DOWN TOWN DINER OF PARADISE

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A note from Onnalee . . .
I was so shocked to see that the "Downtown Diner of Paradise prepared and served the fine food for everyone to enjoy" for Duane & Donnie's Anniversary Celebration. So I asked Duane about it, after I posted it. I mentioned to him that we certainly need to do a story about the "Downtown Diner of Paradise.
•

This was his reply . . .
"Ron and Betty Mead of Paradise operate a catering service. They call the catering, 'Down Town Diner'. Their specialty is Barbecued Hog. At our 50th they barbecued a hog and also served corn, green beans, sauerkraut, potatoes and gravy. When our daughter was married in 2007 we had the Meads barbecue two hogs. It was a big success motivating us to get them for our 50th. A few years ago they operated the cafe in Paradise and I think they still own the building. A story about them seems like a good idea. Duane"
•
I would love to do a story on them. All information is welcome.

DUANE & DONNIE MILLER - 50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Duane and Donnie Miller

were married June 11, 1960

at the

Trinity United Methodist Church

in

Russell, Kansas

•

Their Wedding Anniversary

Celebration/Party

was at the

AmericInn

Russell, KS

June 5, 2010

•

Duane & Donnie began their marriage in Russell. After living in Topeka, Ks, Arkansas City, Ks, Owasso, Michigan and Opelousas, Louisiana, they retired and moved to Russell in 2002.

Duane & Donnie

wishes to express their

Thanks & Appreciation

to their children

Dru & Micah

for making all the arrangements

for such a wonderful celebration.
•

•

Also to the Downtown Diner of Paradise

for preparing and serving the fine food for everyone to enjoy.

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From left to right . . . .
Standing -
Ryan Becker (son-in-law),
Dru Miller (Son)
Seated -
Micah Becker (daughter),
Duane holding Riley Becker,
Donnie holding Jenessa Miller,
Jenna Miller (daughter-in-law).
Front row -
Christian Miller, Conner Miller


Duane and Donnie with their Grandchildren
Christian Miller, Riley Becker,
Conner Miller, Jenessa Miller

Ryan & Micah Becker live at
Millberger, Ks.
Dru & Jenna Miller live at
Gorham, KS

Congratulations Duane & Donnie
and
Thank You for the wonderful photos of
your wedding and of your beautiful family.

A NOTE FROM ARLIN CHESNEY

I sent an email to Arlin regarding the Memorial which I put below for Merlin "Mac".

He responded . . . . .

"Thank you, Onnalee, for sending the link to the blog with the obituary.
•
I didn't go to Alaska, but I talked to Mac by phone for about 45 minutes on Sunday afternoon.
He was always my best friend in the world and it was hard to say "good by".
•
•

Joann and I are planning to be at the Paradise reunion. Hope to see you and Millard there.
I hadn't looked at the blog for awhile, but always enjoy the forwards I get from Millard.
Hope you are all well.

Looking forward to reunion.
Arlin"

He then sent another email . . . .

"I did see Will's recollections on the blog. That was a treat. Haven't seen Will since we attended their church in Hays following the last reunion we attended 4 (or was it 6?) years ago. Time gets away and memory doesn't improve!

Thank you for all your work and the wonderful memories you keep alive for all of us.

Arlin"

We will be looking forward to seeing you and Joann too, Arlin.
God Bless You during this time of loss of your brother and your friend.

IN MEMORY OF MERLIN ARTHUR CHESNEY • • • • CLASS OF 1956

†

Merlin Arthur "Mac" Chesney
Peninsula Clarion

(Paradise High Class of 1956)

Longtime Alaskan and Kasilof resident Merlin Arthur "Mac" Chesney, 72, died Tuesday, June 8, 2010, surrounded by his family at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna.

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Friday, June 11, at Soldotna Church of the Nazarene.

Burial was at Spruce Grove Memorial Park in Kasilof.
Pastor Bruce Hardesty officiated.

Mr. Chesney was born Feb. 26, 1938, in Luray, Kansas to Arthur F. and Elsie Earleen (Woodyard) Chesney. He graduated from Paradise High School in Paradise, Kansas. He then attended Kansas State University in Hays, Kansas. and Bethany Nazarene College in Bethany, Okla. He served in the U.S. Army from 1962 until his honorable discharge in 1965.

