Leslie Alden Neff

Leslie Alden Neff was born in Junction City, Kansas on March 20th, 1927. Les was the 5th child of Bird and Anna (Jorgenson) Neff. At an early age, he lost both his parents and was sent to live with his maternal Aunt Carrie and Uncle Frank (siblings to Anna) at the family farm in Wabaunsee Co., Kansas. He grew up loving the farm; the hunting, fishing and farm chores. He attended a nearby country school through 8th grade. He lived in Alta Vista during the week to attend high school but was back to the beloved farm on the weekend. His senior year of high school, he lived on his own in Council Grove and worked at the Fairmont Creamery before and after school for his living expenses. He graduated from Council Grove HS in 1944. He and his cousin Hugh decided to enlist in the Navy. Aunt Carrie signed under-age permission papers for Les to enlist. They boarded a train to San Diego for basic training. During training he got scarlet fever and spent several weeks in the hospital and did not get to serve with Hugh. He was a Seamen 3rd Class assigned to the USS Astoria. Due to his ability to type and his knowledge of math, Les was assigned to the payroll division. One of his most vivid memories is standing at attention and hearing the President over the loudspeaker announce that the war was over. After the war, he came back to the farm and not finding any work he headed to Western Kansas to work the wheat harvest. He found work as a farm hand and later as a lineman, but he decided that laying power lines in Nebraska during the winter was not for him. He then headed back to Emporia to go to college under the GI bill. There he met a beautiful red head name Bonnie Jewell Hanson. He left college in order to work to save for a wedding. He and Bonnie Jewell were married on June 18th, 1950. They moved to western Kansas where he continued working as a farm hand for various ranchers. Their first three sons were born during that time period. The family moved back to Eastern Kansas to be closer to Bonnie’s family. There the two youngest children were born. They both loved being on the farm with their family. Bonnie Jewell had told Les when they were engaged “I want to be married, I want to live on a farm, and I want to have five children.” Bonnie Jewel passed away August 14th, 1962 from a blood disorder. Not being able to care for 5 young children, Les agreed for Bonnie Jewell’s sister, Dorothy, to adopt the two youngest. At that time, he was working for Fanestil Packing Company and delivering meat. He decided to go back to school to finish his degree where he met Mary Jane Fowler and they were married April 2, 1966. Les completed his degree in Industrial Education and went to work for Didde/Glaser in Emporia in their Human Resources Department. He continued with his education and received a master’s degree in Counseling. While at Didde’s he had several articles published on personnel and established job descriptions and safety policies for the company. He did extensive training through the community regarding training policies and procedures. He continued farming Uncle Frank’s farm and he and Mary Jane loved to travel and spent many happy hours at horse and dog races. After 18 years of marriage, Mary Jane passed away from cancer. Les then worked for the City of Emporia as Administrative Assistant to the Director of Public Works. While he was in the city offices of Topeka on business, he met Colleen Sivenson and they were married in the spring of 1987. Les and Colleen retired and moved to Branson, Missouri where they enjoyed attending the shows and traveling. In retirement Les actively pursued woodworking and created many coffee tables, lamp tables, recipe boxes, dump-it boxes, and banks for all his grandchildren and great grandchildren. One of his favorite things to do when he spent time with his great grandchildren was to give them a dollar for their banks. He invented tools to assist with his projects and received patents on two of them. Colleen passed away January 18th, 2005 from cancer and in 2006 Les moved to Grove, Oklahoma. Les continued with his woodworking until he could no longer see. In 2014 he moved to Bartlesville to live with his son Warren and daughter-in-law Rita where he resided until his death. Les never knew a stranger and loved to share his stories and jokes with all who would listen. He was an avid fan of sports, flying and anything he could make with wood. Les was preceded in death by his parents, wives, siblings, and daughter-in-law Susan. He is survived by his children: Monty (Betty) Neff of Emporia, KS; Dennis Neff of Edmond, OK; Warren (Rita) Neff of Bartlesville, OK; Tim (Bernie) Neff of Port Orchard, WA; and Renee (Alan) Clark of Westwood, KS; 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Memorials may be made to East Cross United Methodist Church designated to Circle of Care. The family would like to extend a special thank you to Carter Hospice and the Bartlesville Living Center for the wonderful care he received during the last 2 months of his life.

Leslie Alden Neff

March 20, 1927 - January 19, 2019