the University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. He was born August 8, 1943 at his Grandmother Desbien’s home in Damar, Kansas to James Milford and Stella Irene (Desbien) Shelton. He was their oldest child with brothers Denis, Jim, Rodney, and Maurice arriving to complete the family. Allen grew up in Hill City where he attended grade, junior high and high school, graduating in the Hill City High School Class of 1961.

Allen graduated from Fort Hays State College in 1965 and then entered Washburn University School of Law in Topeka. Interestingly, his last two years of classes were spent in trailers after the June 8, 1966 Topeka tornado demolished the law school. In 1968 he received his Juris Doctor degree from

Washburn University, where he ranked fourth in his class. Returning to his hometown, he joined Kenneth Clark’s law firm. After Allen became a partner the firm was known as Clark and Shelton. A high point in his career was when he was hired as a special prosecutor in two high-profile murder cases in the 1970’s. Through the years he won many appeals before the Kansas Supreme Court. Later Allen practiced law in both Oberlin and Smith Center. Allen was very passionate about his work and helped an unfathomable number of people through his practice. He was devoted to his clients and was “at home” in the courtroom. Allen practiced law until his death, a career which lasted 51 years.

Leisure time found Allen enjoying hunting, fishing, reading, listening to music, watching old westerns and Fox News. Photography was another interest. He found much pleasure hiking in pastures photographing wildflowers, which he later researched. Allen was such an avid KU basketball fan and enjoyed watching all types of sports on ESPN. He always looked forward to taking his oldest grandson to the local high school basketball games. Allen’s love of learning and intelligence, which enabled him to answer his children’s many questions, as well as his sense of humor, were appreciated by them. Most of all, Allen loved spending time with his grandkids who meant everything to him. They gave his life meaning.

Allen was preceded in death by his parents. Survivors include his children: Jason Shelton, Wichita, Jordan Shelton, Portland, Oregon and Miranda (Tim) Gish, Oberlin; Stepchildren: Monica Larson, Carl (Des) Larson, Marissa (Kane) Robinson and Colby (Anna) Larson; ex-wives Kay Clark, Wichita and Marla (Stepp) Shelton, Oberlin; brothers: Denis Shelton, Hill City, Jim Shelton, Hays, Rodney Shelton, Haviland, and Maurice (Nancy) Shelton, Buffalo; nine grandchildren, other relatives and friends. Hill City always had a special place in Allen’s heart. He delighted in returning as often as possible to visit family and friends who will forever remember and miss him.

Patricia Ann “Patti” Slider (N/A - 6/30/2020)

Patricia Ann “Patti” Slider, (73), died June 30 , 2020. She was born to Charles and Beulah Slider of Lyons, Kansas. Her parents, church, and Girl Scouting were major influences on her life, as was high school teacher Elizabeth Ashlock, who helped her overcome a speech impediment and encouraged her writing. She graduated from Lyons High School, Baker University, and Central Baptist Theological Seminary (MDIV), Shawnee Mission, KS. She also attended the University of Kansas, where she received several extra-curricula honors, and St Paul School of Theology, KC, MO. She married Paul Klotz and two sons were born to them: Andrew and Charles. In 1984, she married James Wright.

One year, Patti worked in Estes Park and Aspen, Colorado, and Los Angeles, California. In Topeka, she was the Adult Program Director for the YWCA, then when her sons were young she was a preschool teacher at the YMCA and First Lutheran Church. She worked for Kaw Valley Girl Scout Council, the Kansas Bar Association, and Washburn Law School, writing and editing publications and raising funds. While working full time, she began taking evening seminary classes in Kansas City graduating May 18, 2002, and ordained by First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Topeka, May 19, 2002. She served as a student associate pastor at First Christian Church, Topeka. She was the interim pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Holton, at West Side Presbyterian Church, Lawrence, interim associate pastor at First Presbyterian, Lawrence, and interim pastor at First Presbyterian, Wamego, and pastor at Oakland Presbyterian Church, Topeka. She served on several community boards and held offices in professional organizations including on national committees of ASAE, and was a charter member and second president of IABC, Topeka. She was a member of PEO, DV chapter, Topeka.

She was baptized Palm Sunday, 1958, at First Christian Church, Lyons, Kansas, and was a member of First Christian Church, Topeka.

Patti loved and adored her husband Jim, sons, and grandchildren, and they blessed her with great joy. She took pleasure in cooking for them, hiking and exploring nature and the national parks. She looked after several family members. She was given a 1937 Singer Featherweight Sewing Machine when 13, and for the next 15 years or so she sewed most of the clothes for her sister and herself. She worked two summers as a finisher in the men’s tailor shop of Henry’s, Wichita.

Her passion was words, whether reading, or writing to proclaim God’s love so more would sing “morning by morning new mercies we see” and praise the Lord. She enjoyed flowers and gardening particularly roses and red geraniums in blueglazed pots.

She is survived by son Andrew Klotz (Rene’), and their children Lucy and Conrad, and son Charles Klotz; sister Sandra Slider, and sister-in-law Robin and nephews Dustin and Matthew. She was predeceased by her husband of 33 years, Jim Wright (2017), two brothers William (2017), and Michael (2020), her parents, and step-dad Ansel Tobias. She was buried in the Lyons Cemetery; the family will gather for a worship service of Witness to the Resurrection when feasible.