Lyle Bullock
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Lyle Bullock
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
The Barber County Index, October 13, 1966. LYLE BULLOCK
Lyle Bullock, 71, resident of Sun City died October 6 in the Medicine Lodge Hospital.
Funeral service were held October 8 at 3 p.m. in the Baptist Church at Sun City with Rev. Sawatsky officiating. Burial was in Sun City cemetery.
Mr. Bullock was born July 29, 1895 in Sun City and married Ruby Murphy October 12, 1961 and lived in Sun City community.
He was a veteran of WW I and member of the American Legion.
Bullock is survived by his wife, Ruby.
Top row, Left to right: Ralph Massey, Bruce Adams. Middle row: Ray Massey, Harold Urton.
Bottom row: Lyle Bullock, Van Lott. Center front: Wesley Urton.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Left to right: Lyle Bullock, Bruce Adams, Van Lott
All were Sun City boys.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Lyle Bullock dressed as a cowboy.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Lyle Bullock, the 'cowboy', holds a friend, dressed as an 'Indian', at gunpoint.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Left to right: Unknown, Lyle Bullock, Glen McLain (Sun City boy - brother to M.F. McLain)
"Taken September 19, 1917 in Medicine Lodge. The day the boys left for Camp Funston."
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Lyle Bullock in his U.S. Army uniform, World War I.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
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Draft Registration card: Argle Lyle Bullock, Sun City, Barber County, Kansas.
United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls.
Camp Funston,KS
5/12/18
Mr. Glen McLain
Sun City, Ks.
Hello old boy:
I received your letter a few days ago was feeling fine and dandy but while I was sitting on my bunk reading it the First Sgt. came up and said we would go out on a manuever for a couple of days, and right there, I was like the Irishman it knocked all the enjoyment out of me. For it was then about 10 o'clock, so we had to go to work and pack up the ration which takes about two hrs. So the next morning we started out, I don't know just how far we did go but it was quite a little step. When we reached our camping ground, we set up our field range and started to get supper. Which we finally succeeded in doing. But say let me tell you I thought I had seen the wind travel right along at home but there was rocks sand and dust till you could hardly see. When the boys came in for mess they thought that we had used plenty of pepper in the chow. This takes us till after supper now. So the worst is yet to come. We got orders to be ready to move out about four in the morning and you know how that worked on me. It sure was still nice and breezy also seems as though it was about 14 below, but after we got to stirring around it was not so bad, and from here we came to our barracks, where the good old water flows, it sure was used some that evening to for we were a nice clean bunch of birds when got in.
Well I will try and get off on something else for expect you will get tired of reading one line of dope. I sure would love to take a hike with you now over about where we found the coyotes den last year. For I believe that we could make it a whole lot better. For when I get out of the Army I don't think I can be bothered with a horse or a car.
Have you been fishing yet this year? I sure would like to take a trip up around Belvidere but I expect it will be another kind of a lake we will fish in this year.
Has Porter and Ray any idea when they will join us? I thought maby about the 26th would get them. It is getting along about mess time and I don't want to miss out on the strawberry short cake so will bring this to a close with the best of luck.
From your Friend Lyle
(Letter courtesy of Kim Fowles).
Building the Camp Funston, Ks.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Erecting the Baracks. Camp Funston.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Infantry Mess, N.R. Rifle Range, Camp Funston, 62.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Lyle Bullock with his grandparents, Rev. C.W. Owens & Molie Owens.
Photo probably taken after training at Camp Funston just before he went overseas.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Co. "I", 353rd INF., 89th DIV., U.S.A., A.E.F. Photo by E.F. Jenkins & Co., 122 Front St., N.Y.C.
Lyle Bullock is in the second row from top, far left.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
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Other Barber county men in Co. I were: Newton M. Cornwell, Aaron E. McDonald, James R. Vaughn and Lester Dell Ikerd of Kiowa; Bertie S. Hayes, Willie Mader and Herschel Skaggs of Medicine Lodge.
WWI: Left to Right: Robert Clawson and Lyle Bullock, both from Sun City, Kansas. The others are unknown.
Back of photo captioned: "What do you think of the understanding".
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Postcard from Lyle Bullock in Italy to his parents in Sun City, Kansas.
To: Mr. E. Bullock, Sun City, Kansas
Italy 3/17-19
Dear Father & Mother:
Find me in a new country for a few minutes so am just dropping you a card.
Yours ALB
Lyle Bullock, at left, with two other WWI Army soldiers.
Back of photo captioned: "Our Kitchen in Germany".
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
WWI Army Cooks: Lyle Bullock is 2nd from right.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Lyle Bullock's 1937 Kansas driver's license.
From the collection of Kim Fowles.
Lyle Bullock is presented with a watch on his retirement from the Postal Service.
Lyle is holding the watch. John Walker is to his right.
