Linn County News
Published Dec. 12, 2018
John Harold Rieder, 103, of Pleasanton, Kan., passed away Dec. 6, 2018.
John Harold was born on July 29, 1915, in Rosedale, Kan., at 4408 Mission Road in Wyandotte County. His parents, Gottlieb Rieder and Emma Suter, were born in Switzerland. His father was a dairyman. In the early 1920s he moved from Rosedale, Kan., to 79th and Quivera in Johnson County. By the time he was in high school, he joined his older brother in milking cows by hand, as they had no milking machine. He graduated from Shawnee Mission High School in 1933. By 1935, he took over his father’s milk route and delivered milk house to house in Wyandotte and Johnson counties.
He met his wife Grace in January 1937 when she was at Emporia’s Teachers College and a dear friend of his sister Louise. Grace was his blind date, and they began to correspond with one another. Grace taught school in a one-room school for two years, and they were married at the Lenexa Methodist Church on May 21, 1939.
Through the ministry of a Bible class on Tuesday nights at Lenexa Methodist, both Grace and John accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and they were born again, as Jesus spoke of in the Gospel of John in John 3:1-8.
In September 1942, they felt the call to prepare for full-time missionary ministry, so they enrolled at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Ill. In July 1943, he was called into the U.S. Navy in the Second World War and did his boot camp in Farragut, Idaho. In early 1944 he joined his ship, a destroyer Escort, in Hawaii. They did not have enough people on board to have a chaplain, so with the captain’s permission he was allowed, as it was, to be their pastor. They met in the mess hall on Sunday mornings.
Grace graduated in the spring of 1944 and had children’s ministry among the migrant people in the valley of Turlock, Calif., as she awaited John’s release from the Navy. They had received a call from foreign missionary work before he joined the Navy.
He was released from the Navy at the end of December 1945. In January 1946 they returned to Moody Bible Institute for more preparation for the mission field, and in September 1946 they joined their mission, WEC, the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade. In 1947 they were led of the Lord to join their mission workers in Ivory Coast, West Africa, to work in the Gouro tribe. After five month’s study of French in Montreal, Canada, they sailed for Ivory Coast and landed there on their ninth wedding anniversary in 1948. They spent 36 years ministering to the Gouro people and saw many churches established. They were asked by their mission to establish a Bible school in the Gouro language, which they did. John did everything necessary to plant churches such as evangelism, Bible teaching, taking teams to evangelize and helping to build their churches. Grace’s greatest ministry was to help translate the complete Bible in Gouro. Ivory Coast had more than 60 languages, and they had the first complete Bible in an Ivory Coast language, so in 1980 they had seven celebrations for it; the final one was in the capital.
They left their work in Ivory Coast in 1984 to take over the Shalom ministry on the farm where Grace grew up. They had 28 years of wonderful ministry at Shalom until God sent his angels to take Grace home to her rest in Heaven on Feb. 19, 2012. In May 2012 John went to spend time with the Fredrickson family at Heartland Ministries Int’l near Bethel, Mo. Heartland is a wonderful deliverance center for youth and adults, and he was very blessed of the Lord to have been there. Upon leaving Heartland, he returned to Linn County for the last six years of his life, living with the Shillito family at the Shalom Retreat Center and spending his final days at Prescott Nursing Home and The Residencies at Pleasanton.
The Lord is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and John’s sentiments at the end of his life cannot be more appropriately described than through the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 1:23-24 – “For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” To God be the glory!
Visitation will be from 1-2 p.m., with the funeral service at 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14, at the First Christian Church, 613 Main St., Pleasanton. Burial will be at Wesley Chapel Cemetery.
Condolences may be left at www.charterfunerals.com. Arrangements: Charter Funerals, 816-921-5555.
OBITUARIES
Jackie “Jack” Howard Shroyer ~ 01-24-1940 to 09-04-2025

Linn County News Published September 10, 2025 Jackie "Jack" Howard Shroyer, age 85 of Prescott, Kan., passed away on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. Jack was born the son of Eugene and Lillie Ruth (Blangy) Shroyer on Jan. 24, 1940, in Prescott, Kan. He... [More]
Wallace “Mack” Probasco ~ 07-05-1959 to 09-02-2025

