THE HUTCHINSON NEWS        

DEATHS

W. Howard ‘Hod’ Humiston

W. Howard “Hod” Humiston, 76, 833 East Avenue B, died Dec. 28, 1987, at St. Francis Regional Medical Center, Wichita, after a short Illness.

He was born Oct. 11, 1911, at Mitchell.  He married Darlene Wray August 22, 1942, in Hutchinson.  He was retired founder and co-owner of KSKU radio, and had also been employed as an announcer for KWBW and KWHK radio stations.  He was a city commissioner from 1961 to 1967 and mayor of Hutchinson from 1963 to 1964l.  He lived in Hutchinson most of his life.

He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, American Legion Lysle Rishel Post No. 68, and was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II.

Survivors: wife of the home, son Scott, Sarasota, Fla.; daughter Dixie Long, highlands Ranch, Colo.; brothers Frank, 212 East Campbell, Harold, Topeka; sister Mae Byrd, Albuquerque, N.M.; grandsons Mark Long, 833 East B, Mike Long, Highlands Ranch, Colo.

Funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church, the Rev. William T. Soule and Dan Deming officiating.  Burial will be at Fairlawn Cemetery.  Friends may call from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Wednesday at Elliott Mortuary.  Memorials may be made to the Hutchinson Community College Endowment Association, or to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, in care of Elliott Mortuary.

EDITORIALS.......Wednesday, December 30, 1987....The Hutchinson News

       HOD

The record states that he was mayor of Hutchinson from 1963 to 1964.

In truth, Hod Humiston was mayor of Hutchinson for as long as he could talk.

He was one of the city's biggest boosters, both in word and deed.

He was an ebullient man, a man whose effervescent personality could light up a room when he entered.

Younger men could take a lesson in vivaciousness from Hod, who, at 76, was still electric and vital.

During his radio days, his distinctive voice boomed over the airwaves as friendly chatter.  If his voice came into a room over radio, the room was never lonely.  It was as if an old friend were visiting.

After radio, his voice could still be discerned in a crowd of voices.  His continued enthusiasm for his city, for his family and friends, will be hard to match and hard to duplicate.

He was a walking encyclopedia of information, a resource for local newspeople, including many reporters at The Hutchinson News.  He was always gracious and kind and helpful.

There are few things one can say on the occasion of a man's death that would properly console a family or a community for the loss of a loved one.

In Hod's case, the truth is simple:  he was a good man who made a difference in his community. 

He will be missed.

With permission from The Hutchinson News