Nancy Maryland Corel LaHay Dobbins died on this day in 1917
(92 years ago).

Donald Charles Fletcher was born to the youngest daughter of Clifford Romaine Fletcher and Margaret Edna Cowan on October 16, 1950 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.  As a young child, he went to live with his Uncle Bill Fletcher and family in Miami, Florida.  Don was the perfect addition to this family and when Bill tried to look into adopting Don, about the same time that Don’s mother married, she chose to have Don move back to Michigan, where he was adopted by his step-father, Jerry Thomas McFarlin.

At the age of 7, he was blessed with a half-sister, whom he loved dearly and spoke of often.  When he was nearly 13, his half-brother was born.  Don did not have many happy childhood memories that he shared with us.  By 1970 Don entered the military, moved to Kansas, and legally changed his name to Bishop.  Don had a second half-brother who was born after he moved to Kansas.

The following is a collection of the memories that were shared at Dad’s funeral.

A Celebration of Life for Don Bishop
October 16, 1950 – November 3, 2005

In the 1970’s, Don was kinda wild.

Don met Connie Laughlin at the apartment complex where they both lived. Connie asked the landlady to introduce them and her response was “Oh, no honey, you don’t want to meet him. He’s not your type.”

During the early years, the couple was young and foolish. Doing young and foolish things for that era. They married after knowing each other for only 3 months. Everyone said that it wouldn’t last. Well, it did… 35 years.

Don held several jobs during those younger years. He always managed to be employed. Some jobs were not that good and some didn’t pay that well, but he always brought in a paycheck.

By mid 1976, they had two girls that Don totally adored. He had a hard time showing affection in his early days. By him receiving affection from his new family and friends, he then learned how to give affection back. This took many, many years.

His form of discipline was “the look”. When dad got that look, the girls knew that he meant business.

Don never met a person that he didn’t like… except for a few of the boyfriends that came around. Once he became your friend, he was your friend for life. When Don and Connie married, he not only married Connie but her entire family. He was loved dearly by his extended family.

He was always willing to help whoever asked. Asking for nothing in return. He helped around the house doing laundry, dishes, vacuuming and anything Connie would ask, he would do. Yes, even windows. He was always right there helping the girls with school projects.

Don loved to party and he usually was the life of the party. Even though Connie would be mad and upset, that didn’t stop him any at all.

During these party times, he could be heard yelling “GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM!” after the movie with the same name. Or he would say, “I’ll drink to that!”  YYYOOOOOOOOO was another favorite of his.

He was daring as well. He’d do anything that anyone suggested or mentioned, just to prove that he was a macho man. That included attempting an Evil Knevil motorcycle turn in front of Sonny and Alan. Hitting the wrong brake, the bike stopped and Don went flying over the handle bars on to the hood of the truck. Coming back to the house, he was bleeding and limping along. He made an ER visit that is still memorable to this day. This was one of many ER visits that Don made while visiting family in western Kansas.

At Christmas in 1972, the family received a Santa that sang “Jingle Bells.” As the girls grew older, he would take this Santa to their doorways and turn it on. Even as late as two years ago, he would have Connie call each of them and he would play that Santa. It became a family ritual.

He took pride in decorating the outside of his house. He would start decorating in November and would continue to add decorations throughout December. Many times these additional decorations would blow the breakers.

When Connie worked the 3-11 shift at the hospital while the girls were school age, he fixed them beanie-weenies. He added baking soda so that it wouldn’t be gassy for the girls. Not knowing exactly what baking soda did, the beanie-weenies were horrible. The girls remember that to this day and always laugh about his cooking abilities or I should say his cooking inabilities. He was dynamite with the grill though.

Don loved sports. During the ‘70s and ‘80s, he was a devoted Royals baseball fan. We attended many games since he lived in Kansas City. He would also watch all the games on TV or listen to them on the radio. When the Chiefs got started, he watched all of their games. His deepest love of sports was for the KU basketball. Don and Connie were able to attend all the home games in 2003. He loved every minute of those games. Their computer room is decorated with KU memorabilia, many that Don had picked out or that his girls had given him.

