Remembering Muriel
Dedicated community volunteer is eulogized
Peabody always has been blessed with people who have a great sense of community. They have worked long and hard behind the scenes to support not only the town, but business and industry, festivals and special events, and our churches and schools.
They often are the people who drag the rest of us to new ideas and convince us that "yes, we CAN do that even if it has never been done here before." Community cheerleaders.
Muriel Wolfersperger was one of those people. A native of Peabody, she was dedicated to this community and to its survival and growth as well as its history.
She saw Peabody during the boom years, the Depression, and World War II. After the war she watched the decline of small rural towns as technology spiraled and the world got smaller. Peabody got smaller, but she stayed, and remained dedicated to her community.
She served the school district for decades, was active on committees for the Methodist church, Peabody Community Living Center, and the Peabody Housing Authority. She belonged to many clubs and organizations like Athena and the historical society.
She served on all the "mom committees" when her children were growing up and spent years helping catalog the quilts of Kansas.
She served as mayor, helped start the Peabody Main Street Association, and served on the state Main Street selection committee.
Efficient and well organized, there was little Muriel could not do once she set her mind to it. Not everyone was crazy about her methods, but no can claim she didn't get results.
Muriel died in February. Her death left a void in the community that likely will not be filled.
When the Main Street board chose to feature her in a newsletter, it was not hard to find people willing to contribute thoughts and memories. They were happy to do so. Perhaps that is the greatest tribute to a woman who gave much to Peabody.
Martha Hagendorn Krass, Cultural Resources Division, Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, KS: "I will always remember Muriel for her tenacious spirit and good sense of humor. Even when faced with adversity, Muriel managed to rise above the difficulties and solidly meet the challenges.
"Her grandest accomplishment that I had any part of was the Peabody Historic District nomination. She worked very hard on that project and was willing to continue to ferret out the details that are required for such a complex project.
"The last time I visited with Muriel she had stopped by my office just to say hello. This was about a year ago. I was impressed with her mobility and positive attitude.
"I will always remember her and pray that she is in a better place today."
Jean Warta, Kansas Main Street, Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing, Topeka, KS: "I worked with Muriel when she was on the selection panel for new Main Street cities, but didn't get the opportunity to know her really well. What I do know is that she was a tough judge and not easily convinced of 'Main Street worthiness' by cities attempting to become designated.
"On one occasion, the chairman of a newly selected Main Street community told me that Muriel made him so nervous during their presentation that he became confused and disoriented, as he was sweating bullets!"
Shreves Avery, president Peabody State Bank: "I'm not sure when I first met Muriel, probably sometime in the late 1950s. Muriel's son John Jr., and I were good friends in junior high and high school, so I spent a considerable amount of time at the Wolfersperger home.
"John and I were both plagued by the same problem — a younger sibling who had no respect for our privacy or our possessions. Mine was Grant and John's was Kris. Teasing the younger brother or sister was mandatory to provide some revenge for all the havoc they created.
"Unfortunately, parental intervention usually resulted. Muriel was the enforcer when Kris ended up in tears. The punishment was consistent and unique: it was a 'free shot.'
John was required to stand still and allow Kris to do whatever she pleased. It usually consisted of about three shots to the stomach (that was about as high as she could reach at the time), but occasionally resulted in a kick to the shins. Over the years I have chuckled at the mental image of Kris, with arms flailing, sailing into John.
"The punishment was consistent and fair. John was never hurt and Kris always felt better.
"When I went to work in the Peabody State Bank in 1976, Muriel was clerk of the school district. Together we invested district funds. That was the first of many projects I would work on with Muriel.
"During the next 25 years we worked together on school district issues, city issues, housing authority issues, historical society issues, Main Street issues, nursing home issues, and even personal issues involving John Jr.
"I knew if I needed certain types of information or needed someone as a sounding board for ideas, Muriel was always available. Her wisdom and her knowledge were considerable and she was always willing to share.
"As Muriel's health began to decline, I thought that she would become less involved in some of her projects. I was wrong. During the Peabody Community Living Center crisis she was always available and rarely missed a meeting.
"Earlier this year her term on the Peabody Housing Authority board was about to expire. She decided it would be her last term on the board. I told her I completely understood and appreciated greatly all the time she had contributed over the years. You can imagine my surprise when at the next meeting she agreed to another term.
"But that was Muriel. It goes back to my original perception of her more than 40 years ago. Consistent and fair; and I would probably add, tenacious."
Marilyn Jones, friend and fellow Peabody Historical Society member: "Muriel Wolfersperger was one of the first people I met when we came to Peabody in August of 1961. She was a member of a Methodist church circle group. After already meeting Koslowkys and Meirowskys and numerous Wiebes, I wondered how anyone could remember all those names!
"Muriel and I both enjoyed researching Peabody's history and over the years dug out hundreds of names and stories to authenticate the scripts for historical society tours, sound and light shows, plays, productions, and newsletters.
"Eventually we found it was easier 'to do it ourselves' than to rely on a committee.
"We once had the idea of assigning various buildings downtown to different interested people for research. But soon we found it was necessary to trace the entire history of a building, including the builders, the occupants, and what historian Martha Hagadorn Krass calls, 'the social history.' It was just easier when we knew we could count on each other to leave no fragment of information uninvestigated.
"Muriel spent countless hours in research to get the downtown of Peabody listed on the National Register. She was already feeling the effects of 'lack of air,' but she was determined to see it through to a successful end. She was never more satisfied than when a project was completed and it was time to move on to another.
"It was our dream to get the 'Peabody First 100 Years' updated and reprinted. We did get a grant to expand the book to include Peabody's railroads, the oil boom, and the Main Street program. But reprinting the book was not a part of the grant and it is one of those few things to which Muriel devoted herself that did not get done.
"We collaborated on a number of grant writing proposals where she contributed her financial expertise. We always needed to submit budgets (which we never had) so she worked up figures to get us into compliance.
"I helped with the research on the Methodist church history which she and Kris eventually published in booklet form. I found that Muriel remembered tons of events, some of which were too exciting to put into print!
"It was easy to tackle these big undertakings with Muriel as a partner. She was undaunted and so well organized there were never loose ends. By the end of a project everything was pieced together with logic and detail.
"We enjoyed eating out, visiting historic places, and going to meetings with a history theme. We sometimes went to El Dorado to hear folk music and we liked to read the same kind of books.
"The last time I saw Muriel she was in the hospital at Newton. I asked her if she needed more reading material and she said she hadn't yet finished what I had brought her. She died during the night.
"We were good friends for 42 years!"
Bob Marshall, friend, councilman during Muriel's tenure as mayor, Main Street board member: "Muriel encouraged us early to become involved with the community by volunteering for projects and organizations that needed 'new blood.' She is probably one of the big reasons we are still in Peabody after 33 years.
"Muriel convinced me to run for city council during her time as mayor and I served on that body for a couple of lifetimes. None of us dared come to a meeting unprepared or we would get 'the look' and then try to hide under the council table.
"One really great trait of hers was that she would let you know that something was unacceptable and then turn around and let you know that she still liked you anyway.
"She was often 'motherly' and nagged me about things like cracking my knuckles. She insisted I would eventually pay for that habit with painful joints. I never gave her the satisfaction of telling her she was right. But that is OK, she already knew she was right!
"Muriel was many things to many people. Not everyone appreciated what she did or how she did it. She didn't inspire many 'middle of the road' opinions about her.
"But she helped guide our community out of disrepair. She encouraged us to contemplate the past and plan for the future. She was tireless in her own dedication to Peabody.
"Most of all she gave me a place in her heart. And for that I will always be grateful."
