Albert B. McKee

Albert B. McKee, 97, of Topeka, formerly of Seneca, died on Monday, March 24, 2008 at Midland Hospice House in Topeka.
     Albert was born on a farm near Havensville, KS, on July 28, 1910, the son of Perry Andrew and Ella Gertrude Jones McKee.  He attended a two-room school in America City, and graduated from Havensville High School in 1928.  After school, he worked for a short time in St. Joseph, MO.
      On July 28, 1930, he married Dorothy Channel in St. Joseph. They celebrated 70 years of marriage before Dorothy’s death in 2001. During the Great Depression when times were tough, Albert worked candling eggs and testing cream in the Havensville Grocery Store. He also farmed for a short time.  When President Roosevelt implemented the WPA, Albert as hired in a rock quarry in Nemaha County, as well as working to keep roads passable during the winter months.  Albert and his young family moved in 1937 to Silt, CO, where he worked for area farmers in addition to the Colorado Highway Department. 
      In the winter of 1937, the family moved to Seneca, where Albert opened a gas station.  Then in August of 1942, he became a postal carrier for the U.S. Post Office, retiring in 1975. He also did side jobs laying carpet, tile, and linoleum, delivering furniture for Seneca Furniture, and part-time bookkeeping for Koelzer Lumber Yard.  Albert was drafted into the U.S. Navy in 1943, and he served on Guadalcanal Island. 
      Albert lived in Seneca for 58 years, before moving to Topeka in 1997.  He was a member of the United Methodist Church, the American Legion Post #21, and a charter member of the Veterans of Foreign War Post #7458, all in Seneca. He joined the volunteer Seneca Fire Department in 1949, serving on the dance committee and as secretary from 1957 to 1969. He retired from the fire department in January 1970. Albert and Dorothy were well known for the beautiful and unusual colored hybrid irises they grew.  He also enjoyed a good card game.
     Survivors are his two daughters, Sandra Ward and her husband Alan Ward of Topeka and JoAnn Greene of Huntington Beach, CA;  six grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandschild.
     He was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy, on June 29, 200; a daughter, Beverly J. Bohm on May 12, 1996; a brother, Raymond; and two sisters, Lottie McClain and Golda Diggs.
     The funeral service will be at 2 pm on Saturday, March 29, at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca. Family will meet family and friends for one hour prior to the service.  Burial will be in the Seneca City Cemetery.
      Memorial contributions can be made for the Seneca Fire Department, the Seneca United Methodist Church, or the Midland Hospice House in Topeka, and sent in care of the family.