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| Elmer George Morton |
Elmer George Morton, age 93, formerly of Butler, Missouri Died January 18, 2017, after a brief illness at the home of his daughter and son-in-law, Gary and Linda Rust, Lakeland, Florida. He was born to Perry and Gladys Estep Morton in Bigelow, Kansas.
On December 5, 1942 he was united in marriage to Norma Counseller in Topeka, Kansas and to this union two children were born. Elmer and Norma lived in Topeka, Ks., after they got married. They moved to Canyon, Texas, for a year. They moved back to Topeka where Elmer ran a company Western Auto store. They then moved to Clinton, Missouri and he became a sales representative for Western Auto. In 1962, Elmer moved his family to Butler where he bought the local Western Auto store. They sold appliances, auto supplies, and even toys at Christmas. A few years later, he got the opportunity to buy the former Deems John Deere farm equipment building on Ohio Street and that became the permanent home of the Western Auto.
Elmer’s son, Jim and his wife, Lou and family moved to Butler in 1974 to join the family business until the store closed in 1989.
Throughout his lifetime, he was a camper. He and his family started out with a pop up and ended up with an RV. When his children were young, they went on many fishing trips to Bennett Springs, Table Rock Lake and even went to Canada when it was raining too hard in Minnesota. He and his wife Norma camped in an RV club called “Thousand Trails.” His sister and her husband, Norma’s brothers and sisters-in-law often camped and traveled together. They enjoyed going to Texas most winters until his daughter and her family moved to Florida and then they went there. Many of Linda’s neighbors got to know “Elmer and Norma” as their rig was parked in the driveway through the holiday season.
Every year on Elmer’s birthday until he was 90 years old, he went with his sisters and brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law and camped in cabins at Truman Lake in Warsaw, Missouri. When the fishing was slow they would cook, play cards, and eat at the local “Cow Pattie” every day for lunch.
Elmer was a member of the First Christian Church and Non-Pareil Sunday School class. In his younger years, he was a Sunday School teacher, deacon, and Elder.
Many years he participated daily with the local businessmen of all ages at a local restaurant for a “coffee break” mid morning on the Butler square. They had quite a fun routine having the waitress guess a number. If you were the lucky one, you got stuck with the majority of the “coffee” bill! In the last several years, they moved the coffee group out to McDonalds to visit and “chew the fat.” He also had a steady group of friends that meant on a daily basis to join in with a meal at the hospital cafeteria. Elmer was a regular participant in the pitch group at the Senior Center and was playing 4 times a week. He was a member of the Ararat Shriners and the Butler Lions club for years that met at what was known as “Glenn’s Café” on a weekly basis. Elmer was much loved by the Butler community as well as friends he made wherever he went.
Elmer is survived by his daughter, Linda Rust and husband Gary of Vero Beach, Florida; two sisters, Velva Maxine Counseller of Topeka, Kansas and Shirley A. Dick of Green Bay, Wisconsin; former daughter-in-law, Lou Morton-Love and husband Dan of Council Bluffs, Iowa; grandchildren Jeff Morton and his wife Deanna and their children D.J. and Devin of Holt, Missouri; Stephanie Chase and husband Lance, and their two children Mara and Ian, Des Moines, Iowa; Matt Rust and wife Julie and their 3 children Molly, Tommy, and Sammy of Winter Springs, Florida; Tony Rust and his future bride on Feb. 4 to Britney Schmidgall of Lakeland, Fl.; and Meggie Nance and her husband, Kolby and their 2 children Siler and Ellie of Oviedo, Florida. He was preceeded by death by his parents; wife Norma in May of 2011; one son, Jim; and siblings, Ruth Marker and Darlene Cory.
