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John Ronald (Ron) Miller

John Ronald (Ron) Miller

Obituaries

January 06, 1950 - September 04, 2021

John Ronald (Ron) Miller, of Topeka Kansas, passed away on September 4th, 2021 at the age of 71. He was a loving, devoted husband, father, and papa who loved most being around his family. Ron was born to Jeff Paul Miller and Agnes Theresa (Stremel) Miller on January 6th, 1950 in Topeka Kansas where he grew up with his two brothers, Darrell, and Daniel (Danny) Miller and two sisters, Barbara (Barb) (Miller) Haines, Annette (Miller) Page. He attended Hayden High School where he graduated in 1968. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washburn University in 1975, and Master of Administration of Justice from Wichita State University in 1979. He began his career with the State of Kansas in 1975, working in four state agencies: Kansas Department of Corrections, Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services and Division of Children and Family Services), Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority, and Kansas Department of Health and Environment. He retired in 2005 with 30 years of service. Also, during his career, he took on some additional part time positions as an Adjunct Instructor of Drug Abuse and Criminality and Research Assistant at Washburn University, certified drivers ed instructor for Topeka Driving School, unit coordinator therapist for Community Addictive Treatment Center, week-end counselor for Mirror Inc., and job coach with Job Readiness Training Program. Post retirement from the State, Ron was a school bus driver for Shawnee Heights School District and park attendant for United States Corps of Engineers at Lake Melvern and Lake Perry.

Read more: John Ronald (Ron) Miller
Hali W R Bouska

Hali W R Bouska

Obituaries

April 08, 1965 - August 30, 2021

Topeka – Hali W. R. Bouska, 56, of Topeka, passed away Monday, August 30, 2021. 

 She was born April 8, 1965, in Kansas City, Mo, the daughter of Harold and E Deane (Hilbus) Passonno. 

She attended Blue Ridge Christian Academy and Ruskin High School. 

Hali worked as a personal care attendant at Menorah Hospital in Kansas City, and later as a call center employee at Convergys in Heathrow Florida.  

Hali was a member of the First Congregational Church of Topeka. 

She married Michael Bouska on December 31, 1993 in Ottawa, Kansas. He survives. 

Survivors include her daughter, Amanda (Tracy) Rudman of Plainville, KS; her step-daughters, Lisa (Duncan Scott) and Amy Bouska of Topeka; She is survived by her brothers and sisters Stephen Passonno and wife Bonnie of Holt, MO, Julie Scherrer of Lee’s Summit, MO, Jane Monterosso and husband Brent of Rochester Hills, MI, Kathryn Jones and husband Robert of Lee’s Summit, MO, Leslie Faris of Rochester, MI,  Allen Matthews and wife Theresa of Leawood, KS, and Sharon Angotti of Lee’s Summit, MO; and numerous loving grandchildren.  

Read more: Hali W R Bouska
Tony Garcia

Tony Garcia

Obituaries

January 14, 1953 - August 25, 2021

Tony Garcia, 68, of Topeka lost his battle with Covid-19 and passed away peacefully, Aug, 25, with his 3 kids at his side. He was born on January 14, 1953 in Pueblo, CO to Joe and Hermelina Garcia.

Tony was a devoted father, husband, grandpa, mentor, and friend to many. He was a jack of all trades, and master of most. He enjoyed traveling, family gatherings, and answering the call for help on home projects, always with a smile on his face. But most of all, his greatest joy was sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with his friends and family.

Tony had a servant’s heart. He spent 32 years with the Topeka Fire Department, retiring in 2012 as a Shift Commander. In addition to the fire department, he served the Topeka community in numerous other civil service positions over his career.

Survivors include his wife, Nancy; daughter Mindi (Brett) Lundberg; son Anthony (Heather) Garcia; and daughter Marlina (Blake) Beckmann; grandchildren Alexis and Garrett Lundberg; Caitlin, Aiden, and Alyssa Garcia; and Ezra Beckmann; sisters Virginia (Benito) Vigil and June (John) Abeyta, and brother Geno Garcia, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Tony was preceded in death by his parents, sister Violet Garcia, brother Anthony Fred Garcia, and sister-in-law Jerri Garcia.

Friends and family are invited to a celebration of Tony’s life on Saturday, September 4th, at the Garfield Park Shelter House from 3:00-7:00 pm, 1600 NE Quincy St. Topeka, KS 66608.

Neil Jason Killian

Neil Jason Killian

Obituaries

November 22, 1072 - August 14, 2021

Neil Jason Killian at the young age of 48 passed away unexpectedly Saturday, August 14, 2021.

