Ramona honors life-long resident, Naomi Fike
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
Jan. 30-Feb. 10
By the time my sister and I moved to Kansas in 2000, Ramona had become "modernized" with house numbers and street signs. But in the early days of our coming here, back in 1990 when we bought our first house here, there were no house numbers, and so when we approached our summer expeditions to Kansas, and began shipping our supplies ahead of us to Aunt Naomi Fike, we'd use the following address on all our UPS packages: Naomi Fike, two blocks west of post office, one block north, white house w/black shutters on SW corner, Ramona, KS 67475.
Invariably we'd get a call from a California United Postal Service employee asking for a "proper address" and we'd assure them that this was the best that could be had in tiny Ramona, and if the delivery person followed the directions, they'll find Aunt Naomi's house.
By the time we arrived for our annual summer working vacation our aunt had packages of wallpaper and drapery material and dishes and tools — all of it stacked in boxes around her house. It resembled Christmas in July.
Each summer Pat and I stayed with our aunt until we got our first little house remodeled. We'd rise early in the morning, pull on our grubby clothes, load up our tools in Uncle Kenneth's old truck and chug down to our little house on 5th and D and begin the day's work. At high noon we'd return to Naomi's table where she'd have a mouth-watering meal waiting for us, and the highlight always was homemade cherry pie for dessert.
It was over that dessert we'd linger after lunch, telling the stories and secrets of our lives, as we also regained our energy to begin an afternoon of labor in the scorching summer heat.
We recalled these memories and many more Feb. 1. at Naomi's memorial service. The Rosebank Brethren in Christ Church was nearly filled with family and friends who came to honor Naomi's 86 years of life — lived in its entirety in Ramona, except for a few months when she resided in Marion Manor while attempting rehab, and in hopes of recuperating enough to return to Ramona.
But despite hopes of improvement in early December, she began to slip away from all of us in January, and on Jan. 29 she died. As one of Naomi's dear friends put it, "She kept saying how she wanted to return home after the first of the year. I guess she did — it was her heavenly home."
Naomi's children, and our cousins — Virginia, Joe and Steve and Steve's wife, Maureen — have been in Ramona from Naomi's death until her funeral, staying at Naomi's home as they made funeral arrangements and brought closure to their mother's life. It was wonderful having them here, seeing them about town, and knowing that if I walked two blocks west and one block north, I'd find them there. In the evening we gathered around our table and enjoyed noodle soup and butterballs — a family tradition for all of us — we talked of all the memories we had that were tied to good food because Naomi was a wonderful country cook!
"Not liver, though," said Virginia. "Not mush!" said Steve. "I gag at the word." And then Joe listed the favorite dishes, "Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy."
And Virginia chimed in, "And corn on the cob."
Pastor Norman, who delivered the message at both Kenneth's and Naomi's funerals, also had memories of the food served around the Fike table. Joe said that at his father's funeral in 1990, Pastor Norman mentioned how amazing it was to join the Fikes for dinner and all that was on the menu was corn on the cob! (I could relate to that — Pat and I do the same thing during corn season.)
And then on Wednesday at Naomi's service, Pastor Norman told a most humorous story about how he was hankering for sausage one Sunday and so after church he and his wife headed for Durham to a restaurant that typically served sausage, but when they arrived, it wasn't on the menu that day. So the Normans left and drove to Marion in search of a sausage lunch, but there was no sausage in Marion either.
Pastor Norman said by this time he was grumbling to God a little because he'd been working hard all week for the Lord, and all he wanted in return was a fine meal featuring sausage! Why hadn't the Lord heard his plea?
On this sausage-less Sunday afternoon, as the Normans drove toward home, they decided to stop at Kenny and Naomi Fike's house for a visit. And after a pleasant chat Naomi invited the Normans to stay for supper. "We protested and didn't want to intrude," said Pastor Norman. But Naomi persisted. "Oh, we aren't having much — just some sausage!" And Pastor Norman's prayer was answered.
A couple of days before the funeral, Naomi's kids were gathered at our office and clustered around Pat who sat at her computer and wrote down the memories they all had of their mother. They had asked Pat to write and read Naomi's life sketch at her funeral and Pat was honored to do so.
"I remember Sunday evening," said Steve. "We'd always have sandwiches because we'd had a big meal earlier in the day. We loved sandwiches, and we could sit in the living room and watch TV while we ate."
"It was the only time we ate in the living room," added Virginia.
"Then we'd make popcorn and split a Pepsi," said Joe. "We'd get two glasses and mine and Steve's would have to be the exact same size so the amount of Pepsi we got would be exactly the same. Mom would suggest that one of us drink from the Pepsi container — it would have saved her washing a glass — but we insisted on it being two identical glasses so we each knew we'd gotten the same amount of Pepsi!"
Naomi's funeral was a great tribute and celebration. All of her living children and their families were present. Naomi had two children who preceded her in death — an infant son, James Edward who lived just one day in 1944; and her oldest daughter Carolyn who was killed in a tragic accident in 1963. Carolyn was represented at Naomi's service, because Carolyn's daughter, Cathy, who was just an little girl when her mother died, was present with her husband and children, honoring Grandmother Naomi, who raised Cathy in her mother's absence.
My sister and I, along with our mother, were honored to sing at Noami's funeral and Pat gave Naomi's life sketch. Officiating were two pastors that each knew Naomi because of her membership in the Rosebank Church — the Rev. Shane Britt, the current Rosebank pastor, and the Rev. Charles Norman, former pastor.
Bearing Naomi's casket were grandsons, Scott Bowyer, Ryan Fike, Tyler Fike, Joshua Fike and Nicholas Fike. Tim Steinborn was asked to join the grandsons in carrying Naomi to her final resting place. "I get to pick her up one more time," said Tooltime Tim with affection.
