Obituary - Joan Victoria Dunham (Payne)

Joan Dunham, beloved mother of Sean Dunham and Terry Roth and loving wife of Jon Dunham, passed away peacefully on March 14, 2025, at the age of 79 while a resident of Sunrise Senior Living in Leawood Kansas.

Joan was born on October 25, 1945, in Greenville, Alabama to John and Essie Payne. She graduated from Garden City High School in 1963 where she was known as Joanie Payne or Joanie Roth. After high school, Joan attended the College of DuPage and Longview Community College where she attained her associate’s degree in psychology. A few years later Joan obtained her real estate license.

Joan was married to Leonard Roth, father of Terry Roth in the 1960s. In 1970, she married her husband of 55 years, Jon Dunham. Joan, Jon and family have lived in Kentucky, Illinois and Maryland before relocating to Lee’s Summit, Missouri in 1982. With that relocation Joan enjoyed being closer to her family and friends in Cass County where she grew up. Joan enjoyed her career as a realtor in Lee’s Summit for over 30 years before retiring in 2015. She made many friends in the real estate business and helped hundreds of families find their perfect home. Outside of work Joan enjoyed time in the local church, her tennis club, the gym, spending time with family, friends, caring for her dogs and shopping. Joan and Jon enjoyed dinning out and traveling as often as they could. Joan will be remembered for her desire to serve others and the joy she brought to family and friends.

Joan was a loving mother, grandmother, and great grandmother who cherished time spent with family. Joan is survived by her husband Jon Dunham of Raymore, her son Sean Dunham and wife Christy of Raymore and Daughter in law Sarah Roth of independence, KS. Joan was preceded in death by her son, Terry Douglas Roth, her brother, John Payne Jr. her sister Mary Ann Payne and her parents John & Essie Payne. Joan took pride in being grandmother to Braiden and Ariel Dunham, Baylor and Kirah Dunham, Dulce Dunham, Anna Roth, and Gwyn Roth. In recent years Joan became a Great Grandmother to Savannah, Hadley, Jeremiah and Kaiden.

Visitation will be held on March 22, 2025, from 9:30am to 10:00am with a celebration of life service starting at 10:00 am at Dickey Funeral Home in Harrisonville, Missouri. Instead of flowers, donations can be made to Wayside Waifs in Joan’s memory. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her.

Rich Hill 4th of July committee announces Phil Vassar as headliner

Known for his breakout hit "Just Another Day in Paradise", the piano pounding powerhouse has 10 #1 hits, and 27 Top 40 Tracks, including "Carlene" and "Six Pack Summer". Phil is also an award winning songwriter.

Phil will perform on 7/5/25 at 8:30 pm in Rich Hill's West Park (Park Place on google maps)
FREE CONCERT!! Bring your own lawn chairs.

Carnival, concessions, and craft booths, mark your calendar!

AC Bulldog All-District team members

Congrats to Appleton City Bulldogs on making the All District Team
Cami Brownsberger
Baylor Brownsberger
Alexis Turner
Michael Smith

Corey’s Comments from City Hall

The city is in the process of approving the 2025-2026 city budget. We are looking at $16, 302,001.00 in potential revenue this year that is up from $15,857,367.00 last fiscal year.  We are only expecting a net gain of $444,634.00 in additional revenue for the year. That money is spent very quickly on the rising cost of equipment, materials, labor, benefits and other additional costs the city must pay out. Even with that being said city council has been working very hard to ensure the needs of the citizens are being met. This is not an easy task and sometimes we have to make difficult decisions on what we can and cannot do in the budget. I truly do wish that this money went further on being able to provide services to the citizens of our community. 

Lately there have been major concerns about the condition of our streets. That the streets are in bad shape around our community. I would agree with you that some of our streets need major repair work. First let me say we are working on this situation and unfortunately it does take time and money to make the necessary repairs. The street department is working on fixing potholes around town that are the city’s responsibility. Will continue working on them through the spring and summer.  If you feel that there is a pothole that has not received the proper attention please contact city hall or go to our website and fill out a citizens request form https://www.cityofbutlermo.com/1376/Contact-Us. 

In the upcoming budget city council has allocated $700,000.00 to a street project this year. I know this will not fix every street in the city or even begin to fix many of the streets. Due to the cost of these street projects, we are only able to do one every two to three years. We must save money in order to have the funds to bid out the project. We do not have the crew to go in and do the major repairs that are required on the streets. The other issue we face is making sure the water and sewer lines are in good condition under the street first before we overlay the street. It will not do us any good to overlay a street and then go in and tear a brand-new street up to fix water and sewer lines. So, we are also working on trying to replace those lines along with the Lead & Copper mandate that came down from the federal government before we repair a street. 

The other topic I would like to talk about is the Fire Protection Sales Tax increase. This is not a new tax to the citizens of Butler it was established in 2007 and was approved by the voters again in 2012. We are asking the voters to approve the tax once again and increase the amount from 1/8 cent to a1/2 cent. These funds can only be used to help our local firefighters and fire department, it cannot be spent on anything else for the city. Last year this tax brought in $112,349.00 with the increase it would bring in additional $300,000.00. This money would go towards equipment, vehicles, bunker gear, and personnel. These items are ongoing and need continuous funding. We would not be proposing this increase if it was not necessary. No one likes to have their taxes increased, but this fund is critical to keep our fire department running at a high level. Butler Fire Department not only answers calls here in the community, but in the county, provides mutual aid for other cities, and assists Bates Count Memorial Hospital with medical calls. I would encourage all residents to consider this increase and know we are looking towards the future with public safety and keeping our community safe. 

The last comment I have is about economic development and looking at attracting new businesses and retaining our current businesses. Economics are very important to our community, and it is the catalyst of how we function. We are working every day to find ways to expand here in Butler. We are partnering with Missouri Partnership to help locate new manufacturing businesses to be a part of our community. We are also working on a retention package for our current business that we have. We are taking steps to build a better economic community in return and help our tax revenue to lessen the burden on the citizens. This again takes time, but we are moving in the right direction and hopefully very soon we will have some exciting news to share about potential growth.  

Sincerely, Butler City Administrator, Corey Snead

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Bates County real estate transfers and marriage licenses

Allmon, Melissa G t0 Lewis, Larry Lt 39 Swaidner's Addn

Lakeview Loan Servicing, LLC to Secretary Of Housing & Urban Development Str 5-38-31 //Nw

Tautua, David S. to Carter, Jagar Str 21-40-31 //Sw

Gebhardt, Jack to Gebhardt, Jack William Trust 09-12-2012 Str 3-42-31+

Peterson, Debra to Coffman, Gary F Lt 5 Bl 2 Barton's Addn

Schmdt, Dennis R to Schmidt, Dennis R. Trust 02-26-2025 Str 23-38-32

Nevada Mo Area Habitat For Humanity Inc to Back 2 Good LLC Lt 1 Bl 70 Rich Hill, Original Town Of+

Perdue, Daphne J to Peak, Mark Str 21-39-32 //Sw

Gillis, David E to Langley, James Lt 16 Town Company's First Addn+

Kellum, Jeff to Shubert, Daniel J Str 3-39-31 //Ne

Hargis, Michael to Donnell, David Blake Str 36-42-32 //Sw

Scott Cemetery Assn to Scott Cemetery Assn Str 18-41-32 //Sw

Marriage license

Doty, Zachary Scott and Miller, Krystina Marie

Eason, Brent Wayne and Ramirez, Anna Marie

Wolford, Clayton Lee and Lawrence, Keri Dawn

Greer, Jason Keith and Manley, Stephanie Ann