He was born November 22,1972 in Topeka, KS to Roger and Kathleen Killian.  Neil attended Topeka High School and played baseball with the Topeka Stars. He worked in many different industries from hotel to restaurants due to his love of working in the public and helping people.

Neil’s surviving family includes his father Roger D. Killian, his brother Jeffrey S. Killian, aunts Jill E. Toy, Betty Baney and Sarah Ingram (Arkansas), and many treasured and loved cousins, nephews, and nieces. He is proceeded in death by his mother Kathleen A. Killian, daughter Kristen F Killian, grandparents Richard L and Virginia L Young, Roy Killian and Florence Ingram, and three aunts Carol L Applehanz, Susan G Mather, and Donna Killian.

He was an active PDGA member attending many tournaments in the region. He had a real love for disc golf and regularly participated in the Dawn to Dusk Club and Safari Skins League. If you were to guess out of all the holidays which he loved to celebrate the most, everyone knew it was the 4th of July. He was great with children and loved most hanging out with his 4-legged companions. He was a kind person who would always raise a smile, or open his arms to anyone and everyone around him that needed it.

A celebration of life will be held at Crestview Park in Topeka, KS – Friday, September 3rd from 6pm-8pm. 

Marion "Jim" Gruber, Jr.

Marion "Jim" Gruber, Jr.

Obituaries
August 28, 1953 - August 07, 2021
 
Marion J Gruber Jr. “Jim”, 67, passed away on Saturday, August 7,  2021. Jim was born August 28, 1953 in Topeka, the son of Marion J Gruber Sr. and Betty Norton Gruber. Jim was raised in east Topeka and spent a lot of time in Overbrook, KS with his grandparents. Jim learned to drive a dump truck at an early age and worked for several trucking companies. In 1982 he bought his first truck and started Gruber Dump Trucking. For the next 30 plus years he would work sun up until sun down. Anyone that has ever worked with him or for him will know this to be true. He never wanted to retire or even slow down and he didn’t. He was most recently working for Randy Long Trucking. He worked hard until the day he died as we all knew he would. Jim met Becky Warbritton when they were 15 years old and he quickly became a part of the family. They were married on May 7, 1971. Becky stood by Jim through thick and thin and had just celebrated 50 years of marriage. Becky survives at the home. Together, they had a daughter, Kelli Munsell (Chuck). Jim had 5 grandchildren, Tori (Hunter), Tyler, Travis, Trent and Trevor and two great-grandchildren, Ryder and Eva.  
Read more: Marion "Jim" Gruber, Jr.

Alvin “Junior” Downs Jr.

Obituaries

August 23, 1944 - July 29, 2021

Junior passed away July 29, 2021 at Stormont Vail, he was 76 years old. He was born August 23, 1944 in Ashdown, Arkansas. He was preceded in death by his parents William D. and Lois (Hudgens) Sewell and his sister Kay Allison.
Besides many loving family members Junior is survived by his loving dogs, Jenny, Sue, Smoky, Mo and Scrappy. He will be missed by many.
 
Junior drove trucks most of his life, owning some for awhile. He was still driving for Bahm Construction before his untimely death with Covid-19.
 
Junior loved working on cars and owning old cars. He also loved going to the casino.
 
Junior will be cremated. There will be a Celebration of Life at a later date.
Karis Malette Sullivan

Karis Malette Sullivan

Obituaries
April 11, 1967 - July 12, 2021
 
Our beloved Karis Malette Sullivan, age 54, passed away unexpectedly July 2021. She was born in Ellsworth KS to Mary Anne Brumbaugh Sullivan and Duane Jackson Sullivan. Karis is proceeded in death by her Mother and her youngest brother Zachary Brumbaugh. 
 
Karis spent most of her childhood years in Wilson KS with her family where she cherished all her memories dearly. Later in life Karis graduated Pratt community College becoming the only woman linesman in Kansas. After a couples years she joined the water company in Lawrence KS. Karis spent her remaining years in Topeka KS closest to the ones she loved. 
 
Karis is survived by her only child Jessica Anne Provost, and her son-in-law Joshua Smith, four grandsons and three granddaughters, her two brothers Dallas Sullivan, and Matthew Sullivan, her two sisters Jackie Sullivan and Elaine Merica; along with her uncle Tim Brumbaugh,  Aunt Kimberly Kwiatkowski, and Aunt Sally Cammell; as well as many nieces and nephews. 
 
Karis desired to be cremated. A celebration of her life will be held in the weeks ahead. For those details be contact her daughter Jessica at 785-851-6275. 
 
