Robert W. Ladner

Robert "Bob" W. Ladner, 88, Topeka, passed away April 24, 2012, at Midland Hospice House after a short battle with cancer. He was born December 11, 1923, in Onaga, Kansas, the son of George and Rosa Landis Ladner. He retired from Kansas Power and Light Company after 35 years of service, including time as a lineman and then a dispatcher. He served overseas, with the Corps of Engineers during WWII and helped to construct an airbase on Santa Maria Island, in the Azores, for allied aircraft to land and refuel. He was a member of St. David's Episcopal Church and also a member of Masonic Temple Siloam Lodge 225 A.F. & A.M. He enjoyed hunting and fishing, photography, and was an amateur radio operator for over 55 years and enjoyed talking to other "amateurs" in foreign countries. Bob married Marcella Meskimen on May 19, 1947, in Reno, Nevada.

He is survived by his wife of nearly 65 years; three sons, Steve Ladner, Topeka, Robert Ladner and wife Lisa, Onaga, and Robin Ladner and wife Sherri, Holton; eight grandchildren; three step grandchildren; and two step great grandchildren.

Services will be at 11:00 a.m. Friday, April 27, 2012, at Penwell-Gabel Mid Town Chapel, 1321 SW 10th Avenue, Topeka. Burial will follow in Mount Hope Cemetery. Mr. Ladner will lie in state at the funeral home after 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, where the family will receive friends from 6:00-8:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to St. David's Episcopal Church or Midland Hospice House, both of Topeka, Kansas.