Obituary - Robert "Bob" Lyle Durbin

Robert "Bob" Lyle Durbin, 90, of Overland Park, Kansas, passed away on Thursday, January 16, 2025, at Village Shalom Senior Living in Overland Park, surrounded by family. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, January 23, 2025, at 11:00 AM at Atkinson Funeral Home in Adrian, Missouri, with a visitation beginning at 10:00 AM. Interment will follow at Crescent Hill Cemetery in Adrian, MO. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, February 1 at 2:00 PM at Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org) or Harvesters (www.harvesters.org).

Bob was born on December 10, 1934, to Leslie Durbin and Martha "Mattie" (Stark) Durbin in rural Bates County, MO, near Adrian. He graduated from Adrian High School. In 1956, Bob married Freda Woods. They moved to south Kansas City in 1964 and lived there for 60 years. He received his Bachelors in Business Administration from UMKC.

Bob worked over 35 years for Bendix/Allied Signal/Honeywell in various supervisory positions, the last 10 years as Manager of Resource and Program Control. In addition to his professional life, Bob worked hard to serve his community in a large variety of volunteer roles, including: Adrian Lions Club; Adrian City Council; Red Bridge YMCA Board Member and Youth Sports Coach; United Way Citizen Review Committee; Center School Board Member; Citizen Association Board Member; Cancer Golf Association Board Member; American Cancer Society Patient Transportation; AARP Tax-Aide Instructor and Preparer; Mazuma Credit Union Board Member; Red Bridge Lions Club; Holmeswood Baptist Church Deacon, Finance Committee Chairman and Bible Discussion Teacher.
An avid sports fan, Bob cheered on the Royals and the Chiefs, and also his childhood baseball team, the Cardinals. In high school, he played baseball and football, and later softball and golf. He and Freda enjoyed traveling and visited all 50 states and several countries, including: China, England, Ireland, Aruba, and Canada. He loved hosting large gatherings of family and friends.

Bob is preceded in death by his parents; infant child, Diana Durbin; brother, Ronald Durbin; sister, Valerie June Northrup; and uncle, Jesse Durbin. He is survived by his wife, Freda Durbin; daughter, Janet (Tony) Luppino; son, Jim (Jan) Durbin; grandchildren: Daniel (Julie Parisi) Luppino, Jessica (Robert) McCarty, Bailey (Brett) Roenigk, Rob Durbin, and Ben Durbin; 6 great-grandchildren: Maddie, Charlie, Lily, Jane, Carson, and Spencer; brother, Donald Durbin; sisters: Joyce Saathoff and Roma (LaVerne) Welch; brother-in-law, Paul Moudy; honorary daughter, Susan (Harold) Yates; and numerous nephews and nieces.

Recipe of the Week

 

Bates County real estate transfers and marriage licenses

 

Kauffman, Kent Arkley to Bennett, Jason Lt 14 Swaidner's Addn

Minnie-Mex Inc to Refrigerated Properties, LLC Lt 2 Refrigerated Properties Subdivision II

CWS Butler, LLC to Smith, Wanda L. Trust 09-03-2004 Lt 24 Bl 2 Gilbert Heights+

Mead, Jerry J Jr to Williams, Steve C Lt 2 Bl 1 Schwenk Addn

Packham, Carla Kay to Brown, Michael D Lt 1 Bl 51 Butler, Original Town Of

Reece, Katie to Baldwin, James Willard Jr Lt 208 Country South Ext. #2+

Mo Farm Loan, LLC to O-S Construction, LLC Lt 14 Bl 29 Rockville, Original Town Of

Martinson, Roger H. to Wingate, Mark A. Str 26-42-30 //Se

Nitsche Family Trust 06-10-2009 to Somers, Cierra Lt 4 Bl 3 Gilbert Heights+

Marriage license

none

Report from the Bates County Commission

 

January 8, 2025 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner John Gray and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present.

The Commission spent the day welcoming and settling in New Northern Commissioner John Gray. Due to weather closure, the missed scheduled appointment for Amanda Davis was discussed and supporting documents submitted to the Commission. Her property purchased in 2022 was never changed in the Assessor's office to reflect her ownership. She is requesting the penalties be removed.

