Former Kirwin, Cedar, & Woodston area resident, John Joseph 'Jack' Kastle was born
on September 17, 1919 near Kirwin, KS and died Tuesday, July 21, 2015 at the age of
95 years and 10 months at the Golden Living Center in Wellington, Kansas where he had
resided for 3 months. He was a farmer and stockman. Jack was the third of five
children and the oldest son born to Fred and Mary Alice Wickwar Kastle.
He is survived by two daughters, Shirley M. Theurer & husband, Richard of rural
Wellington and Arlene S. Duston & husband, Jim of Glendale, Arizona, 6 grandchildren
– Mike Duston and wife Stephanie of Phoenix, AZ, Scott Duston and wife Mandy of
Goodyear, AZ, Matt Theurer and wife Lea, Luke Theurer and wife Amy, Clint Theurer
and fiance' Kiersten Howell all of rural South Haven, and Dixie Theurer Russell and
husband Stephen of rural Paxico, KS; and 10 great grandchildren – Rylee and Reese
Duston of Phoenix, AZ; Cannon Duston of Goodyear, AZ; Colby and Ethan Theurer,
Jacee and Kelly Theurer, and John Henry Theurer, all of South Haven, KS; Corbin and
Kirwin Russell of Paxico, KS; 3 nieces and 4 nephews.

Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Mary Kastle; brothers and their
wives- Bob and Amy Kastle, Dick and Marcella Kastle; sisters – Forest and husband
Harvey Sibrel, Alice May who died at 11 months in 1919; 2 nephews and 1 niece.

Jack grew up on rented farms south of Kirwin until his parents bought the Wilson farm
when he was in 4th grade where he lived until a young man. He attended school at the
Bogart schoolhouse and graduated valedictorian of the eighth grade class – he was the
only one in his class. Mildred Marple was an older student who often helped him with
his galoshes after school before he started the walk home in inclement weather. This
was during the depression and times were hard. He often hired out to the neighbors
such as Bill and Lee Bogart and helped them with their farm work with the money
turned over to his dad to help with expenses. Jack never attended school after the 8th
grade as he was helping farm and earning a little money by helping the neighboring
farmers.

Jack was the first one in the family to get a drivers license. When he was 14 he drove
to Phillipsburg and paid for a piece of paper that said he could drive. It was years
before his dad got one.

Jack rented his first farm ground (160 acres) at the age of 14 from old Bill Bogart. He
sold enough wheat that first year to buy a car with his dad. His first piece of
machinery was a cultivator. Farming during the 'dirty thirties' was hard with dirt
blowing and piling up. They would get stuck in the field and have to dig out.

Myron McDowell and Jack went to Denver in the fall of his teens to look for work.
Jack worked for John and Dell Van Gordon Dairy on the Morrison mail route for 2
winters and got $30/month wages and a place to stay. The town washed away the next
year. He milked the midnight to 6:00 a.m. shift milking 45 cows by hand. By the way,
the place is still there as an educational farm for children. At 17 he got a chauffeurs
license to drive the milk delivery truck. He would pick up milk from the neighboring
dairies and deliver to the creamery. The first time he drove the truck he went too
fast over the railroad track and spilled a can of milk. He made sure he never did that
again. Jack was told to kill the baby dairy calves – he hit one in the head, came back
later and it was staggering around. That was the last time he tried that – just didn't
have the heart for it.

It was Christmas time and Myron and Jack wanted to come home. They took the bus to
Woodston arriving in the middle of the night and had to wake the telephone operator
to call his folks to come get them. She was mad but made the call for them. Although
he fell in love with the Rocky Mountains, he worked 2 winters then came back to farm
with his Dad.

Jack and Dick shocked feed for 2 days for Charlie Bogart and got a check for $4.75.
They got a load of kids together and went to the Rooks County Fair. Dick got a date
and Jack took Nadine Scott – that was their first date.

Jack and Nadine were married in 1941 and moved to the farm where Nadine grew up
south of Claudell. It was during World War II and he was called for a physical twice.
Thinking he would be called to active duty, in October, 1942 they sold their 6 milk
cows and moved to Wichita to work while waiting. Sister-in-law Marcella Kastle lived
with them. Friends were starting to make good money there. First, Jack worked at the
Wichita Stockyards slaughtering cattle for beef product plants. He hated the job and
said he would never do that again. He was hired on at Cessna and worked in the factory
until March of 1943. Uncle Sam did not call so he returned to Kirwin to farm with his
Dad plus his and Nadine's home place south of Claudell. He continued his love with
farming for the next 70 years.

