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
Kelly Renee Moore ~ 08-02-1963 to 10-13-2025

Linn County News Published October 22, 2025 Kelly Renee Moore, age 62 Paola, Kan., passed away at her home on Oct. 13, 2025. She was born the daughter of Ernest DeWayne and Neva Stillwagon O’Dell on Aug. 2, 1963, in La Mesa, Calif. Kelly loved... [More]
Norma Jeanne (Riley) Long ~ 08-21-1938 to 10-13-2025

Linn County News Published October 22, 2025 Norma Jeanne (Riley) Long, age 87, of La Cygne, Kan., passed away Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, at Vintage Park in Osawatomie, Kan., surrounded by family. Norma was born on Aug. 21, 1938, in Liberal, Kan., to Frederick and... [More]
Geneva Darlene Jennings ~ 11-15-1939 to 10-12-2025

Linn County News Published October 15, 2025 Geneva Darlene Jennings, age 85, Pleasanton, Kan., passed away Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. She was born on Nov. 15, 1939, at Trading Post, Kan., the daughter of Charles and Daisy Rittinghouse Purdy. She graduated from Pleasanton High... [More]
More Obituaries
- Mary Margaret Wilson ~ 01-08-1930 to 10-13-2025
- Letha Spillman ~ 06-19-1929 to 10-02-2025
- Mary Alice Fagg ~ 07-30-1933 to 09-25-2025
- John T. Miles ~ 01-29-1960 to 05-01-2025
- Paul David Hamilton ~ 11-07-1950 to 09-23-2025
- Lora Lynn West ~ 10-22-1959 to 09-24-2025
- Lois Ann Simons ~ 11-12-1937 to 09-27-2025
- Betty Joan Haupt ~ 10-03-1931 to 09-29-2025
NEWS
Souza resigns county clerk post

Linn County’s county clerk is resigning. At the weekly Linn County Commission meeting Tuesday morning, delayed a day because of Monday’s governmental Columbus Day holiday, Danielle Souza spoke during the public comment agenda section of her intention to resign the... [More]
Farmers State Bank under new ownership

Time moves on and things change – and the banking world is not exempt from those changes. When Farmers State Bank owner Dale Sprague passed away in August of 2024, his wife Janice and family made those changes when they sold the three banks this fall to Citizen Bank owner’s... [More]
Linn Valley council updated on water, lagoon projects

Linn Valley city council held its first meeting of the month on Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. at City Hall. Mayor Lewis Donelson began the meeting by asking city employees present at the meeting to stand up front and introduce themselves and state their job title. The mayor continued by... [More]
More News
- Suit filed in Sunshine Meadows building permit case
- Pleasanton demos asphalt zipper for street repair
- La Cygne awards lift station bid
- Appraiser’s office announces completion of review
- SPECIAL: KBI conducts statewide marijuana enforcement operation
- Pleasanton council vetoed on fire volunteer appointments
- Kansas Policy Institute talks property taxes with legislature
- Pleasanton city candidate forum Oct. 6
SPORTS
Schneider makes State for Hawks in girls’ golf

Celeste Schneider made the 3-1A State golf tournament again this year for the Lady Hawks and will be looking to earn another State medal. To see the full article, check out this week's edition of the Linn County News or check out the online version here.
Wade and Britz advance to State for the Buffalos

The Prairie View girls’ golf team is doing well. The girls won the Pioneer League championship at Deer Trace on Oct. 7 and then followed that up by placing fourth at 3-1A Sub-State tournament at Crestwood in Pittsburg on Oct. 13. The Lady Buffs won the league tournament... [More]
Blu-Jays convert takeaways into Homecoming win

Pleasanton converted two second-quarter fumble recoveries and a third-quarter interception into passing touchdowns to break a three-game losing skid and claim a 41-6 Homecoming win over Southeast-Cherokee Friday at Blu-Jay Nation Stadium. The victory moves the ‘Jays’... [More]
More Sports
- Lady Jays host league triangular and competes at Uniontown
- Jayhawk volleyball has a busy successful week
- Jayhawk football wins thriller over Pleasanton on Homecoming
- Prairie View football dominates Burlington on Homecoming
- Pleasanton volleyball travels to Arma and Prairie View
- Jayhawk volleyball goes 4-0 on the week
- Pleasanton volleyball competes at Yates Center and Humboldt
- Prairie View football picks up a big win against Wellsville
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