As time passed and the lottery and gambling became legal in Kansas and Missouri, his enjoyment turned to this. He loved to go to the boat and he would go every chance he got. When the power ball started, he picked his numbers that are still used to this day. Whenever Don and Connie went out of town, he always had to make sure that he had his picks for the time that they would be gone. When he was in the hospital, he would always make sure that either one of the girls or Connie would get his picks. He made Connie promise that she would continue to get his picks even after he was gone. For the first few years, she did continue to get the picks, but as the economy turned, and things began to get tight, she knew that he would understand.

When he became sick, it was very hard on him. He had to give up his job with KDOT. Losing the contact of his work buddies was very hard. He would often call and chit-chat about the projects they were doing. He wasn’t strong enough to drive to a site to visit. The inability to be functional and work was extremely hard on him. He even had difficulty doing the little “honey-do’s” that Connie left for him to do so that he just wouldn’t sit. Often these little jobs took all day, but he got them done. The last two weeks he was bothered by the fact that he could no longer do much to help me around the house. He was told not to worry about it, but he did.

Every time his son-in-laws would come over, he would have a list of stuff for them to do. Many of which wasn’t necessary or important. But, it was important to him and they obliged him.

Don and Connie adopted a 5 year old black lab, Cooper, to keep Don company. Cooper and Don would often drive up the road or to the grocery store so that Cooper could get her daily ride in.

When KU won the 1988 NCCA basketball tournament, her dad took his youngest daughter, Michelle, to Crown Center to get the champion tee-shirts. He even let her stay home from school to do this.

For the last couple of weeks Don was reminiscing about the times that he had to take on Paula’s boyfriends. He was protective of his girl.

His greatest thrill of all was being able to be here and see the birth of his first grandchild. He called her “his little angel”.

Now, at the age of 4, Abby refers to Don as “Mimi’s PawPaw” (Mimi being her word for her Grammy Connie). Abby knows that Mimi’s PawPaw is in heaven and that when she sees the stars, it means that he is watching her.

Funeral Card

On behalf of the family, we wish to express
their gratitude for your many kindnesses
evidenced in thought and deed, and
for your attendance at this service.

---

GOD SAW

God watched you as you suffered
And knew you’d had your share
He gently closed your weary eyes
And took you in His care
God has you in His keeping
We have you in our hearts
Your memory is our keepsake
With that we’ll never part
God saw you getting tired
And a cure was not to be
He put His arm around you
And whispered, “Come with Me.”
With tearful eyes we watched you
And saw you fade away
Although we loved you dearly
We could not make you stay
A golden heart stopped beating
Hard working hands now rest
God broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes the best.

---

In Memory of

DONALD C. “DON” BISHOP

Date of Birth
October 16, 1950
Detroit, Michigan

Date of Death
November 3, 2005
Lawrence, Kansas

MEMORIAL SERVICE
1:00 p.m. Monday, Noevember 7, 2005
Warren-McElwain Mortuary
Lawrence, Kansas

OFFICIANT
Angela Lowe, Chaplain

INURNMENT
Oak Hill Cemetery
Lawrence, Kansas

---

Obituary

1950-2005
LAWRENCE

LAWRENCE JOURNAL WORLD
Thursday, November 10, 2005

Donald C. Bishop, 55, Lawrence, died Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Memorial services were held Monday at Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence. He will be inurned in Oak Hill Cemetery.

Mr. Bishop was born Oct. 16, 1950, in Detroit, Mich., the son of Jerry and Mary Ellen Fletcher McFarlin. He moved to Kansas in 1969, where he lived in the Kansas City and Lawrence areas. He was an engineer technician for the Kansas Dept. of Transportation from 1998 until the present. He formerly worked for the Lanter Trucking Co. in Edwardsville.

He married Connie Laughlin July 10, 1970, in Lawrence. She survives at the home. Also surviving are two daughters, Paula Hawk and Michelle Spiess, both of Edwardsville; his parents; two half-brothers, Michael McFarlin, Tempe, Ariz.; and Jerry McFarlin, Jr., Taylor, Mich.; half-sister, Susan Proto, Taunton, Mass.; and one grandchild, Abby Spiess.

The family suggests memorials to the Lawrence Memorial Hospital for the benefit of the Oncology Unit or the charity of the donor’s choice and may be sent in care of the Warren-McElwain Mortuary, 120 W. 13th St., Lawrence, KS 66044-3402, (785) 843-1120.

Rebecca Ann Corel and Robert Emmitt McGlothlin were married on October 29, 1840, making today the 169th anniversary of their wedding.