Photo taken on the steps of Lyle Bullock's home in Sun City, Kansas.
Photo by Homer Venters, courtesy of Kim Fowles.
"That picture was taken the night the community honored Lyle upon his retirement from his mail route. I believe when he retired they discontinued the route. The first man on the left in the back row worked for the RR I believe, the next is Glen McLain (Uncle Marion's youngest brother). then the next with most of his face covered is Roy Crow I think, then on the front is Harry Sears, then the next man I believe worked in the oil-field, Hully Hoss, Lyle and John Walker. I believe they had a piano on a hay-rack and Ethelyene Drew played and her husband Bill sang. One of the songs was "Dear Hearts and Gentle People" and Bill Adams was the MC. I don't remember what the other entertainment was but there were a number of comments and testimonials about Lyle's service ie: how he would drive miles off the regular route when there was a package from Montgomery Ward or Sears and Roebuck or to deliver baby Chicks (remember when they came by parcel post?) Those were the days when everyone knew what their neighbors were doing and why they were doing it." -- David Massey, 21 August 2005.
Nate Massey's Memories re: Lyle Bullock He could sure drop off into lala land in a hurry when playing cards. Lyle wasn't too fond of domestic household games.
He acquired his gimpy leg by breaking it roping goats at Belvidere with the Easlic boys, naturally on Sunday so our grandma's Ella B. (Ella Bird Van Horn Lott) and Artha L. (Artha Lee Van Horn Massey) said it served him right for roping on Sunday.
Dad (Ralph Massey) got Lyle in trouble one time though. About 3 or 4 people in Sun had 1928 Chevy cars of the same model and color, Dad and Lyle being two of them. Lyle was mail carrier and returned from his route about 4:00 p.m. everyday.
There was a family by the name of Williams that lived east of Hully Hosses, north of Gregories, whose matriarch was pretty well endowed with football playing capabilities both in the physical and mental attributes and the vocabulary of a mules skinner. She drove one of the old model cars that you couldn't see out the rear view mirror. Well, on this particular day she was heading west on Main Street to the Ora Adams' corner which was a pure 90 degree turn with the option of going on west into a wheat field up and over about a 3 foot rise. Ralph came up behind her and started pushing her at a rate where she couldn't make the corner and ended up out in Monty's (Monte Ward) wheat field pretty well mired down in the sandy soil.
After several minutes she was able to get back on the street and promptly returned to the loafing benches in front of the old hardware where the usual spectators and loafers were sitting and walked straight up to dad and addressed him in a completely unladylike manner and threatened to stomp his rear quarters into the Sun City landscape. Well, Ralph calmed her down and let her know he would never do a thing like that and she had mistaken his car for little short Lyle Bullock's, who had just then pulled up and parked.
Mrs. Williams stomped over and caught Lyle just as he emerged out of his car and recited 4 verses of a Calvary SSgt. requiem to a team of mules and lifted him off the ground about 6 inches to her eye level and shook him like a rag doll until she got tired. Lyle had a natural stutter anyway and never got to prove his innocence. I don't think he ever knew who set him up. This was probably one of the least exciting of the Sun City recreation happenings.
More of Nate Massey's Memories re: Lyle Bullock (From an email to Jerry Ferrin, 20 August 2005.)
Lyle was a very placid person with a neat sense of humor and the most amusing laugh you ever heard - not to be embarrassingly descriptive, but it sounded like a goat bleating. Sorry, but that's how it sounded.
I know that Lyle spent time in the service in WWI as he showed me some of his uniforms on one visit.
I would go hunting with Lyle sometimes, both quail and coyote. Lyle had several guns and I was allowed to use them on occasion - by the way there weren't any quails hunted on Ada Blanches (Mom's) premises as she fed them and they were to be left strictly alone. Anyway, what she didn't know must not have hurt her too much in our opinion.
Lyle had a couple of pointers (dogs) and when he was bedridden for several weeks I would shoot jackrabbits and bring into his dogs and visit with him, by the way he covered his little bald head with a pointed night cap which was amusing to me for some reason.
Lyle was overly generous with his kindness and would do anything within his capabilities to care for his mail route patrons, running errands, carrying messages, fixing tires for the ladies, and often seeing that some of the more needy had necessities. That was not general public knowledge .
Evidently Aunt Ruby and Lyle must have had an interest in each other in their younger days, as they rekindled their relationship after Uncle Tom Murphy passed away.
I think that Hope, Mim or Lee would be a much more informative source on Lyle than I am.
Thanks for your info, I really enjoy it.
Nate
According to his gravestone in Sunnyside Cemetery, his full name was Argyle Lyle Bullock.
Also see:
Ralph Nathan Massey, a friend of Lyle Bullock's from Sun City.
Clifford Raymond Hoagland, a first cousin of Lyle Bullock.
Thanks to Shirley Brier for finding, transcribing and contributing the above news article to this web site!