January 13, 2025 The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner John Gray and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present.

Sheriff Anderson, Chief Deputy Corbin and Captain Shaffer came over to let the Commission know they are experiencing an issue with the Generator. It is a possibility that it will need replaced and this was not something considered in the budget.  Jim told Chad to check with EMA and see if the Generator they have will work till repair or replacement of theirs can be accomplished. The generator is 20 years old, and replacement might end up being the best option. 

County Clerk Jami Page brought in the budget for the budget hearing. She stated it is completed and balanced (meaning the cash on hand + revenues anticipated > then our expected expenses) and ready for approval. It will be sent to the State for approval. We should be back printing checks by Wednesday. Jim mentioned that he was talking to Carl about the budget as he was using the wrong account for the GIS maintenance fee. It was also discussed that Assessor's budget may need amened if the GIS site needs to be updated with aerial photography. He is hoping to get this done in tandem with Vernon and Henry Counties for a discounted price. Jami stated that Carl gave a sticky note this morning to Jennifer (HR) with what appears to be salary increases for this staff this morning. It appears he is wanting to give Meghan a 9.2% increase where the commission only approved a 5% increase. John asked if 5% was approved where does the other 4.5 % come from? Jami replied, “he would have to have budgeted for it.” It is just like the prosecutor giving 7% to certain employees. Jim states Hugh has done this in the past, but he has always had the funding to be able to. Hugh’s funding changed this year, and it isn’t certain if he has the funding to do this. This change came from the state audit recommendations. Jami pointed out that the commission never transferred money over to the law enforcement sales tax so that budget is starting out with 0. Jim replied he thought they had. Jami stated after she reminded them, they never gave her an amount to transfer. Jim asked about amending the budget. Jami stated only if there is unanticipated revenue. If it comes to that then it will be dealt with then. Jami as the budget officer monitors it every month. The commissioners are given a report every month as well. 

Trent made the motion to accept the budget. Jim seconded the motion. All voted yes. Motion carried. No opposition. 

County Prosecutor Hugh Jenkins came in for his scheduled meeting. At 10:19 pursuant to RSMO 610.021 (3) Discussing personnel Trent made the motion to go into Closed session. John seconded all voted yes. Motion carried. No opposition.  At 11:03 Trent made the motion to go back into open session. John seconded. All voted yes. Motion carried. No opposition. 

Terry Bettels with the Senior Services Board brought the most current list of officers, members and their budget. She has 2 letters to be sent out for re-appointment. It was discovered there was a correction to be made, and she will return.  

John made the motion to approve the Senior Services Budget. Trent seconded. All voted yes. Motion carried. No opposition.

FM 92.1 back on the air

  Over a week ago, the ice storm that hit Bates county not only wreaked havoc on power lines, pipes and roads, but due to an imbalance of three phase power feeding Butler's radio station, the FM transmitter was severely damaged leaving the frequency dark for several days.

  Following a fast trip to Illinois to pick up a spare unit, the station has resumed broadcasting at 1,000 watts instead of the usual 4,700 which could limit the coverage area; however efforts are being made to correct the issue as soon as possible.

  Station owner Melody Thornton says other precautions are being taken to prevent future outages as well and in the event you are having reception issues, you can always listen on line at www.921news.com.

The Museum Minute: Stolen horse goes to party

Courtesy of the Bates County Museum 802 Elks Drive, Butler Mo 64730 (660) 679-0134

Herrman’s Historical Happenings week of January 22

1885 John Hail's horse, stolen in Butler, is found south of Butler. Evidently a lad stole it to go the young peoples party last evening.

1906 A big snow storm hits Bates Co, 8 to 10 inches.

1907 While feeding his horses, North of Butler, Robert Plummer has one grab him by the back of the neck. Doctors doubt the he will recover.

1910 Dode Worley is elected Police Chief of Mulberry.

1913 The Amoret Leader newspaper begins publication.

1945 The sixth annual Osage Valley Electric Cooperative meeting is held at Fisk Theatre, Butler.

1945 Mrs. Esther Edwards has moved her Dr. Pepper bottling plant from North Main street to the newly decorated building on North Delaware st., Butler.