Merlin married Joyce Thompson on Aug. 31, 1975, in Soldotna. He established Mac Chesney Construction, building custom homes. He was also the Kenai Peninsula foreman of a construction crew on projects throughout Alaska.

He was a member of the Soldotna Church of the Nazarene.

"Mac will be remembered as a brilliant man. He was an inventor, engineer, Civil War buff, avid gardener and voracious reader. He was a devoted husband, a dedicated father, and grandfather to seven of the smartest and most adorable children in the world. He was a friend who stood ready to help with his work gloves and his tractor.

Mac's greatest legacy is his deep abiding faith in the person and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He lived his life with a confidence in God's word that inspired respect and admiration in all who knew him," his family said. "God clearly showed his favor on Mac by allowing him time for his family to gather, by granting two beautiful evenings of sharing and singing hymns together and by taking him peacefully when the time came."

Merlin was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Dean Chesney; and sister, Lily Chesney.

He is survived by his wife - Joyce Chesney of Kasilof;

daughters and sons-in-law - Joy and Brian Jones of Kasilof and Jewel and Jason Alvis of Seoul, South Korea;

sons and daughter-in-law - Edward and Emily Chesney of Gresham, Ore. and David Chesney of Kasilof;

brother - Arlin Chesney of Brownsville, Tenn.;

grandchildren - Macayla and Brenden Jones, Eli, Denali and Isaac Alvis, and Elly and Evan Chesney.

Arrangements were by Peninsula Memorial Chapel.

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Note from Onnalee . . . .

What a beautiful obituary for Merlin. We saw Merlin in 2006 at the Paradise reunion and visited with him. Of course he didn't brag on his ambitions and his life, but what a legacy he left for his family and for the people that knew him so well. Another example of how proud we are that we knew him and several of you grew up with him and attended school with him.

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The above photo of Merlin was taken at the 2006 Paradise reunion.

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For us in Kansas . . . There is Kansas State University and then there is Fort Hays State University. Since the obituary mentions Hays, Kansas - I am thinking it might mean Fort Hays State University. I left it as it was in the obituary.

•

I just now received an email from a Will Haworth, a former pastor in Elkhart. I had emailed him to read about Merlin on the blog. He and Arlin were roommates at Bethany Nazarene College.

He wrote . . . .

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"I had received a phone call from Diana Robbins Blosser to tell me of Merlin's death.
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Merlin was a great worker there in the Church... He had a plan or could figure it out... I have heard Bob Robbins tell about how he could put things back together and make them work.
I know one time we had a '60 Comet and the manual transmission went out... he took it apart and laid it out on the floor of our apartment in Bethany... fixed whatever the problem was and put it back together and it ran great till we got rid of the car.
He was a great guy."

With our Mission at heart,
Will & Diana Haworth
Eastridge Church of the Nazarene
800 S. Woodlawn
Wichita, KS 67207)

Another story concerning Will Haworth/Chesney's/Elkhart . . . .
from Onnalee . .
While we were in Elkhart, I had a Community Interdenominational Youth Choir ("Gospel Express Youth Choir"). I had practices in the Church of the Nazarene and also gave piano, organ and vocal lessons there. I would use the printer at the church which was in the Pastor's Study. I was getting ready for a voice lesson and had ran down stairs to make a copy of some music for a student. I hurriedly went back up stairs for the student's lesson. When I was finished for the day, I went back to the Pastor's Study to get some music ready for Youth Choir and make sure I left everything in place. I walked in and Pastor Will Haworth was in there. I said Hi and asked him how he was and he said he was speechless. There on his desk was some music that had Dean Chesney's name on it. (Yes, that was what I had just made a copy from.) He was so shocked and said he couldn't figure out how that would get in his office. I could tell that he couldn't hardly talk, so I asked him why that was a puzzle and what the connection was. He then told me that he was Dean Chesney's brother's roommate at Bethany and that he just couldn't figure out what was going on. Well, the story . . . Dean was my student in Paradise and I had written his name on some of my music for a contest.
Then . . . Will told me about Arlin and him being roommates. He had several interesting stories, but needless to say they were very good friends and had a lot of experiences and fun. I guess the guys did their own cooking. When they bought their groceries they split the cost evenly. When they ate the food that they had cooked - duties evenly distributed - they would divide everything in half. So much in half - when they had peas, they counted each pea so they would make sure they got the same amount. Everything they did seemed to be such a game. They certainly shared in a lot of joy and made many memories and always enjoyed havin Merlin there from time to time.

