Obituary - Charles Floyd Courtois

Charles Floyd Courtois, age 74, Independence, Missouri passed away Friday, January 5, 2024 the result of a motor vehicle accident. He was born in Pleasanton, Kansas on August 13, 1949 the son of William and Mildred Holmes Courtois. 

He graduated from Butler High School. Before retiring, he worked as a supervisor for Time Warner Cable. He enjoyed his Norton motorcycle, Raiders Football and KU Basketball. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Bill Courtois. 

Charles is survived by a daughter, Victoria Courtois-Hendon and husband Daniel, two sons, William Courtois and wife Melissa, and Kene Courtois and wife Brandy, two brothers, Kevin Courtois and Jim Courtois, nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Funeral service will be held 10:30 am Saturday, January 13, 2024 at the Pleasanton First Baptist Church. Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 pm Friday, January 12 at the Schneider Funeral Home and Crematory, Pleasanton Chapel. Private family burial will be held at Holmes Cemetery. Memorial contributions are encouraged and can be made to Wounded Warriors, c/o Schneider Funeral Home, P.O. Box 525, Pleasanton, KS 66075.

Tuesday Commute Impacted

Conditions are expected to continue to deteriorate tonight leading to slick road conditions. Strong winds are expected to develop tonight, creating areas of blowing snow throughout the day on Tuesday across the region. 

While snow is expected to come to an end Tuesday afternoon, the strong winds will remain until Tuesday evening creating blowing snow.

Obituary - Patricia "Pat" Mashek

Patricia Sue Mashek, 74, Deerfield, MO passed away on Saturday, January 6, 2024, at Medicalodges Nevada, following a lengthy illness. Pat was born on March 17, 1949, in Nevada, MO, to David and Louise (Ring) Nickelson. She married Lee Mashek on April 25, 2000, and he preceded her in death in 2012.

Pat was raised in Bronaugh and attended Bronaugh schools. Pat worked as a waitress most of her life, both at the Trail Blazer and then the VFW-Nevada until retirement. She was an avid coin collector and was known for her straight-forward honesty.

Survivors include her six children, Kevin Kastl (Missee), Ft. Scott, KS, Mary Hilliard (Kevin), Claremore, OK, Miria Atkins (Kelly), Ft. Scott, KS, Donald Wittenberg, Eve, MO, Frederick Wittenberg, Deerfield, MO, and Jodi Leatherman (Clint), Redfield, KS; nine grandchildren, Triston, Wyatt, Jessica, Daryn, Leah, Baylee, Lukas, Xabier, and Daniel; a brother, Bill Nickelson (Marlane), Mulberry, KS; a sister, Betty Simpson, Pittsburg, KS; and several nephews. Pat was preceded in death by her husband, Lee Mashek; a granddaughter, Lacey Paige; her parents; four brothers and one sister.

A graveside service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at Richland Cemetery, Richards, MO, with Pastor Bill Platt officiating.

Arrangements are under the direction of Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada, MO.

Bates County real estate transfers and marriage licenses

 

Recipe of the Week

 

What's Up by LeRoy Cook

 

Private aircraft isn't the problem

January, as Midwesterners know, feels twice as long as any other month. Finding good days to fly in the First Month is a challenge; the only clear days are when it’s so blistering cold you can’t stand to drag the plane out. We did, however, get in a few flights last week, between bouts of fog and snow.

Among the few visitors last week were a big Beech King Air executive turboprop, a Cessna 172 and a Piper Archer. Those local residents venturing forth were Jeremie Platt in his Grumman Tiger, Eric Eastland in the family Skyhawk and Christian Tucker in the Mooney M20C. 

We continue to get besieged by Harrisonville airport residents seeking refuge from a looming displacement, as their runway undergoes a months-long rebuilding. Contractors and engineers, afraid of liability suits, don’t concern themselves with the inconvenience of lengthy closings, so tenants must either hunker down with unusable airplanes or evacuate to already-full neighboring fields. It would have been a good time to have some hangars built and ready for rent.

Much class-warfare was promoted last week when an outfit called “Airlines For America” issued a statement blaming private aircraft for delays and disruptions in airline schedules over the holidays. If only those pesky little airplanes weren’t being allowed to tie up space at “their” airports, A4A said, everything would run ever so much smoother. And General Aviation gets a free ride, they say, and it should pay its “fair share”, defined by them, of course.

The fact is, the public airspace and pavement, along with the air traffic control system, already exists, so shoving non-airline users aside won’t save any money, and the few extra movements of general aviation actually subsidizes an infrastructure built for the airlines. Fuel excise taxes do go into the Aviation Trust Fund, and aren’t passed on to airline customers like fees charged to the airlines. Like the highways, routes in the air are for everyone, not just commercial carriers.

The week’s question from the last column wanted to know who revolutionized airplane radios 60 years ago in Olathe, KS. Two faithful readers knew it was Ed King, who left Collins Radio to start his own little-airplane electronics company, Butch Leuthart and Jim Davis. For next time, tell us what the “V” stands for in V-speeds like Vs for stall or Vne for never-exceed. You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.

The Museum Minute

 

Adrian Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet

The Annual Banquet is coming up. Please buy your tickets early so we know how many to plan for.