Career
Struggling to get by on his own towards the pursuit of higher education, he worked at a local mortuary in Jetmore, Kansas. He also first entered the city he would reside in for the remainder of his life: Emporia, Kansas. He fought during World War I as part of the United States Army in Company L, 137th Infantry, 35th Division, and maintained a presence in the military as a Colonel during World World War World War II In 1957, he became President of the Kansas State Historical Society. In 1973, he took office as the Grand Master of the Knights Templar of the United States of America. By the end of his career in 1986, he was the longest-serving probate judge in the history of Lyon County and, quite possibly, the state of Kansas itself.
He died in peace, surrounded by his family, on February 2, 1988.