COMMENT ON AL STRECKER'S MEMORIAL AND NOTES ABOUT GARNETT'S FAREWELL

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The blog received a comment today for Al Strecker's Memorial post from his first roommate at K-State, Robert Fenn.
Al's Memorial was posted Dec. 4, 2008, but you can click on the comment on the left hand side of this front page by scrolling down to Recent Comments.
Thank You Robert, for the nice Comments in memory of our great friend, Al. We appreciate you taking the time to write your thoughtful words honoring him.
You had to read a lot of postings to see Al's Memorial.

I received another Comment from Robert Fenn this morning for the "Notes about Garnett's Farewell". You will enjoy this.
•
I must have clicked on the Comment twice when I was accepting it. Sorry about the repition of his Comment, but I haven't learned how to delete a Comment. On the blogger help comments it says, "Once you have a Comment on your blog, you can not delete it." Hmmm!
Ah Ha! I deleted it, but I don't like the way it shows up in the Comments. OK - The Comment that was deleted by the Adminisrator was the same as the next Comment. So you are not missing out on something! Sorry about the confusion. The confusion is probably me trying to explain it. :)

1959 & 1960 PARADISE CLASSES

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1st and 2nd Grades•

Front row
Douglas Roda, Linda Hoopes Beisner, Iva Lauglin, Diane Miller,
Judy Benedick, Carol Webster, Sharon Dwinelle, Angela Krob,
Harold Thacker, Arlin Chesney


Back row
Dennis Albrecht, John Boedecker , Carol Steilow, Elaine Brown ,
Sue Pfortmiller, Neva Bartlett, Lois Rounkles, Amy Thacker,
Rose Mary Bashor,  Ronald Thompson
Miss Virgina Robertson Teacher

The one sitting on the ledge is possibly Alice Pfortmiller.

Notes about Garnett's Farewell

I know that each of the viewers of this blog appreciate the impact that the Angel family has had on each of us.
Garnett and her family are certainly deserving of this acknowledgement for her, and their contributions to the Paradise Community. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing their memories of her farewell on this blog."


Thank You Garnett and Thank You for the Memories!

I received these two email's from family members.
Thank You for being so thoughtful!

"Great job, on the blog, Onnalee! Thank you so much for spending the time and energy to make the update. We had such a wonderful weekend and enjoy viewing out "memories" online!

Thank you for all you do. I will continue to follow Paradise news!

Stasha White Case
(Forrest White's daughter)"

♥ • ♥ ♦ ♥ • ♥

"Thanks for all you've contributed to the Garnett Angel blog,
I'm so sorry I couldn't be present--just old age!!!!!
I miss all my time in Paradise, KS!!!! All the loved ones there!!!!!!

Violet White Parsons----now in Overland Park, KS"

•

I also would like to add . . .

Although Garnett's posting was quite long and had many photos, Janette was very delightful to work with. She was never demanding and was always appreciative of everything I did.

I had a discussion with one of our friends from Paradise this past week . . .

he said that her middle name could be "Pictures."

I thought her middle name could possibly be "Gabby."

Then, we concluded . . . "Chatterbox" might be the most appropriate.

I truly appreciate Janette and I have many Thank You's from her.

Too many to post but I have saved them.

In my first year of teaching, Janette and her classmates were only 4 years younger than I. I could have been very imtimidated by them - but they (plus the other students at Paradise) made my first year very enjoyable, exciting and quite a learning experience. I will always remember them for their loyalty and respect to me as their teacher. That is probably one of the biggest reasons why I enjoy doing this blog so much.

