Newton resident left many
stories
Walter Bradshaw led an
interesting life - one full of many stories lived, and told.
Bradshaw, 93, died Sunday in
Newton. He was the owner of the first Dairy Queen in the city, opening the shop
in 1950.
"He was dynamic,"
said his daughter Lynda Tincher of Lyndon. "He had a zest for life."
Bradshaw moved to Newton in
1949 to open the Dairy Queen. Though at the time he was only 38, he had lived
quite a life already.
While running a filling
station in Pittsburg, he was held up by members of the Bonnie and Clyde gang.
Before that, he was a bootlegger in Kansas - and was nearly arrested by the FBI
during prohibition.
Bradshaw was a captain in the
U.S. Army from 1940 to 1947. He then served as a commander of a National Guard
unit in Chillicothe, Mo.
While he owned the Dairy
Queen he also promoted professional wrestling events in Kansas.
Wally Bradshaw, Walter's son,
remembers the day one of those wrestlers came over for dinner. Max Palmer stood
more than 8 feet tall and weighed more than 300 pounds.
"When he wanted
something at the table, he just reached and got it," Wally Bradshaw said.
Wally Bradshaw said his
father treated people well and had a lot of friends.
Walter Bradshaw was,
according to his friends, a well known man. Dan Dody, a former Kansas Highway
Patrol Officer who had Bradshaw ride along on patrol at times, said everyone
over the age of 60 between Newton and Strong City probably knew Walter
Bradshaw.
"We're gonna miss
him," Dody said. "Oh Lord, everyone is going to miss him. I don't
know how many things he did with his life. He had quite a life. You could write
a book about him. If you needed something, he was always there."
Walter Bradshaw was a pilot,
and he would fly those who needed a ride to hospitals.
"He liked to do
that," said long-time friend Horace Toevs. "That was free of charge,
and no playbacks later."
Toevs and Dody both
saidWalter was quick with a helping hand when it was needed.
When the Midian Shrine needed
a few dollars for gas in the parade caboose, Bradshaw was good for it. When the
Civil Air Patrol needed to have bus renovated into an RV, Bradshaw took care of
it.
According to those who knew
him, he was always good for help just when needed.
"He delivered a baby
once," Toevs said. "He was good friends with a doctor and went on
calls with him. The doctor had been drinking that night and was too drunk, and
(Walt) delivered (the baby)."
Wally Bradshaw saw first
hand, at an early age, how helpful his father Walter Bradshaw could be.
"All of my high school
buddies would come to him when they had troubles they couldn't take to their
own father," Wally Bradshaw said. "He would tell them exactly what to
do or solve things for them, but he did help them."
After selling the Dairy Queen
in 1968 he sold investments for IDS and was a salesman for KEVCO, all in
Newton. He retired at the age of 70.
"He was a salesman at
heart," Tincher said. "It didn't matter if it was ice cream, shoes,
or whatever. He just loved to sell."
Walter was commander of the
Civil Air Patrol and a member of the Newton Elks Club. He was an active member
of the Newton Shrine Club, Newton Lodge No. 142 AF & AM, Newton Shrine
Hobos, Wichita Consistery, and he volunteered with the American Red Cross.
Walter also was a life member of the Newton Veterans of Foreign Wars and
American Legion Posts.
"The Red Cross cut him
off from giving blood," Wally Bradshaw said. "He had given them the
limit."
In addition to Wally Bradshaw
and Tincher, he left behind son Martin Bradshaw of Placitas, N.M. and his wife,
Mildred Bradshaw.
His funeral was today.
Memorials have been established with Shriner's Plane of Mercy and the Donor's
Choice, both in care of Petersen funeral home.
