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Obituaries

Council Grove — Memorial services for Dale R. Wiltfong, 62, of Alta Vista, will be at 11 a.m. today at the Penwell-Gabel Flint Hills Chapel in Council Grove with Chaplain Janet Crowl of Midland Hospice officiating. Inurnment will follow at 2:30 p.m. at the Fontana Cemetery in Fontana. Mr. Wiltfong died Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009, at the Hospice House in Topeka.He was born Aug. 21, 1946, in Kansas City, Mo., the son of Edgar O. and Barbara Helen Leimkuhler Wiltfong. He was a 1964 graduate of Fontana High School.Mr. Wiltfong was a structural iron worker for 38 years. He later owned and operated Wiltfong backhoe service, Prairie Thunder Elk, and Prairie Thunder Transportation Inc. He was an auctioneer and held a pilot’s license and real estate license. He also enjoyed pheasant hunting and restoring old cars.Mr. Wiltfong was a member of the Fontana Methodist Church and Iron Workers Local No. 10 in Kansas City, Mo. He had been a volunteer fireman for the Wakarusa Fire Department. He was also a member and served on the board of directors of the Kansas Elk Breeders Association and was on the board of directors of the Wabaunsee County Conservation District.He married Gladys Daughtery in June 1967. She preceded him in death. He later married Sharon Heidemann on Nov. 13, 1992, in Topeka. She survives of the home.Other survivors include a son, Richard E. “Rick” and wife Rebecca, Urbana, Ill.; a brother, George and wife Margaret, De Soto; two sisters, Jean Miller and husband Henry, Central Point, Ore., and Sara Cornett, Paola; two grandchildren, Leo and Samantha Wiltfong; and several nieces and nephews.He was also preceded in death by his parents and a son, Ronald, in 1991.The family suggests memorials to Midland Hospice or to an organization of the donor’s choice. Online condolences may be sent to PenwellGabel.com.