I hope that everyone has had a good summer and is ready for that ‘back to school’ mode!

Along the top and bottom of each page, you will notice that there is a new link in the navigation: Images.  Right now there are only three links that are ‘live’ on the page: 1820, 1830, and sources.  I’ve decided to split it up in this way, so that I can add more records later, if needed.  As I have been adding these census images, I have also been updating the William & Rebecca page, with links that will take you to the image thumbnail of the census I am discussing.

When you are on one of the thumbnail pages (so far only 1820 and 1830) when you click the image, a new window will open showing you a larger image.  I think most browsers are pretty much the same on this: you should be able to click on the large image to get it to 100% and then be able to scroll through the image.

This side project may take me a little bit to get all caught up, so please bear with me.  I have about 75 images of census records only that only cover William and Rebecca (Oney) Corel, Jemima Corel and David McGlothlin, Mary McGlothlin, Henry H. McGlothlin, Martha Jane McGlothlin, Shadrack McGlothlin, Henry Highland and Nancy Matney, Jemima M. Corel, and Julia Ann Corel.  I also have images showing war service, newspaper articles, birth and death records, pages from books, and marriage records!  I have also gathered some of the images for the Corel by Chance families.  On the bright side, this will give me some time while I wait for my latest request for inter library loan, on the Parman family.  I think that I will also try to do some preliminary research on the children of Mary Ester Corel Puckett, so I might be able to start moving a bit quicker.  Well, except for the next week – I have jury duty!  I’m hoping I won’t be selected, so I will be able to do my research, but I may very well be stuck without a computer next week!! 

After weighing the options on how to resolve this issue, I have decided that I am going to create an Image Library, fully documented with source information, but not the web address of the Ancestry.com page I found the information.  On items that are just in a database, with no images to reference, I will take a “snapshot” of the web page with the pertinent info.

I’m not completely sure of just how I am going to do this Image Library.  Rather than trying to create a library for each individual, I think it might be easier to have different sections, such as: Census, Books, Marriage Records, Birth Records, Death Records, Grave Markers, People, Places, and Misc.

I was wanting to do something similar to this on the site, to include photos and such in a centralized location, but I wasn’t planning on working on it right away.  For now, so that I can get everything up and loaded, I will just enter the images in their appropriate section.  I am thinking I will create a simple page that will have thumbnails linking to the full sized images, without a lot of details about the images.

If you have any thoughts or ideas on this, please let me know!

My next project will be to update Henry Highland’s page with the few details I have about daughters Margaret and Louisa.  Then I will likely create another Corels by Chance page for the Parman family, as the Parman’s are related through Cosby Jane Corel’s line (Rachel Parman is the maternal grandmother of William Justice.) and Rebecca Elizabeth Corel’s line (Rebecca is the youngest daughter of Henry Highland, she married Giles Gilbert Parman, son of George Parman and Lydia Myers.  Lydia is the sister of Willis Myers who married Julia Ann Corel.).  Rachel Parman is an aunt of George Parman and great aunt of Giles Gilbert Parman.

After showing the Parman family, I will do the page for Rebecca Elizabeth Corel that will complete the children of Henry Highland Corel and have me ready to start working on the children of Mary Ester Corel and John Puckett.

Julia Ann Corel & Willis Myers

I found this photo and obituaries for Julia Ann Corel Myers and Willis Myers on Find A Grave on July 24, 2009.  Corel Cousin Bobby Dobbins Title had added the obituaries, and Find A Grave member, June, had added the photo.  I am currently working on a page for Julia and Willis, so I will not share a story about them on this Tombstone Tuesday.  I have gotten caught up in Willis’ Civil War service, but I hope to have the page for this couple completed within the next week.

I will share, that from what I have read, I can imagine that Julia and Willis met before the war broke out, while Julia was visiting her aunt Cosby Jane Corel Justice or perhaps her aunt Nancy Maryland Corel LaHay.  After the death of Julia’s parents, Henry Highland Corel and Nancy Matney, sister Margaret lived with aunt Nancy Maryland and sister Louisa lived with aunt Cosby Jane.  Both aunts lived in close proximity to China Campbell Myers Yates and Abel Yates, mother and step father of Willis Myers.