OUR ANGEL LEFT PARADISE

Paradise United Methodist Church and Community
extends Farewell to
GARNETT ANGEL

Photo by Annie Ross (niece of Richard & Janette Ross)

Family member's attending the farewell celebration were:
•
Back row - left to right . . .
Bill & Stasha White Case, Olathe; Keith & Donna White & Korissa, Topeka; Janette & Richard Ross, Olathe; Brent & Melinda Angel Barby, Beaver, OK; Lynn & Gene Angel & Mason, Paradise.
•
Middle row - Paul & Trudy White Hurley & Lauryn, Shawnee; Shaley Jae White of Hays, KS (granddaughter of Vernon & Merilyn White); Jeff & Sara Hagerman Conner, Kyle, & Cameron (between his parents) of Olathe.
•
Front row - Frosty ( Forrest White) of Houston, TX; Merilyn White, Wichita; Garnett Angel, the honored guest, & Dr Vernon White, Wichita.

Written by Janette Angel Ross . . .

"A large crowd of people attended a farewell dinner at the Paradise United Methodist Church on Sunday, May 30th, 2010, to say good bye to a long time friend & neighbor! Garnett Angel has recently moved to Olathe to be near her family in that area. She was a resident of the Paradise community for more than 75 years!

Garnett was born Garnett White, in Great Divide, CO. At the age of 6, along with her parents, Charles & Ula White and 3 siblings, she moved with her family to Paradise. She attended all twelve years of school at Paradise, graduating with the Class of 1945. Garnett married the late John Angel ('41) on May 19, of that year. Their union was blessed with two children - Janette Angel Ross and her husband, Richard, of Olathe and Gene Angel and his wife, Lynn, west of Paradise.

Garnett has six grandchildren and one step-grandchild; 10 great-grandchildren and 2 step- great-grandchildren.
She also has one sister, Violet Parsons ('41) of Overland Park
and 3 brothers, Ivan White ('47) and wife, Joyce of Kimball, NE; Dr Vernon White (54) & Merilyn ('62) of Wichita; and Forrest White('56) & Sue of Houston, TX.
Her oldest brother, Dale White ('43) recently passed away. His wife, Doris, lives in Kimball, NE.

Garnett and John Angel owned and operated Post Insurance Inc where "Angels Provided Protection" for over 25 years. The agency sold in 1995 and was purchased by Dan and Mona Hoisington, who currently own and operate the business. Garnett continued to calculate income tax for several clients working in her son's office in Natoma, Gene Angel Tax
Accounting, until April 15 of this year.

She has been very active in United Methodist Women and is one of the charter building committee members of the Paradise United Methodist
church, which was built in 1957.

The afternoon was filled with greetings from different ones. The Paradise/Waldo pastor, Sharon Thomas, expressed how dearly she will miss Garnett every Sunday in church and her homemade cookies and coffee prepared each week for after church services and before Sunday classes. Her tireless work in the kitchen during Bible Schools; years
of teaching Sunday School classes and sponsoring the UMYF; working at the annual Church Bazaar and Dinner; holding many offices in the UMW.

The group of church members presented her with a beautiful cross necklace.

After the greetings a nice program of music was presented by her nieces and nephews, son, grandson, brothers and friends. Solos and duets by Trudy and Stasha and 10-year old great-niece, Lauryn Hurley, sang and accompanied herself on the piano. Shaley Jae White sang a beautiful medley of Amazing Grace; Mason Angel played several selections
on the piano; Gene, Vernon and Frosty sang a few selections from the Always Patsy Cline movie. Bobby Ross, Nashville, TX dedicated a song to Garnett and sang the Roy Orbison hit, "Pretty Woman"!

As one of the guests at the program commented "We had such a wonderful time and were just amazed at the musical talent. Who would have guessed that so much talent could be assembled in one place in a small town on a Sunday afternoon! We were so happy to be in attendance!"

Among many guests surprising Garnett that day was a dear friend, Dick Woodall of Wakeeney; her attorney and his wife, Pete & Rita Peterson, Salina! The Ross's (Richard's family), Chris & Kelly of Oklahoma City, OK; Joe and Carol of Abilene; Bob Ross of Nashville; Harlan, Kim and family, Manhattan; Mary Catherine of Russell.

Many relatives from far and near surprised her and are shown and
named in the above photo.

Garnett thanked all her guests for coming, adding that she didn't feel that she deserved this much attention. She thought she would just quietly leave town. She extended a special invitation for all to go to Kansas City and visit in her new home in Olathe.

