Sabetha Mass of Christian Burial for Ray Deaver, 89, Sabetha, will be 10 a.m. Monday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Sabetha. Burial will be in Sabetha Cemetery.
Mr. Deaver died Thursday, March 1, 2001, at Sabetha Community Hospital.
He was born Aug. 10, 1911, in rural Sabetha, the son of Fred and Sarah (Bestwick) Deaver.
He graduated from Sabetha High School in 1930. He later attended Kansas State University and was an active Delta Sigma Phi member. Mr. Deaver returned to Sabetha and spent the remainder of his life as a farmer, stockman and community leader.
Mr. Deaver and his father were early promoters of hybrid seed corn and owned and operated Deaver Kansas Hybrid Seed Co. in Sabetha. The second floor of the business was the Sabetha Teen Center for several years.
Mr. Deaver received the "Balanced Farming and Family Living Award" in 1956 and again in 1985. He also received the distinction of being recognized as the Kansas State Farm Bureau Man Leader of the Year in 1955. In 1962 the Deavers earned the "Kansas Balanced Farming Award."
Mr. Deaver was president and board member of the Brown County Farm Bureau and a delegate to the national convention. He also served as president and board member of the Sabetha Shoe Store. He was a member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church and the Elks, and was involved in the Farmers Cooperative Elevator and the Nemaha Cooperative Creamery Assn.
He married Margaret Mary Dandliker on Feb. 19, 1935, in Sabetha. She survives of the home.
Other survivors include a son, Jim, Eagan, Minn.; four daughters, Mary Maduska, Memphis, Tenn., Joan Remmers, Platte City, Mo., and Shirley Wenger and Valerie Deaver, both of Lawrence; four sisters, Lila Ruth Wiltz, Opal Schmitt and Frances Sauer, all of Sabetha, and Mildred McCoy, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; 13 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.
The family will greet friends from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. today at Popkess Mortuary Chapel, Sabetha, where a parish wake service begins at 7 p.m.
The family suggests memorials to the Sabetha High School Agricultural Scholarship Fund or the Cottonwood Inc. Adult Training Center, Lawrence, sent in care of the mortuary, 823 Virginia, Sabetha 66534.
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