Barber County Kansas

Kenneth Lawrence Schiff

By Mrs. Kenneth Schiff (Maxine Phyllis (Martin) Schiff)

From The Chosen Land: Barber County, Kansas, page 402.

Kenneth Lawrence Schiff, born March 14, 1911, at Sharon, Kansas to Mr. and Mrs. William Carl Schiff, married Maxine Martin, born July 27, 1914, to Clarence and Maude Martin at Lake City. They were married June 6, 1933, during the Depression. They have 2 children: Morea Marlene Bradley, born May 12, 1936, and Daryl Martin Schiff, born November 7, 1938.

We live on the same farm to which we first moved after marriage.

Kenneth attended Central View Grade School and graduated from Sharon High School in 1929. Both children attended the same schools as Kenneth: Marlene graduated in 1954, and Daryl in 1956. Both attended Southwestern College, Winfield, Kansas; Daryl attended Kansas State University and Northwestern College of Alva, Oklahoma. I attended school in Wichita for ten years and graduated from Lake City High School (Kansas) in 1932. The early years of our marriage, we were members of the Central View Church of God but later joined the Christian Church at Sharon.

We have worked hard, working side by side in the home and in the fields. Kenneth plowed many acres behind a walking plow. We used to pack our lunches and take the children to the field with us to snap corn and head maize by hand. Our first year we cut 90 acres of feed with corn knives. When we married, my folks gave me $2, enough to buy 4 bed sheets; but we took the money and bought 4 weaning pigs from a neighbor boy. Kenneth worked out, and when we got a little money ahead, he would buy a calf. By saving and working, we made it through the Depression and also weathered the dust storms of the 30's. Drinking water was always a problem. We hauled it a lot of the time. With the help of a dear neighbor, Mr. W.A. Miller, we dug a cistern. We were truly thankful last year when the rural water district became a reality.

Kenneth had open heart surgery in 1976 and has since been semi-retired, turning most of the farm work to Daryl, who is also a partner in the Hart-Schiff Cabinet Shop, Medicine Lodge. He and his wife also own and operate a dog kennel, and he has a Country-Western band, "The Schiffters."

In 1978 Kenneth suffered a complete cardia arrest. Through the knowledge and efforts of his son-in-law, Phil Bradley, with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he was kept alive until the Winfield Hospital C.P.R. emergency team arrived. Lady Luck shone on us again!

Marlene is married to Phil Bradley, a dentist and instructor of Dental Hygiene at Wichita University. She has 4 daughters; Marci Lo Ray, born 1958, married to Jim Heck, an art instuctor in Winfield public schools; Marci attends Southwestern College. Mitzi Morea, born 1960; Marya Andrea, born 1965; Morea Maxine, born 1972.

Daryl is married to Jeanne Delano Clark. They have 4 children: Stephen, born 1954, married to Jean Lowenstien; Gina, born 1962; Martina Maria, born 1966; Daryl Martin Schiff II, born 1968.

We have one great-granddaughter, Megan, born 1976.

-- By Mrs. Kenneth Schiff (Maxine Phyllis (Martin) Schiff), The Chosen Land: Barber County, Kansas, page 402. (Published 1980)


Also see:

Clarence and Maude Martin, parents of Maxine Phyllis (Martin) Schiff.

Daryl Schiff, son of Kenneth Lawrence & Maxine Phyllis (Martin) Schiff.

Kenneth Lawrence Schiff

Mary (Huffaker) Schiff

Maxine Phyllis (Martin) Schiff

William C. and Mary (Reinke) Schiff

Martina McBride, grand-daughter of Kenneth Lawrence and Maxine Phyllis (Martin) Schiff.

List of Sharon, Kansas, High School Graduates, 1914 - 1987




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