Honorable R. Conklin

The Honorable Thomas R. Conklin passed on to continue his heavenly journey on January 17th, 2019, surrounded by family, after a valiant battle with cancer.

He was born on November 23rd, 1942 in Abilene, Kansas, to the late Dr. Kenneth E. and Helen V. Conklin.

He graduated from Abilene High School in 1960 and then continued on to Washburn University where he obtained his BA in history in 1964. Following this, he served a short stent in the U.S. Army Reserves as a Drill Instructor while attending Washburn University Law School. He obtained his Juris Doctorate in 1968. After completion of law school, he was employed by the Revisor of Statutes prior to serving as law clerk for Federal Judge George Templar. In 1971, he became general counsel for Santa Fe Railroad where he remained for 16 years. He was appointed to Division 13 as a District Judge on September 23rd, 1987 by Governor Mike Hayden. He served in this role for 21 years, retiring on July 4th, 2008. Up until the time of his passing, he continued to conduct mediations and wedding ceremonies.

Outside of the judicial realm, he took great pride in family and coaching the youth of Topeka. He coached all four of his boys in various sports, but also was involved with many teams where they were not participants. Some of these teams were with Most Pure Heart, Capital City Youth Basketball League, and Topeka High among several others. He was a huge sports fan with some of his favorite teams being the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, and University of Kansas basketball. His sports knowledge and autograph collection could rival the most gifted sports analyst or autograph fanatic. A few of his interests outside of the sporting arena included fishing, country western movies, reading mystery novels, and spending time with his grandchildren. He really cherished his role of husband, father, brother, uncle, and maybe most of all, "Papa."

He was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Kenneth and Helen Conklin, his brother, Father Christopher Conklin, his sister, Suzanne Sexton, brother-in-law, Bruce Sexton, brother-in-law, Jack Moore, and great niece, Carly Gassman. He is survived by his wife of 49.5 years, Judy, son Travis of Allen, TX (wife Carolyn), son Chris of Owasso, OK, son Blake of Lawrence, KS (wife Larisa), and son Brogan of Chicago, Il (wife Katie). In addition, he is survived by his sister, Mary Jane Moore of Lawrence, KS and brother, Kenneth Conklin of Topeka (wife Lois). Furthermore, he is survived by his five grandchildren, Arden (13), Taggart (10), Finley (8), Grayson (4), and Bexley (18 months). In addition, he is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, our father has requested donations be made to the Topeka Rescue Mission or St. Jude Children Hospital.

A parish rosary will be prayed at 5:00 pm Thursday, January 24, 2019 at Penwell-Gabel Mid-Town Chapel, 1321 SW 10th Ave. Topeka, KS 66604; visitation will follow until 7:00 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11:00 am Friday, January 25, 2019 at Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church on Friday, January 25th at 11:00 am. Burial will follow at Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

As we all know, he had a major affinity for sports. Therefore, feel free to wear a t-shirt of your favorite sports team to replace something more formal.


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