WAKARUSA, Kan. – Raleigh Gene Trembly was born Nov. 22, 1947, in Chanute, Kan. He was the oldest son of Gene and Alice.
The white-blonde-haired little boy was curious from the start and always on the go. He became the older brother of Randy and Tisha. The family eventually moved to the town of Wellington, in southern Kansas. He was known for being the kid to read every book in his school library – literally every book. He was involved in Boy Scouts, and there is a story about a mysterious fire that happened while on a campout and the trees that were replanted by him and his fellow hooligan pyromaniacs. As a boy, he loved to be outdoors fishing and riding his bike around town.
In the ninth grade, while high up in the neighborhood treehouse, he met Elizabeth Sarchet, who was the babysitter of his little sister. Teenage romance blossomed and on the day of their high school graduation he proposed – the only hitch was when the ring was lost down on the floorboard of the VW Beetle he had fixed up and restored. They were married Dec. 19, 1965.
By this time, he was already enrolled at Logan Chiropractic College, in St. Louis, Mo. He worked nights as a janitor and went to school all day to be able to afford tuition. He even helped a professor build a deck one weekend with a promise to pass a class he struggled in. Their first child, Paula, came into the world in 1968 while he was still a student. With a young family by his side, he was able to graduate from chiropractic college in 1969, and the family decided to move to Topeka, Kan. In 1972, Peter arrived on the scene. Pamela followed in 1977.
After working for his mentor, Dr. Rex Wright, he then had practices in the hospital district of Topeka and in Carbondale, Kan., and then back to a long stent in Topeka, at 29th and Burlingame streets. In 1993, he moved his practice to become the “Country Doctor” in Wakarusa, Kan., where he practiced until retiring in 2015. Dr. Trembly was very busy at the office helping people and forming relationships that would last for many decades.