1949 It's Tom Grimsley and his orchestra every Saturday and Sunday night at the West Town Tavern in Butler.

1990 Fire departments from Adrian, Butler, Drexel and Amoret rush to aid the Amsterdam department in a blaze of the grain elevator on main street. It is a total loss.

1993 The news-Xpress newspaper prints a cover story by C.A. Moore about the Mott Meat Company processing plant in Rockville.

2000 Ruth Wainscott celebrates her 101st birthday at Willow Lane Nursing Center in Butler. 

2002 Two men in a stolen Jeep are thought to be the ones who robbed Leona's Mini Mart in Amsterdam. The Jeep was stolen from the Cogbill residence earlier.

What's Up by LeRoy Cook

 

Gotta Watch Out For Those RUDs

What humans could not do, nature managed on its own. Butler airport’s black asphalt accepted the sun’s rays even on sub-freezing days and melted away most of the ice and packed snow by mid-week, and when the temp hit 50 F. on Friday even the deadhead push-chunks turned into puddles. We managed a few flights from the restricted runway earlier, but by last weekend we were back to normal width. 

So, why not salt the pavement and speed up the melting? Or why not spread some cinders for traction? Airports don’t use salt because most airplanes are made of aluminum, which corrodes quickly in the presence of brine (don’t buy a plane that’s been based on the seacoast). And cinders get sucked up by propellers and jet intakes, chipping prop blades and compressor fans. Liquid urea is used at commercial airports.

Aircraft movements were limited last week; a couple of Piper Warriors and Cessna Skyhawks came through. Locally-based Jon Laughlin was out with his Piper Cherokee 180C and Jeremiah McElroy had a Cessna 150 up. Flight Instructor Delaney Rindal taught students over the snowy landscape as well.

We learned with regret of the passing of Kent Pyle, longtime Clinton resident and pilot, who died peacefully at his home, just off the end of the runway at Clinton airport, after an extended illness. Kent was one of the founders of the Experimental Aircraft chapter at Clinton, and he hand built two kit airplanes, a two-seat open-cockpit Spacewalker and a four-place KIS Cruiser. I gave him his last Flight Review before he quit flying, with his logbook current. He organized a lot of Young Eagle events where youngsters were given their first rides by Chapter members and was also an avid radio-control airplane hobbyist. Fly west in peace, Kent.

Last week, Elon Musk’s Space X corporation launched another of its Super Heavy boosters with a Starship moon-rocket stage on top. The 33-engine booster stage was recovered by flying it back to the pad and catching it with two mechanical arms for reuse. The Starship section, not so good. It experienced what the Space X public-relations folks term a “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly”, meaning it blew up and rained pieces down on Puerto Rico. 

A United Airlines 737 and a Delta Airbus A330 had a near miss going into Phoenix on the 14th. The United Boeing was a long final approach at 4150 feet and the Delta 'Bus was turning in on left base at 3470 feet, which counts as too close before evasive action was taken. Controllers control, but pilots steer, in the final analysis.

This week’s question was "what was the length of  Butler airport’s first runway?" It being an 80-acre field, it measured 2600 feet. For next time, would you care to guess what type of airplane was used to start Federal Express' package delivery service? You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.

Flashback: Two millionth Ford visits Butler

The two millionth Ford V-8 automobile rolled off the assembly in June 1935.

The sedan embarked on a public relations tour from Dearborn, Michigan to San Diego, California, where it arrived at the California Pacific International Exhibit. The historic car was built under the watchful eyes of Henry and Edsel Ford. Mr. Henry Ford personally waved on the royal blue and gold automobile on its way to the Pacific coast.

The picture depicts Cubbin Motors on North Main Street in 1935 and the 1950s. The Butler men pictured on the left with the car are unknown, then Alex Cubbin, Wes Black, chamber president, Mayor Harvey Oberweather and Jimmy Rooney, driver and building superintendent of the Ford plant. On the right side in the middle with the hat is Fred Riddle. -Courtesy Butler Historic Preservation Commission