Willis and his brother, Williamson Silas Myers, both enlisted in military service on July 13, 1861 for 3 year terms.   By March 1862, when the 9th Kansas Cavalry was officially organized, both brothers had been promoted to Corporal in Company A of this regiment.  No evidence of a muster out date has been found for Willis, but it is likely that he mustered out with his brother and the rest of Company A on November 19, 1864 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  I can envision the joy that Julia must have felt upon Willis’ return from the war.  The couple surely must have been deeply in love, as they were married just over a month later on December 27, 1864.

CHETOPA ADVANCE
Friday, September 25, 1903

Willis Myers, one of the old time residents of Chetopa, died at Welch, I.T. Monday, September 22, aged 65 years. The body was brought to Chetopa Wednesday and was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, Rev. J. R. McFadden conducting the service at the grave. Mr. Myers left a widow and four children, Ed Myers, Nevada, Missouri; Mrs. Will Columbia, Chetopa; Mrs. Roqua Milner, Ardmore, I.T.; and Mrs. Gertrude Crotty, Butler, Missouri.

MRS. JULIA MYERS DIES AT DAUGHTER’S HOME
CHETOPA ADVANCE-CLIPPER
Thursday, October 16, 1930

Mrs. Julia Anne Myers, aged 86 years, 8 months and 19 days, died Tuesday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. W. H. Columbia. She is survived by one son, E.W. Myers of Nevada, Missouri, three daughters, Mrs. Columbia, Mrs. Charles Milner of Ardmore, Oklahoma, and Mrs. John Crotty of Nevada, Missouri, eight grandchildren. Funeral services were held at the home yesterday afternoon, Rev. Harry Weed officiating and burial being in Oak Hill Cemetery. The son and one daughter, Mrs. Milner, were unable to be present on account of illness. Mr. Myers died September 20, 1893.

Julia Anne Correll was born January 25, 1944, in Wheeling, W. Virginia. When she was 5 years old she moved with her parents to Lawrence, Kansas, where she grew to womanhood. December 27, 1864, she was married to Willis Myers at Lawrence. To this union were born five children, one of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Myers was a member of the Christian Church and active in its service until a few years ago. She was a charter member but demitted April 2, 1887, after she moved to Chetopa.

James Henry Corel Driving Horses

Over Memorial Day weekend I had the opportunity to talk with my grandparents about our family history and I was able to go through some old photos, scrapbooks, and other items that had been saved over the years.

I was awestruck when I saw this first photo of my great great grandpa, James Henry Corel  (son of James Pickens Corel) driving his horses – I just think this is a GREAT shot!  James Henry, like many of my ancestors, farmed the Kansas soil to provide for his family.

In having the opportunity to talk with my grandma, I learned some interesting things.  Some things I learned, I probably shouldn’t share, but I will, and I will just hope that no one gets mad or offended!

James Henry Corel on his Plow

I should probably start with my estimation of the age of these photos.  They were glued (ugh) into a scrapbook on pages that also had photos of my great grandma, Kathryn Corel, as a very young girl.  Kathryn was born in 1908, so I am going to guess that these photos were likely taken around 1910.

Grandma told me that the land that she now lives on used to be covered with potato crops.  Today the fields alternate between corn and soy beans.  I never would have imagined potatoes being the crop of choice, after all, we are the Wheat State!

During World War II there was a prisoner of war barracks just down the road from the family farm.  I still can’t wrap my head around Nazi prisoners being sent to Kansas!  Great Grandpa James Henry had a German that came to work on the farm while he was staying at the prisoner of war barracks.  Grandma recalls that the German would eat with them, just like he was one of the family.  Grandma would ride her horse carrying water for the men out in the fields as a young girl.

James Henry Corel wasn’t always nice to his work horses.  One day one of the horses fought back and knocked him down to the ground and stomped on his ear!  Grandma said that he was lucky that he didn’t die that day and that he just lost that ear.

James Henry Corel with 7 Great Grandchildren

I included this last photo of James Henry with his great grandchildren to show that all that our ancestors did, it was always for the family.  Plus, I had teased one cousin about a photo I found and today is her birthday, so I thought it would be a great way to end this post.  This photo was taken about 1953 and has James Henry Corel holding Debbie McCoy and surrounded by Laurie Head, Connie and Sonny Laughlin, Dale and David Corel, and Wayne Hurrelbrink.  Personally, I think that the look on James Henry’s face is simply PRICELESS!!