John W. Ehrhart

Mass of Christian Burial for John W. “Jack” Ehrhart, 69, Mayetta, will be at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Mayetta. Burial will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery in Hoyt.Mr. Ehrhart died Tuesday, July 18, 2006, at Holton Community Hospital.He was born Oct. 12, 1936, in Topeka, the son of John A. and Blanche V. Ward Ehrhart. He graduated from Hoyt High School in 1955 and had lived the majority of his life in the Hoyt and Mayetta communities.Mr. Ehrhart worked for the Kansas Highway Department and later the Kansas Department of Corrections. He owned and operated Ehrhart Excavating from 1962 until his death. He worked as an operator for Jackson County Water District No. 1. and owned and operated the Silver Dollar Lounge in Mayetta during the 1980s. He was a member of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Mayetta Knights of Columbus Council No. 9535 and the Mayetta Business Assn. He also had served on the Mayetta Pioneer Days Committee.He married Mary L. Ray on June 14, 1958. They divorced.His parents; a sister, Corene Sollars; and a son-in-law, Mark Thurman, all died earlier.Survivors include his longtime companion, Ruth Hickey, Osage City; two sons, Bob and wife Karen, Hoyt, and Ben and wife Wendy, Mayetta; two daughters, Lisa Thurman, Mayetta, and Terri Koch and husband Roger, Lawrence; a sister, Joan Ehrhart, Topeka; and nine grandchildren, Rachel, Nicholas, Gretchen, John, Laura, Matthew, Jenna, Chris and Kelli.Friends may call Thursday at Chapel Oaks Funeral Home in Hoyt, where a Knights of Columbus and parish rosary will be said at 6:30 p.m. with visitation to follow at 7 p.m. Friends may also call from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. before the services at the church.The family suggests memorials to Jackson County Friends of Hospice or Holton Community Hospital, sent in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 1034 Holton 66436.Online condolences may be sent at www.chapeloaksfuneralhome.com.