Bruce N. Fleming

Bruce N. Fleming, 92, of Ottawa, passed away Thursday, October 12, 2017, at Brookside Retirement Community, Overbrook, Kansas. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 A.M., Tuesday, October 17, 2017, at the First United Methodist Church. Cremation will follow the service. Family will meet with friends from 6:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M., Monday, October 16, 2017, at Dengel & Son Mortuary. Inurnment Hope Cemetery, Ottawa, at a later date. Bruce was born May 24, 1925, in Richter, Kansas, the son of Thomas Harry and Ethelyn Gertrude (Staadt) Fleming. He grew up in Richter attending Silver Lake and Pomona High School. In 1941, his family moved to Ottawa and he graduated from Ottawa High School with the class of 1943. Bruce served in the United States Navy during World War II in the Pacific Theater, from 1944 to 1946, attaining the rank of Radioman 2nd class. Bruce was united in marriage to Ruth Marion Nitcher June 29, 1947, in Pomona, Kansas. She survives, recently celebrating 70 years of marriage. Other survivors include his three children, Daniel Fleming of Lawrence, James Fleming of Topeka, and Nancy Baldwin (Robert) of Massapequa, NY; sister, Helen Smith of Salina; four grandchildren, Robert Baldwin (Jennifer) of Massapequa, NY, Amy Cavallo (Michael) of Smithtown, NY, Kena Fleming of Topeka, and Kasey Fleming (Hannah) of Topeka; six great grandchildren, Henry Galbraith, Brooklyn Rhodes, Robert Baldwin, Michael, Keller and Lucy Cavallo; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Ethelyn Fleming; and brother, Don Fleming. Bruce was employed as a maintenance mechanic for the City of Ottawa Power Plant for 41 years, retiring in 1987. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church and the Oxford Service Forum Sunday school class. Bruce enjoyed the outdoors, gardening, feeding birds and squirrels, fishing, reading, traveling, playing cards and visiting with friends and relatives. He helped with Meals on Wheels as a carrier and furnished transportation for hospital patients and was a blood donor for several years. Bruce invented a catfish feeder, served as a 4-H leader and helped with Boy Scouts. After retirement he researched and compiled information on the more than 80 rural schools of Franklin County. An article on each school was featured weekly in the Ottawa Herald’s Hitching Post column for over a year. What Bruce enjoyed most about the project was talking with people who had attended the schools and hearing their stories. The articles were combined into a book and can be found at the Franklin County Historical Society archives and the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka. The family suggests memorial contributions to First United Methodist Church c/o Dengel & Son Mortuary, 235 S. Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas 66067. Family and friends are encouraged to post their condolences and memories on Bruce’s Tribute Wall at www.dengelmortuary.com