She also thanked the different ones which included special friends: Joyce Thompson, Brett and Bonnie Thompson; Kendall & Tammy
Schultze; Janice and Lowel Lund; Mollie and Eric Haberer; Dan & Mona Hoisington; Tom & Deb Maupin for helping with her move and organizing the dinner for this wonderful day!!
And others for coming, Ruth Bartlett, Russell and Leo and Loretta Baum, Hoisington.

She will hopefully be back in Paradise for the various events throughout the year; Church Dinner and Bazaar, Christmas and Mother's Day Programs."


4 generations

Janette, Richard, Kyle Jeffrey
(Richard is holding him)
Sara & Jeff, Conner (left),
Cameron (right), Garnett

Photo by Annie Ross

•
A special Thank You to Sara Hagerman and Annie Ross for taking the pictures. Sara took all the pictures that were not labeled as "Photo by Annie Ross.

Garnett's 2 children
and their spouses.

From left to right . . .
Richard & Janette Ross, Garnett, Mason Angel,
Lynn & Gene Angel

Photo by Sara Hagerman

← Garnett and her sister,
Violet Parsons.
(Violet was unable to attend the Farewell Celebration for Garnett because of health reasons. It was very hard for Violet that she was unable to attend, but the family understood and is very appreciative of Violet's support and well wishes for Garnett.)
•
•
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↑
Garnett with her brothers, Forrest White and Vernon White

← Garnett with her lawyer and his wife, Pete and Rita Peterson

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•

•

•

•

•

Garnett and a very good friend,

Dick Woodall

↓

← Vernon White, Gene Angel,
Forrest White
They are singing a Patsy Cline song to Garnett.
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•
•
•
•

Trudy Hurley, Lauryn Hurley

(Trudy's daughter),

Stasha Case →

Trudy and Stasha are Forrest White's

daughters.

They sang a song from the "Chipmunks

Christmas Song" - Perfect trio harmony

and just like the chipmunks sang it -

accent and all!

•

•

← Shaley Jae White

(Greg White's daughter. We had Greg's memorial on this blog last Aug.

Greg was the son of Vernon & Merilyn)

She sang an acapella medley of "Amazing Grace".

She will be a Junior in High School.

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•

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Stasha Case →

She is singing a Patsy Cline song.

Stasha and Trudy (in one of the above photos)

are professional singers in the Metro KC area.

Stasha has been in the "Forever Patsy Cline"

running in the Olathe Chestnut Theater for the

past 3 years. It is a two women show with Patsy

and Patsy's friend. Stasha plays Patsy's friend.

•

•

•

•

•

← Bobby Ross

(Richard's younger brother)

Bobby sang "Pretty Woman"

dedicating it to Garnett.

•

•

•

•

Mason Angel (Gene Angel's son)→
•

Janette says . . . .

"Ahhh! Mason Angel, my nephew!

What a piano talent! He is all over that keyboard and so effortlessly! (I personally checked out his fingers - just like mine, not any longer nor more slender but such dexterity he has.)"

•

Mason played several selections for his

Grandma Garnett.

← Another photo of Bobby Ross
singing "Pretty Woman" to
Garnett.

(I tried to replace this photo for the
one above, but blogs don't seem to let you delete a photo and put another one in it's place in the middle of a posting.
So . . . there are two photos of Bobby.) :)

↑

Lauryn Hurley
(Granddaughter of Forrest White)

Playing the piano and singing for her Great Aunt Garnett
•

Lauryn at the Riverview talent show - 2010
↓

http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#!/video/video.php?v=396739719234

Enjoying the Program

← Janette Ross and
Mona Hoisington

•

•

•


Lynn and Gene Angel →
Mary Catherine Ross
is between Lynn & Gene.

Mary Catherine is Janette's
mother-in-law.
Janette says . . . "Mary Catherine is the
sweetest mother-in-law there is."
Richard is one of 10 children and 5 of
his brothers & sisters attended Garnette's
Farewell Celebration. How remarkable!

↑

Mason Angel and his Mother, Lynn

enjoying a version of "Your Cheatin' Heart"

performed by Vernon, Gene and Forrest

•

← Garnett is surrounded by great nieces,

Korissa White and Lauryn Hurley.

