Murray Cecil Bandy
Obituary
Murray Cecil Bandy, 93, died on Friday (May 4, 2012). He was
born on Dec. 18, 1918, on a farm west of Snyder, Okla., to Joseph Edgar and Ola
Ellison Bandy. Murray was a graduate of the Snyder Public Schools and Hills
Business College in Oklahoma City. He came to Hesston in 1939. He married
Dessie Troyer in Hesston in 1940, and they were together for 67 years. Murray
was baptized in the Church of Christ at age 13. He joined the Hesston Mennonite
Church in 1940 and was a faithful member, teaching Sunday school classes and
chairing the congregation's finance committee.
Murray served in Europe (England, France and Germany) during
World War II, where he was assigned to the chief medical officer of the
European Theater of Operations. He returned home as a tech sergeant.
Murray was an accountant and sales manager. He was employed
by King Motor Co., Hesston Mill and Hesston Manufacturing Co. through 1955.
Together with Dessie, he owned and operated the Village Motel in Hesston. He
was an agent for Farm Bureau Insurance in Harvey County, and general manager,
supervising sales personnel in nine counties, for the Victory Life Insurance
Company. He taught Dale Carnegie courses. In 1972, he opened a real estate
brokerage in Hesston, which he operated until his retirement in 1980.
Murray loved Hesston. He faithfully served the Hesston
community as police judge, chair of the school board, member of the city
council, mayor, organizer and first chair of the city planning commission,
president of the Chamber of Commerce and the Lions Club, and author of the
city's centennial history.
Murray is survived by his daughter, Sondra Bandy Koontz and
her husband, Philip of Newton; and three nieces and three nephews.
His beloved wife Dessie died in 2007. Murray also was
preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, James Wiley, Joe Alan and
Jess Ellison; two sisters, Eileen Utsey and Nina West; and two nieces and one
nephew.
Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m., with the family present
from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday at Miller-Ott Funeral Home in Hesston. Graveside
services will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Eastlawn Cemetery in Hesston, with a
memorial service to follow at 2 p.m.
Thursday at Hesston Mennonite Church in Hesston.
Memorials may be sent to Bethesda Home in Goessel, in care
of Miller-Ott Funeral Home, 107 S. Lancaster, P.O. Box 32, Hesston, KS 67062.