Michael Alt

Michael Laird Alt, age 84, of Paola, Kansas passed away at his home on Friday, April 10th. The funeral service will be Monday, April 13 at 1:00 pm with visitation from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm at the Penwell-Gable Paola Chapel. Burial will follow in the Paola Cemetery. Mike was born June 12, 1924 in Tacoma, Washington to Angelo N. and Mary Elfie Dean Alt. He was raised in Washington and lived in Oregon, Oklahoma and Colorado. As a youth, he attended and graduated from Oklahoma Military Academy. Mike enlisted in the United States Navy in 1942. He was stationed in Alaska aboard a minesweeper USS Bombard. He received the Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal before his honorable discharge in 1946. He graduated from the University of Kansas where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Following graduation he was a business manager for Montgomery Ward in Colorado. In 1954 he was united in marriage to Frances Ann Grimes in Paola, Kansas. After residing in Chillicothe, Missouri for 17 years where he was an insurance agent, they moved to Overland Park before moving to Paola in 1972. He owned and operated Alt-Heidecker Insurance Services until 1995 when he retired. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church in Chillicothe, and a member of the Paola Presbyterian Church. Other memberships include the American Legion, Elks and Paola Country Club. He was a past Rotarian and served on the Paola Planning Commission. He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, John, and a son, David Dean Alt. Surviving is his wife Frances of the home, a daughter Mary and her husband Mike Stephens of Paola, son Joe Alt of Gardner, Kansas and one granddaughter, Kate Magee. He will be greatly missed by family and friends. To leave condolences, go to penwellgabel.com. Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, Paola or the Hospice Care of Kansas.