William Robert Szopenske

William R. Szopenske, 83, of Marysville, KS, died March 21, 2010 at Cambridge Place in Marysville. A funeral service was held at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 24 at Kinsley Mortuary. Rev. Jerry Zanker officiated. Pallbearers were Doug Novotny, Tom Foley, Jim Keller, Jim Heston, Darrell Cook and Tom Huffman. Burial was in the Marysville City Cemetery. William was born on August 27, 1926 at Home, Kansas to Anthony and Bertha (Schierkolk) Szopenske. In 1944, during his senior year in high school, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and had 15 weeks of basic training in Arkansas. He was then shipped to France where he received 6 more weeks of training and then on to Germany. He served his country during WWII in Germany. He was a member of the Marysville American Legion for 25 years. On September 23, 1950, he married Doris May Huffman at Fairbury, Nebraska. They had been married more than 57 years when she passed away in December of 2007. William was a longtime employee of Hall Brothers Construction Company of Marysville where he was a concrete superintendent. He worked there 44 years before retiring in 1991. William was a member of Friedens Lutheran Church in Home, where he was baptized as a youngster. He spent many hours in his back yard shop making things. He enjoyed wood working and made many pieces of beautiful furniture for his family. He was adept at making scale model construction equipment as well as many kinds of wooden toys. When he was no longer able to work in his shop, he enjoyed reading the daily paper and watching T.V., he especially enjoyed Nascar Racing. William had a passion for country music and went to Nashville to see some of his favorite entertainers perform. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Doris; three brothers, George, Clarence and Walter; and two sisters, Frances Spunagle and Helen Wilkenson. Survivors include three daughters, Peggy Kersten of Valley View, TX, Connie Jurgena of Fairbury, NE, and Karla Szopenske of Marysville; two sisters, Florence Finney of Springfield, MO, Iva McKinney of Independence, KS; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of William Robert Szopenske, please visit our flower store.