Because Pat and I were on Naomi's "first call list" with her Lifeline Service, we then always called Tim, if she had fallen and needed help to get to her feet. That happened several times in recent years and we were always grateful for Tim's strong arms.
Following the graveside service everyone returned to Rosebank for a light luncheon prepared by the Rosebank ladies and orchestrated by Noami's good friend, Dorothy Broce. Pat and I asked if we could supply the dessert because we wanted to have cherry pie and ice cream in honor of all the cherry pies our aunt had made for us over the years.
We enlisted Marlene Anduss to make 10 pies. "Nobody makes cherry pie like Aunt Naomi, except Marlene," said my sister. As we made another 6 pies for "back-up" I bought every can of tart cherries to be had in Herington and still needed three more. So I did what I've done all through the years — I called Aunt Naomi's house. Virginia answered the phone. "Do you have any red food coloring and a couple cans of cherries?" Yep, Aunt Naomi came through one more time!
After the funeral Naomi's house was packed to overflowing with family members. Every seat and even the floor was occupied as people processed the day — sharing observations, noting all the plants and flowers given in Naomi's honor, or watching great-grandbaby Sandler crawl about the floor.
In the midst of all the activity I suddenly heard Steve exclaim, "Good Grief!" and I had to smile. That always was Naomi's favorite expletive. I heard Joe say it the other day, too. It's a family thing — just another small way we're always alive in the hearts of those we've loved.
While we lost one dear Ramona resident, we gained another Jan. 27, when Paige Ann was born to Jennifer Staatz and Vinnie Madron of Ramona. She weighed five pounds and was 18inches long. "She looks just like her brother, Mathew, when he was born, except she's smaller," said Jennifer when she showed Paige to us. "When Paige was born and my mom and Vinnie heard her cry, it started a chain reaction — she brought tears to everyone's eyes!" Both grandparents — David and Jane Staatz — and great grandparents, Maurice and Marge Stroda live in Ramona, too.
A soup supper was held Jan. 29 at Ramona Senior Center in celebration of Kansas Day and as a fund-raiser by the Ramona Park Improvement Committee. "We are over half-way to our goal for funding the bathrooms in the park," said Jeannie Weber, chair of the committee. "We hope to raise enough to have a bathroom built in the park by Memorial Day."
After butterball noodle soup and beef stew, folks settled down to playing 13-point pitch. Three teams of five persons each played until winners emerged. First place was Gene Remmers of Ramona and second place was Adeline Bernhardt of Tampa. More than $200 was raised by the soup supper.
Anna Weber, fifth grader at Centre, celebrated Kansas Day another way — she portrayed Emmett Kelly in a fifth and sixth grade event highlighting great Kansans. "Emmett Kelly was a famous clown and was born in Sedan," explained Anna. "He's known for 'sweeping away the spotlight on stage' trick. He played a weary clown. 'Weary Willy' was his nick name."
Tony Meyer had lunch Sunday with Gladiola Backhus of Herington and Harry and Elaine Backhus of Leavenworth in Herington. Gladiola's husband Emil recently died and Tony attended the funeral that was held Jan. 30 at St. John Lutheran Church.
Tony saw many friends and relatives at Emil's service. (Emil was a brother to Alma (Backhus) Meyer. Alma was married to Tony's brother.) Several of Tony's nieces and nephews were at the funeral so he enjoyed the social time following the service.
Don Matkins unexpectedly spent the first part of February in the hospital. He was in Salina and stopped to wash a vehicle when he experienced a sudden pain in his arm. He attributed it to high blood pressure, but Kathy insisted he visit the doctor the next day. Don's doctor insisted he return the day after and check into Salina Regional Hospital for a heart catheterization. They discovered Don's left arteries were severely blocked.
According to Don's doctor he is very fortunate to be alive — when they did the catheterization they discovered a blood clot had lodged in one of the left blocked arteries. If the clot had passed through the right artery instead of lodging in the left blocked artery, it could have taken his life.
"They put a stent in Don's left main artery and ballooned the branch artery to clear it," said Kathy Werth, Don's partner and Ramona's postmaster.
Don was back at work Monday but this procedure has changed his life. "It has drastically changed our lives," emphasized Kathy. "We're changing how we eat, and Don's quit smoking."
At the city council meeting we all gave Don a verbal Valentine — ever so grateful his heart is strong and he's still with us. Don is Ramona's part-time maintenance person when he's not working at Cardie Oil in Tampa. Don does all he can, within Ramona's limited budget, to keep Ramona streets and park looking spiffy.
Ramona City Council has been working with several property owners in Ramona to improve or remove unsafe structures. One of those properties was at the north end of D Street, just south of the high school. Those who've been connected to Ramona for many years have nostalgically called the property the Sader Place, however it's been many, many years since Saders lived in their pristine little house.
In fact, it's been sold several times — most recently over the Internet — and each year that passed by, the house went further into decline. The most recent owners — the Floyds who live in Massachusetts — realized that they could never bring the house back to its former glory, so instead hired Makovec Construction to clear the property.
Gail Makovec and his crew arrived Jan. 27 with lots of equipment and set to work early in the morning. By noon the buildings were down. Dismantling, sorting and hauling away were all that was left to do. It was amazing how quickly it all came down.
While we were sad to see a landmark disappear, we were ever so grateful the Floyds cared about their Ramona property and removed the dilapidated structures and cleaned up the debris left on the land. The Floyds haven't decided yet what they'll do with the property. When they visited Ramona after purchasing the land a couple years ago, they said perhaps someday they'd move here and build a house on it. That would certainly be lovely.
And that's the news from Ramona where we're looking for great people to replace the ones we've lost, and a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.