They had great neighbors and helped each other throughout the year. Filling silo in the
fall took several weeks with farmers moving from one farm to another to complete it.
Then he spent hours every day all winter with a pitch fork pitching it out to feed the
cattle. Lots of labor – and he wore out both knees and a shoulder.

Jack was a member of the school board at Claudell and, after consolidation, in Kirwin.
Consolidation can cause hard feelings and that divided the community for a short time.
He even opened the door one night to a neighbor with a gun.

Jack and Nadine loved to dance. With the Bohemian Hall just 3 miles south of their
house, they attended every dance and often the neighbors gathered at the house prior
to heading to the dance. The family would often spend Sunday afternoons putting up
advertising posters in the area for dances to be held at the Opera House in Kirwin.

After his daughters became active members of the Solomon Valley 4-H Club, current
leaders, Lew and Lilith Sweat, asked if Jack and Nadine Kastle would be interested in
helping out with this community service project. It wouldn't take much time. Although
4-H had meetings and activities year round and it was time consuming, the best part of
the year for Jack was the Smith County Fair time. He would pack up the truck with
the show animals and plenty of straw. He slept on straw at the Fair Grounds with the
kids, would get up in the morning, shake the straw and dust off, gather up all the 4-
Hers, then go downtown to breakfast. He continued attending fairs all his life,
especially the Rooks County Fair, State Fair, and with his great grandchildren at the
Sumner County Fair.

Jack's grandmother was a Kincaid and aunt to Tony Kincaid. The Kastle/Kincaid gettogethers
in parks and were enjoyed by 5-6 dozen people for about 30 years.

For a brief time, he was married to Nadine Schoeni Marple. They enjoyed friends and
travel.

Although Jack loved his two daughters, he missed having sons. Three of his nephews
lived and worked with him during their teen years and he ended up turning the farm
over to Richard (Dickie) Kastle when he retired. There always seemed to be some
neighboring young man around that needed a helping hand.

After moving to Woodston, he came out of retirement to form Triple K Farms with his
brothers and farmed their Dad's ground until he retired at age 86 when he planted his
last wheat crop.

Jack loved to play cards and Woodston had the perfect place. Every morning a group
met at the old elevator office for coffee. Then in the afternoon they gathered again
for a game of pinochle. They used to joke that they would get to visiting and forget
what the bid was or who had it. Many of the problems of the world were discussed and
solved there-if only the politicians would have listened!

He loved visiting Arizona where his daughter, Arlene, lived s and which was the
backdrop for most of the books written by his favorite author, Zane Grey. Reading was
his hobby and he had read those books so many times he almost had them memorized.
Jack and his soulmate, Artalee Newbrey, traveled to Camp Verde, AZ every winter to
live for nearly 10 years. They visited his daughter, Arlene, his sister, Forest, and
tramped the grounds that Zane Grey wrote about. Those were some of his most
memorable years.

In 2007 when he had a bout with pneumonia and was too weak to live alone, he moved
to South Haven to be near his daughter, Shirley. He really wanted to be near his
grandsons and watch them farm. He enjoyed the town of South Haven, its people, and
checking out the progress on his grandsons' crops.

His greatest joy was watching his great-grandchildren grow up. He wanted to see them
graduate from high school but knew that couldn't happen.

He was able to live independently until April when he entered a residential care
facility, Golden Living Center. He enjoyed his visitors until just a few days before his
passing. His was a life well lived over 9½ decades. Jack will be missed by many family
members and friends. As he joins those who have gone before him, we can only imagine
the stories that are told.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, July 25, 2015 in the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, Phillipsburg. Burial will follow in the Bogart Cemetery, Phillips County, Kansas.

Mr. Kastle will lie in state from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and again from 9 a.m. to service time Saturday in the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, with the family receiving friends Saturday from 12:30 p.m. to service time.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Solomon Valley Beavers 4-H Club or the Kirwin Community Building Fund.