OVERBROOK, Kan. – Jean Branson, 87, passed away May 20, 2020, at Brookside Retirement Community, Overbrook, Kan. She was born Jan. 11, 1933, in Battle Creek, Mich., the daughter of Edward Bassett and Lois (Robb) Bassett.

Jean grew up in Battle Creek, graduating from high school there in 1951. She then moved to the Topeka, Kan., area for work.

On Nov. 22, 1952, Jean was united in marriage to Delbert Branson, at Holton, Kan. They shared 53 years of loving marriage together until the death of Delbert in 2006.

Jean worked most of her life in many different roles at Brookside Retirement Community in Overbrook.

OSAGE CITY, Kan. – Sandra Lee Kerns, 77, passed away Friday, May 22, 2020, at her home near Osage City, Kan. She was born Sandra Lee Herring on April 12, 1943, in Ottawa, Kan., the daughter of Roy and Helen Hoyt Herring.

Sandra attended Williamsburg High School and graduated with the class of 1961. She would further her education at Kansas State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics.

LAWRENCE, Kan. Dennis L. Privat, 70, passed away Wednesday, May 20, 2020 at his home in Lawrence, Kan. Dennis Lynn Privat was born Aug. 6, 1949 in Emporia, Kan., the son of Glen and Erma (St. Clair) Privat.

He graduated from Osage City High School, Osage City, Kan., in 1967. He later got a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Emporia State University.

OVERBROOK, Kan. – Lavern Clark, 82, passed away on Thursday, May 21, 2020, at Brookside Retirement Community, Overbrook, Kan. She was born Aug. 15, 1937, in Trafford, Ala., the daughter of Oscar and Lena Mae Holloway Crawford.

Lavern grew up in Alabama and had lived in Lakeland, Fla., Williamsburg, Mo., and then Lyndon, Kan.

Lavern was a homemaker and seamstress, and had worked as a cook for the Osage County Jail for nearly 10 years. She was a member of TOPS and she enjoyed working in her vegetable and flower gardens.

LYNDON, Kan. – Arlo Bell, 91, passed away Thursday, May 21, 2020, at Osage Nursing Center, Osage City, Kan. He was born Nov. 9, 1928, near Lyndon, Kan., the son of Ralph and Lucille Warren Bell.

Arlo had lived most all of his life on the family farm west of Lyndon and he graduated from Lyndon High School.

Arlo was a farmer, but he had worked as a printer for more than 50 years. While a freshman in high school, he started to work for the Lyndon Herald, then worked for the Osage County Free Press, the Osage County Chronicle, and the Osage County Herald-Chronicle. For many years he wrote the Remember When column. He even played a printer in the 1977 television movie, “Mary White”.

LYNDON, Kan. – Patricia Aynne (Steen) Jennings, 68, passed away peacefully at her home in Lyndon, Kan., in the company of her love husband, Kenneth, and her three faithful dogs Ryker, Tosha and Muttley, on April 4, 2020.

She was born March 6, 1952, in Ithaca, N.Y., to Lillian Carpenter and Walter Earl Steen. She and her brother, Walter Earl Steen Jr., were raised by their foster mother, Mabel Elian. They have all preceded her in death.

Patty, as she was later known, attended and graduated from Bakers College and was an amazing cook. She owned and operated three different restaurants, including the Rolling Pin Bakery, at Lyndon.

OSAGE CITY, Kan. – Nila Ann (Noble) Meyer, 91, joined her Lord and Savior on May 15, 2020, at Peterson’s Assisted Living, Osage City, Kan. She was born Jan. 25, 1929, on a farm outside of Jeffers, Minn., to Archie and Mable (Swartz) Noble.

She graduated from Jeffers High School in 1947 and attended Chaffey Junior College in Ontario, Calif., earning a teaching certificate in 1948. Nila later earned her bachelor’s degree in 1960, and a Master’s in Education from Emporia State University, in 1965.

The Minnesota girl met her Kansas boy in California in 1948 and fell in love. Carl returned to his family farm in Osage City after discharge from the Navy. Nila came to Kansas and taught second grade in Olathe in 1949. Nila and Carl married in Jeffers, Minn., on Aug. 25, 1950, and moved to their home of 69 years six miles north of Osage City in 1951.

TOPEKA, Kan. – Debbie Christine Shoulders Cruz, 58, second child of Edgar Sullivan and JoAnn Carson, went kicking and screaming, May 15, 2020. Evidently, the other side found someone strong enough to drag her to the other side. As she had vowed to never give up and being the bullheaded Irish woman she was, she fought cancer for more than two years.

Debbie was born and raised in Topeka, Kan., attending Highland Park schools.

BURLINGAME, Kan. – Earl L. Haigh Jr., 70, of Burlingame, Kan., died Sunday, May 10, 2020, at a Topeka Hospice House. He was born June 2, 1949, in Morgantown, W.V., the son of Earl and Dorothy Darr Haigh.

His family moved to Topeka, Kan., in 1961, and settled in Carbondale, Kan. He was a member of the Carbondale senior class of 1968. Earl enlisted in the United States Navy in 1969 and served for 9 1/2 years.