Obituaries / LJWorld.com

Obituaries

Funeral services for William J. “Bill” Peak, 85, Lawrence, will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Clinton Parkway Assembly of God. Burial will be at 2:30 p.m. at the Highland Park Cemetery in Pittsburg.
Mr. Peak died Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010, at his home.
He was born Oct. 10, 1925, in rural Girard, the son of James B. and Edna M. Ryan Peak. He attended schools in Kirkwood and Langdon.
Mr. Peak worked for Pittsburg Lumber and Bozick Tire Company while living in Pittsburg. He entered the Army Air Corps in September 1943. He served in England during the war as a crew member (radio operator and gunner) on a B24 Liberator aircraft and was discharged with honors in October 1945.
After the war, Mr. Peak opened a cabinet shop and later became a master builder and contractor. He constructed apartment complexes, commercial structures and private residences across the country. He was the co-owner of Mid Plains Construction and founder of Peak Builders in Lawrence, where he oversaw such projects as Hawks West and Brandon Woods.
He married LaVaughn Kastl on April 13, 1986, in Lawrence. She survives of the home.
Other survivors include two daughters, Linda Kent and husband Al, of Jefferson City, Mo., and Carolyn Sue Loy and husband Larry, of Mount Vernon, Mo.; one son, Larry Peak and wife Evelyn, of Girard; his four stepchildren, Peggy Lasher and husband Mike, of Nevada, Beverly Gossage and husband Robert, of Eudora, Marilyn Pearse, of Baldwin City, and Howard Kastl and wife Kim, of Lawrence; 20 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren; two brothers, Joe, of Pelzer, S.C., and Leo, of Pittsburg; three sisters, Margaret Hayden, of Topeka, and Angie Patterson and Joan McGeorge, Pittsburg; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his stepson Curtis Kastl in 2010.
The family will greet friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence.
The family suggests memorials to the Manitowoc, Wis., Salvation Army, sent in care of the mortuary, 120 W. 13th St., Lawrence, KS 66044.
Online condolences may be sent at warrenmcelwain.com.