Linn County News Published September 10, 2025 Wallace “Mack” Probasco, age 66 of Pleasanton, Kan., passed away at his home on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. He was born the son of Francis Mack and Edna E. Wallace Probasco on July 5, 1959, in Fort Scott,... [More]
Martha F. Couch ~ 01-03-1929 to 07-18-2025

Linn County News Published September 10, 2025 It is with much sorrow that the family of Martha Frasier Couch, a woman of deep faith and compassion, shares the news that she passed away peacefully on July 18, 2025, just months after the passing of her husband, Keith,... [More]
More Obituaries
- George Teagarden ~ 01-30-1943 to 09-01-2025
- John Clayton Bowman ~ 02-01-1944 to 08-17-2025
- Arnold Joseph Lickteig ~ 05-16-1931 to 07-31-2025
- Joe W. Mann ~ 09-02-1951 to 07-26-2025
- Jean Driskell ~ 03-22-1943 to 07-18-2025
- Burton Clyde Brownback ~ 05-21-1953 to 07-13-2025
- Ruth Ann Antrim ~ 05-21-1951 to 07-07-2025
- Helen Maxine Wright ~ 05-28-1939 to 06-19-2025
NEWS
Property taxes and how they work

In Kansas, there is a definitive process for determining what the property taxes are on any given piece of property. Did you know that according to SmartAsset.com Linn County has the second lowest property tax average in the entire state? According to information available... [More]
Pleasanton Fire Department personnel hiring questioned

What started out as a department update from Pleasanton Fire Chief Jeff Wisdom, turned into a showdown between councilmembers and the mayor in who was hired as volunteer firefighters in Pleasanton. Wisdom informed the council he was beginning training for new firefighters September... [More]
Commission ‘bares’ down to pass public nudity ban

Linn County commissioners passed a resolution banning public nudity at its Sept. 2 weekly meeting, delayed a day for the governmental Labor Day holiday. Resolution No. 2025-16, enacted on a 2-0 vote with Alison Hamilton not present, forbids nudity on public property or outside... [More]
More News
- Paris Township voting location to move to Mound City
- USD 362 passes 2025-26 school budget
- Parker appoints police chief
- SPECIAL: Drainpipe replacement on K-31 in Linn County
- Linn County News website gets new update
- Commissioners vote 1-1 on motion to not exceed revenue neutral
- Linn Valley looks at option for fire truck purchase, new vehicles
- Sheriff speaks out on employee benefits
SPORTS
Alvarez leads Pleasanton cross country

The Pleasanton cross country team traveled to Garnett for their first meet of the year on Sept. 4 at the Annual Jerry Howarter Invitational. The Jays had runners in both the junior high and high school races. Dominic Alvarez led the Hawks as he earned a medal and placed... [More]
Jayhawk football starts season with shutout over Central Heights

The Jayhawk Linn football team traveled to Fort Scott on Sept. 5 to host the Central Heights Vikings for their first game of the season. This was supposed to be a home game for the Hawks but had to be played at Fort Scott because the field was not ready. The game began with... [More]
Spradling era kicks off with oohhs and 'Oz'
Jason Spradling's head coaching era at Prairie View debuted with plenty of oohhs and 'Oz' Friday night. The oohhs came from an offensive running attack that amassed 612 rushing yards, all but 99 in the first half, and saw Buffalo four-year starters Parker Schwarz gain 287 yards... [More]
More Sports
- Frog gigging a new ‘old sport’
- Fishing Derby kicks off at Linn County Fair
- Linn County Farm Bureau hosts annual pedal pull
- From the Bleachers – 717
- Annual demo derby kicks off this year’s Linn County Fair and Rodeo
- From the Bleachers - 719
- Pleasanton trapshooting team shows grit at National Championship
- Blue Mound softball earns second place at Crest
OBITUARIES POLICY
• May be mailed, e-mailed, faxed or hand delivered.
• Must be received by 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning in order to appear in that week's edition.
• Obituaries submitted by funeral homes will be billed to the funeral home.
• Full obituaries submitted by individuals are required to be paid in advance.
• Cost: $40 for 300 words or less. Each additional word over 300, 10¢. Photograph $5.
Call Barbara at 913-352-6235 or e-mail linncountynewsreporter@gmail.com