By Lauryn is her Dad, Paul Hurley.

They are listening to Stasha Case sing selections from the stage version of "Always, patsy Cline."

(Korissa is a granddaughter of Vernon & Merilyn White. She is the daughter of Keith & Donna White.)

•

•

•

Garnett is Thanking everyone who came.

Great nieces, Shaley White and

Lauryn Hurley are on each side of her.

Her brother, Vernon White and

nephew, Bill Case have their back to the camera.

→

↓

Garnett

is enjoying listening to her grandson,

Mason Angel,
play some piano selections.
She is wearing the beautiful cross necklace

presented to her by the church members.
↓

Garnett's Grandchildren

←
Mason Angel

Jeff & Sara Hagerman

→

Great Grandchildren Celebrating with Grandma Garnett

•

Jeff and Sara Hagerman's 3 boys

↓

↑

Cameron Clark

← Conner John

Kyle Jeffery →

I'VE GOT A SECRET

"I've Got A Secret"

was part of the program for

Garnett's Farewell

•

In the summer of 1964 John & Garnett
appeared on the TV show
"I've Got A Secret"
It was aired in the fall of 1964 and rerun in 1965

•

This is their segment!

↓
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7sCYacfn-M

6

Brent and Melinda (Angel) Barby
• • • • • • • • • • • • • ↓
Melinda is the daughter of Richard & Laura Angel.

Melinda and her sister (Mary) and brother (Mark) spent the summer's with Garnett and John when they were younger. Since their Mother died when the children were small, Grandma Angel would help their Dad take care of them in Bartlesville and then they would come to Paradise for the summer.

•

•

•

They drove to the reunion from Beaver, Oklahoma where they have the "Barby Ranch".

After living in Elkhart, KS for 32 years, we know how far they had to drive for Garnett's Farewell.

And, yes . . . we have heard of the Barby Ranch.

I received an email from Dan Hoisington

after Garnett's Farewell Celebration

Dan mentioned that the Sunday Service was great!

He also said that the Angel and White families

performed many musical numbers

and all of them were very good.

And he added that Barbara Koelling's fried chicken

was a big hit at the dinner.

↑
Brent Barby & Richard Ross
(I think they look mischievous and knowing Richard, they are.)

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•
•
•





Left to right →
Forrest White, Dan Hoisington,
Janette (Angel) Ross, Sharon Thomas
(Minister of the United Methodist Church -Paradise/Waldo)

The end of a fantastic celebration for a lovely friend,

Garnett Angel

•
•
← Janette and "One" of her favorite uncles, Vernon White
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This is a busy time for Garnett's grandson, Jeff, and his family.
Jeff had to go to California this past week and will be there for 3 weeks for the Naval Seabee training camps.
•
•

Jeff will be back home in time to celebrate
Grandma Garnett's
birthday ▬ June 28th.

Garnett Angel

wishes to say

Thank You

to each of you that took the time to attend her
Farewell Celebration

and/or

to those that sent loving wishes to her at this time.

"We Love You, Garnett!"

•

At a time like this, I think it prompts us all to think

of the words we hear from time to time . . . .

•
•
"I would rather have one rose
and/or
a kind word from a friend or relative while I'm here,

than a whole truck load when I'm gone.

I know when you visit me now,

but I won't know when I am no longer here

and you at my funeral."

•

A special Thank You

to Garnett's relatives and friends

and to the

Paradise United Methodist Church

for making this a

Memorable Celebration for Garnett

•

She definitely knows what you have done for her at this time

and she will always appreciate your acts of kindness.

GRANDMA GARNETT ENJOYS AND IS VERY PROUD OF ALL OF HER GRANDCHILDREN

•

Garnett loves to support her grandchildren

and great grandchildren

in their activities

just as she did Janette & Gene.

↑

Garnett & Mason Angel on Graduation Day

•

← Mason was Valedictorian of his Class of 2010 at Natoma, Ks.

Mason received several awards and scholarships. These were presented at graduation.

•

•

•

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•

•

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Garnett also attended her great grandson's graduation -

Kindergarten Graduation.
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Conner John Hagerman and
Grandma Garnett

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Conner graduated from Kindergarten at

St Paul's Catholic Elementary School,

Olathe, KS.