Loren Dwight Hale

Loren Dwight Hale passed away on January 4, 2020 at the Solomon Valley Manor in Stockton, Kansas, at the age of 91.

He was born the third child to Arthur and Nora (Murphy) Hale on September 27, 1928 at their farm home in Logan County, Kansas. In 1939 he moved with his family to his grandparent’ farm north of Woodston. Loren attended elementary school at Monument, Kansas and Union Four, a country school in Rooks County, about a mile from his farm home. He graduated from Woodston High School in 1946. He then worked on several ranches in Sheridan County before joining the U.S. Geological Survey Team which was stationed in North Dakota working on the Mississippi River Project.

It was in North Dakota where he found the love of his life, Adeline Langowski. They were married in Bottineau, ND on October 26, 1949. They then returned to Woodston where Loren worked on the Missouri Pacific Railroad Section Gang and later managed the John E. Jones Farm. In 1953 he moved his family to Scott City where he worked for Sunnyslope Horse Ranch. While at Sunnyslope, he helped train several champion horses. He contracted Encephalitis which put him in the hospital almost four months. While recuperating from the illness, the family moved to a farm just west of Ash Rock Church, north of Woodston. Loren finished his working years for the Stockton City Electrical Plant, moving to the north edge of Stockton. Loren and Adeline were married 62 years before she passed away in 2012. They were blessed with three children: Dennis Dwight, Debra Dea, and Lorna Lynne.

Loren attended the Ash Rock Church and later became a member of the Woodston E.U.B. Church. He and Adeline were members of the Bohemian Lodge and Solomon Valley Antique Association. He was also a Lions International member for several years.

Left to cherish Loren’s memory are his daughters, Debra Colburn of Garden City and Lorna Riffel (Jim Rogers) of Stockton; brother, Don (Phyllis) Hale of Longmont, CO; five grandchildren, H.J. Colburn of LaCrosse, Bethany (Casey) Howard of Garden City, Denison Colburn of Garden City, Thomas (April) Yakish of Woodston, and Beau (Terra) Riffel of Fremont, NE; and several great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

Loren is preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Nora; wife, Adeline; son, Dennis; son-in-law, John Yakish; brother, Willard; sister, Naomi Holli-man; brothers-in-law, Kenneth Holliman, Henry Czapiewski, and Junior Carlson; and sisters-in-law, Junia Hale, Julie Carlson, and Dolly Czapiewski.

A funeral service was held on Wednesday, January 8, 2020, at 10:30 a.m. at the funeral home in Stockton. Burial followed at the Ash Rock Cemetery in Woodston.

Memorials are suggested to Solomon Valley Manor or Woodston United Methodist Church and may be sent in care of Plumer-Overlease Funeral Home, 723 N. 1st, Stockton, KS 67669. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.plumeroverlease.com. c.