Ray Frank Backus, 91, Topeka, died Tuesday, March 30, 1999, at a Topeka nursing home.
Mr. Backus farmed in the North Topeka and Meriden areas his entire life. He also worked the Union Pacific Railroad, hauled ice in the summer for the City Ice Co. and sold fire wood in North Topeka. Mr. Backus worked for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. from 1945 until he retired in 1971.
He was born Jan. 5, 1908, at Hinton, Okla., the son of Edward Theron Backus and Lily Irene McMillan. He graduated from Seaman High School in 1928 and was a lifelong resident of the North Topeka and Meriden area.
Mr. Backus was a member of the United Methodist Church at Grantville. He had served on the board of directors of the Milk Association of Topeka and Local Union No. 307 of the United Rubber Workers. He had been treasurer of the Sunbeam Grade School Board of Education, Crescent Grove School Board in Meriden, Meriden Rural High School Board and the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Meriden.
He married Minnie Ella Riddle on Nov. 23, 1929, in Topeka. She died March 20, 1987.
Survivors include two sons, Walter E. Backus, Lenexa, and Bruce E. Backus, Ypsilanti, Mich.; four daughters, Geraldine R. Malvasia, Niles, Ohio, Leah F. Backus, Port Arthur, Texas, and Gwendolyn M. McClurg and Edith M. Beaty, both of Meriden; 16 grandchildren; and 36 great- grandchildren.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Davidson Funeral Home in Topeka.
Burial will be at the Meriden Cemetery.
Mr. Backus will lie in state from noon to 9 p.m. today at the funeral home where relatives and friends will meet from 7 to 8 p.m.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Shriners Crippled Children Fund or to the Heart of American Hospice and sent in care of the funeral home.
Mr. Backus farmed in the North Topeka and Meriden areas his entire life. He also worked the Union Pacific Railroad, hauled ice in the summer for the City Ice Co. and sold fire wood in North Topeka. Mr. Backus worked for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. from 1945 until he retired in 1971.
He was born Jan. 5, 1908, at Hinton, Okla., the son of Edward Theron Backus and Lily Irene McMillan. He graduated from Seaman High School in 1928 and was a lifelong resident of the North Topeka and Meriden area.
Mr. Backus was a member of the United Methodist Church at Grantville. He had served on the board of directors of the Milk Association of Topeka and Local Union No. 307 of the United Rubber Workers. He had been treasurer of the Sunbeam Grade School Board of Education, Crescent Grove School Board in Meriden, Meriden Rural High School Board and the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Meriden.
He married Minnie Ella Riddle on Nov. 23, 1929, in Topeka. She died March 20, 1987.
Survivors include two sons, Walter E. Backus, Lenexa, and Bruce E. Backus, Ypsilanti, Mich.; four daughters, Geraldine R. Malvasia, Niles, Ohio, Leah F. Backus, Port Arthur, Texas, and Gwendolyn M. McClurg and Edith M. Beaty, both of Meriden; 16 grandchildren; and 36 great- grandchildren.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Davidson Funeral Home in Topeka.
Burial will be at the Meriden Cemetery.
Mr. Backus will lie in state from noon to 9 p.m. today at the funeral home where relatives and friends will meet from 7 to 8 p.m.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Shriners Crippled Children Fund or to the Heart of American Hospice and sent in care of the funeral home.
Ray Frank Backus, 91, Topeka, died Tuesday, March 30, 1999, at a Topeka nursing home.
Mr. Backus farmed in the North Topeka and Meriden areas his entire life. He also worked the Union Pacific Railroad, hauled ice in the summer for the City Ice Co. and sold fire wood in North Topeka. Mr. Backus worked for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. from 1945 until he retired in 1971.
He was born Jan. 5, 1908, at Hinton, Okla., the son of Edward Theron Backus and Lily Irene McMillan. He graduated from Seaman High School in 1928 and was a lifelong resident of the North Topeka and Meriden area.
Mr. Backus was a member of the United Methodist Church at Grantville. He had served on the board of directors of the Milk Association of Topeka and Local Union No. 307 of the United Rubber Workers. He had been treasurer of the Sunbeam Grade School Board of Education, Crescent Grove School Board in Meriden, Meriden Rural High School Board and the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Meriden.
He married Minnie Ella Riddle on Nov. 23, 1929, in Topeka. She died March 20, 1987.
Survivors include two sons, Walter E. Backus, Lenexa, and Bruce E. Backus, Ypsilanti, Mich.; four daughters, Geraldine R. Malvasia, Niles, Ohio, Leah F. Backus, Port Arthur, Texas, and Gwendolyn M. McClurg and Edith M. Beaty, both of Meriden; 16 grandchildren; and 36 great- grandchildren.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Davidson Funeral Home in Topeka.
Burial will be at the Meriden Cemetery.
Mr. Backus will lie in state from noon to 9 p.m. today at the funeral home where relatives and friends will meet from 7 to 8 p.m.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Shriners Crippled Children Fund or to the Heart of American Hospice and sent in care of the funeral home.
Mr. Backus farmed in the North Topeka and Meriden areas his entire life. He also worked the Union Pacific Railroad, hauled ice in the summer for the City Ice Co. and sold fire wood in North Topeka. Mr. Backus worked for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. from 1945 until he retired in 1971.
He was born Jan. 5, 1908, at Hinton, Okla., the son of Edward Theron Backus and Lily Irene McMillan. He graduated from Seaman High School in 1928 and was a lifelong resident of the North Topeka and Meriden area.
Mr. Backus was a member of the United Methodist Church at Grantville. He had served on the board of directors of the Milk Association of Topeka and Local Union No. 307 of the United Rubber Workers. He had been treasurer of the Sunbeam Grade School Board of Education, Crescent Grove School Board in Meriden, Meriden Rural High School Board and the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Meriden.
He married Minnie Ella Riddle on Nov. 23, 1929, in Topeka. She died March 20, 1987.
Survivors include two sons, Walter E. Backus, Lenexa, and Bruce E. Backus, Ypsilanti, Mich.; four daughters, Geraldine R. Malvasia, Niles, Ohio, Leah F. Backus, Port Arthur, Texas, and Gwendolyn M. McClurg and Edith M. Beaty, both of Meriden; 16 grandchildren; and 36 great- grandchildren.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Davidson Funeral Home in Topeka.
Burial will be at the Meriden Cemetery.
Mr. Backus will lie in state from noon to 9 p.m. today at the funeral home where relatives and friends will meet from 7 to 8 p.m.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Shriners Crippled Children Fund or to the Heart of American Hospice and sent in care of the funeral home.
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