Alan Sleeper, a native of Iola who adopted Alden as his hometown when he married Sara Fair 68 years ago, never forgot his hometown.
Alan’s parents, Nora Edith and Allan Roy Sleeper, raised him to be a leader and a contributor. His father, Roy, owned and operated (every day) Sleeper Furniture and the Sleeper Mortuary. He and Nora were dedicated Presbyterians who rarely missed a Sunday in church. They contributed their time and money without stint to make it stronger and better.
Their sons, Alan and John, graduated from Iola High School and then went north to Lawrence and the University of Kansas. Alan majored in history and established himself as a student of Winston Churchill before moving into the K.U. law school and winning that degree as well.
Alan met and fell in love with Sara at K.U. But World War II intervened and he served in the U.S. Navy in the North African theater during the invasions of North Africa and France.
The war over, Alan went straight back to Alden, married Sara and joined the Fair family in its ranching enterprise.
He didn’t use his law degree punching cattle. But he did become an expert on pasture management and shared what he had learned with his neighbors and anyone else who learned of his expertise.
The Fair ranch prospered. Alan believed that much is expected from those who gain wealth and knowlege and put that belief into action.
His generosity and wide-ranging personal interests benefited the Alden school district, the Alden United Methodist Church, the Kansas Banking Board, the Kansas City Branchof the Federal Reserve Board under Paul Vogel and the K.U. Endowment Fund.
In remembrance of his mother, father and his brother, John, who died in a tragic accident, he established the Sleeper Family Trust in 1975 to benefit the Bowlus Fine Arts Center in Iola. He endowed the Trust generously and John’s widow, Mrs. Virginia Sleeper Creitz, added to it with a substantial bequest at her death.
The six-figure income from the Sleeper Trust now makes possible many of the programs which the Bowlus presents each year to Iola and area children as well as subsidizing outstanding cultural events for the general public which could otherwise not be afforded. This year’s gift was $186,729.
Alan died last Sunday, Aug. 19, 95 years after his Iola birth. But thanks to his wise philosophy and selfless generosity, Alan and Sara Sleeper and the family he leaves behind will keep on enriching the Bowlus Center and his hometown for longer than anyone now alive can see.
The monument he leaves to Iola, and all of Allen County, is as immortal as any the human mind and heart can conceive. Surely that grand prospect gives those who miss and mourn him today great comfort.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
