25 Years Ago
November 1993
Maxine Dreher was recognized as Woman Leader of the Year and Gale Ritter earned an award as Man Leader of the Year at Saturdays Allen County Farm Bureau annual banquet. The awards were presented by Marjorie Ensminger, chairman of the womens committee.
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Iola voters gave overwhelming approval Tuesday to an extension of a half-cent sales tax to pay for road and street improvements. The vote was 825 in favor and only 242 opposed, for an approval percentage of 77.2.
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Allen County commissioners this week struck a deal with Southeast Kansas Resource Conservation and Development to dispose of many of the 150,000 worn vehicle tires at the county landfill. At least some of the tires will be burned in Monarch Cement Co. kilns in Humboldt as supplemental fuel.
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Robert A. Finney, 87, formerly of Humboldt, died Saturday at his home in Wichita. He was a civic leader in Humboldt and held a directorship at Humboldt National Bank until his death. A graduate of the University of Chicago in economics, he taught the subject at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa., and then operated a Ford dealership in Gallion, Ohio. He and Gertrude Leitzbach met in Chicago in 1933 and were married shortly thereafter. The couple moved to Humboldt in 1936 and lived there until 1966. During his years in Humboldt, he was manager of the Humboldt Brick and Tile Co. and was active in oil, agriculture and real estate investments. He served in the Kansas Legislature as Representative from Allen County. Finney and his wife moved to Wichita in 1966 where he founded and became president of the Farm and Ranch Life Insurance Co. A long-time member of the Kansas State Chamber of Commerce, he served as its president and was also a vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is survived by his wife, Gertrude; a son, Paul, of Humboldt; two daughters, Ona Walls of Tustin, Calif., and Judy Fugate of Lexington, Ky., and four grandchildren.
