Connie K. Drotts
1940 - 2020
Connie left our world on the morning of November 7, 2020, and she will be missed. The world was a far better place with her in it.
Connie was born the second child of Velma and Kirby Hunt. She had an older brother, Lewis, whom she adored. Her parents and brother preceded her in death.
Connie enjoyed growing up in the beautiful state of Colorado, a place she absolutely loved. While living in Denver, she began her life-long love for the Denver Broncos. After finishing school there, she worked briefly as a model for The May D and F Company in Denver.
After losing her father very early in life, along with being young and starting a family (a son, Brad, and a daughter, Bonnie), Connie moved to Phillipsburg, Kansas. She had strong Western Kansas roots with all her aunts and uncles living in the Phillips County region, so she could not think of a better place to raise her children. Once back in Kansas, surrounded by family, Connie’s life was good and about to get better. She met Glenn M. Drotts, a local farm boy from Stockton, Kansas, and soon they were married. Glenn and Connie were blessed with three more sons—Derrick, Doug, and Dane. Glenn, a local Farm Bureau agent, longed to be a farmer, so together, they built a home on the Drotts Family Farmstead. There they raised their family on the Rooks County Dairy Farm. However, life never promises us an easy path, and in the mid-seventies, the farmhouse was destroyed by fire.
A new life then began in Stockton. Anyone who knew Connie was aware she possessed an unbreakable will. Needing a position of employment, she became a dispatcher for the Rooks County Law Enforcement Division, and this is where her passion for law enforcement began. She trained and became the undersheriff of Rooks County. A true pioneer, she was one of the first women in the United States to hold this position. In a field dominated by men, this was one of her greatest accomplishments, of which she was most proud, second only to her pride in her family. Connie was a sight—only 98 pounds soaking wet and carrying a Smith & Wesson 357 that weighed almost as much as she did! But everyone knew not to test her resolve! It was common knowledge Connie would never back down from the side of right!
Connie was given a gift; she talked to anyone. So, after her work as undersheriff ended, she and her daughter, Bonnie, purchased the Phelp’s Card & Gift Shop and they ran a successful business together. After Connie’s children were grown and no longer lived in Stockton, Connie decided to seek a new adventure. She took a position as sales manager for the Zale’s Corporation, managing successful stores located in Salina, Manhattan, and Topeka, until her retirement. Connie lived her final years in Salina.
Connie is survived by her five children: Brad of Topeka; Bonnie (Ron) of Salina; Derrick of Topeka; Doug (Cristy) of Houston, Texas; and Dane (Veronica) of Chicago, Ill. Connie was also blessed with seven grandchildren: Blake, Aric, Hunter, Ellie, Sofia, Dylan, and Sebastian; and two great-grandchildren, Brynlee and Bryson.
Recounting Connie’s adventures and the memories of her could go on for pages, but she wouldn’t care about any praise or notoriety. What Connie would want you to know is that she loved her family, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren beyond any ability of ours to measure with mere words. She’d want you to know that she always felt blessed to be a mother—not just to her children, but to those who needed one—a room mother in all her children’s classes as they went through the great Stockton school system and to any friends her children brought into their home. She cared for them all like they were her own. Connie loved life and loved her family. An empty space is left in many of our hearts, but we are comforted knowing we were loved by the Greatest Mom Ever!