   "Peace and Love"
 
 
 
Mary Ellen Hagen

Mary Ellen Hagen

Obituaries

May 07, 1936 - July 25, 2021

Mary Ellen Hagen of Emporia, Kansas, formerly of Fayetteville, Arkansas, passed away at home on July 25, 2021, surrounded by her family. She was born to Floyd and Isabell (Kennedy) Lane, May 7, 1936, in Runnels, Iowa. She was preceded in death by both her parents and all but one of her seven siblings.

 She is survived by her husband Melvyn Hagen, daughter Tamara and son-in-law William Blalock; four grandchildren who knew her as Grammy, Jessica G. Bickford (Nick), Rebecca A. Segelhurst, Janet M. Segelhurst, and Christopher S. Segelhurst (Ashley), 4 great-grandchildren; Justin, Layla, Zakkary and Joanna; a brother Dennis R. Lane (Marie), and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren brought her lots of joy.  She always wanted to know if there were new pictures or videos of “the kids”.

 She grew up in a singing family.  Mom and her siblings used to sing all over Runnels and the surrounding communities for weddings, barn dances and such.  She made friends very easily and most neighborhood kids called her Grandma Mary. A remembrance will follow at a later date in Iowa.

Gary Leon Northcraft

Gary Leon Northcraft

Obituaries

July 11, 1937 - July 24, 2021

Gary Leon Northcraft was born July 11, 1937 in Topeka, KS to Forest and Gladys Northcraft. He passed away on July 24, 2021. He graduated from Topeka High School before serving in the United States Navy at the age of 18, from 1955 to 1959 aboard the USS AJAX ship. During this time, he was awarded a good conduct medal. When he returned home from his service, he met and married Margaret Ann and they later had one daughter, Andrea. He began his career in 1960 at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company where he worked in the power plant as a boilerman in the engine room. In 1998 he retired from Goodyear with 37 years of service.

Gary’s surviving family includes his daughter, Andrea and son-in-law Kevin. His grandchildren are Christina and Brandon (his wife is Autumn). He also has two great grandsons, Brody and Blaine. He was preceded in death by a brother, Donald Northcraft and a sister, Joan Davison. Gary helped his mother Gladys as she aged with shopping and yardwork for many years. His love of fishing started at an early age- he had many fishing buddies and countless stories to go along with them. He loved taking his grandkids Christina and Brandon fishing and he also enjoyed spending time with his son-in-law Kevin. He adored his two great grandsons Brody and Blaine and loved hearing the stories about them fishing and Brody driving Papa‘s boat. His favorite place to go fishing at was Lake Perry at Rock Creek Marina where he kept his boat- sometimes he also liked to just fish off of the dock too. He enjoyed going into the Marina store and showing off his fish to Denise who works there. He always said that they were so nice and caring to him, and they would let him come in to warm up or cool down depending on the weather.

Read more: Gary Leon Northcraft

Rex Rayford Roush, Jr.

Obituaries

August 24, 1936 - June 12, 2021

Rex Rayford Roush Jr. passed away at his home on June 12, 2021 in Topeka Ks.  Rex was the son of Rex Rayford Roush Sr, & Leita May Roush Willey.  He graduated from Topeka High in 1954.  After High School, he joined the Navy & participated in the Korean Conflict aboard the Aircraft Carrier US Randolph.  While on board ship, he played the piano for the Sunday Church Service.  Rex received his electronics training while in the Navy.  He later worked for the Philco Corporation after his discharge.  He worked at Burroughs Corp & Stanford University in San Francisco in Computer Programming.  When he returned to Topeka Ks, he served as instructor of ECPI, a computer training school at White Lakes.  He then spent 18 years as Group Manager at Blue Cross & retired in 2001.  He is survived by his sister Sue (Larry) Perry, a niece, Shelly (Matt) Welch, nephews, Pat (Liz Chavez)Cool, Gary(Angela) Cool, & Todd (Stacey) Perry.   Great nephews, Joey Welch, Aaron Cool, Corbin Cool, Carter Cool, & Great nieces, Katie Welch, Liz & Allison Perry, Kate & Jesse Chavez.  A  Celebration of Life will be held on July 30 at 10:00 am in the Garden Gazebo at Topeka Cemetery.  1st gate north off I-70 & California on west side.

Contact Us

Angels Above Cremation Services
3936 NW 16th St., Bldg. B
Topeka, KS 66618

785-215-8386
Office hours are by appointment only.
Please call us to schedule an appointment.

AngelsAboveCremationServices1@gmail.com

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