M. Leon Sevart

We have many good memories growing up with our Dad. He was a good provider and caregiver for our family and that extended to his second family as well. He was always there for them when they needed help. When our mother developed cancer, he took care of her and she was able to finish out her last days peacefully in their home. He was always concerned for his wife Betty’s health and said, if he could just go home, he could help take care of her.

Our Dad was a good role model for our family. He and our mother never missed a day of work. We were taught to be self-reliant. As the hope is for every generation to do better than the previous, our parents made sure we were all able to go to college. Even though they did not have college degrees, our parents both flourished in their careers. Our Dad worked his way up at Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. and loved his job as a Field Engineer.

In his life, Dad had many interests including playing the guitar and banjo, bicycling, taking motorcycle trips with his friends and gardening. Dad and Jeff took many bicycle trips together and participated in “Bike Across Kansas” for many years. One year, they traveled to Maine. Dad wasn’t too keen on that bicycle trip since the only food they served was lobster!

Dad traveled to many places on his motorcycle. Julie just took a trip to Arches National Park and Silverthorne CO. When she mentioned that to Dad, of course he had been there on a motorcycle trip. His passion for motorcycling helped him develop an interest in refurbishing BMW motorcycles. That turned into a favorite hobby for Dad during his retirement.

We always looked forward to summers in Kansas. Dad’s garden was filled with green beans, corn, tomatoes, squash, and everyone’s favorite – okra! Our mother made the best fried okra ever and no one has ever been able to duplicate it! We took family trips to theme parks and trips to visit our aunt, uncle, cousins and grandparents in SE Kansas.
Our best summer family memory though was the evening family car ride. Dad’s favorite line was, “If you are good, we’ll stop and get ice cream.” None of us ever remember a time when we didn’t stop for ice cream and it wasn’t because we were that good. Dad loved ice cream!

Dad also had a soft spot for animals. Our home in Hutchinson was just a few blocks away from the Humane Society. There were stray cats and dogs everywhere and some of them ended up as our pets. One in particular was a rat terrier we named Sparky. Dad said we could keep him if he stayed outside in the dog house. We worked hard to make the dog house comfortable for Sparky. We even put a light in it to heat it during the winter. Well, Sparky would stand outside our sliding glass door and do a “shiver routine”. It didn’t take long for Dad to feel sorry for him and soon he became an indoor dog.

Dad had a love for music. He taught himself how to play the guitar and banjo and encouraged all of us to play instruments. Julie played a flute through high school and still has the flute he bought for her. Janet played the clarinet, and along with her friend Sheila, would see who could squeak the most during the grade school band concert. Jeff played the trumpet. Music was definitely appreciated in our home.

One of our favorite memories of Dad was when he taught us how to drive. We were not fortunate enough to have a car with an automatic transmission. We learned how to drive in a 65 Ford Fairline with a standard transmission and 3 on the tree! In was one finicky car! Dad would take us out on deserted country roads and we would practice using the clutch and shifting the gears. Either Dad had the patience of Job or was training us to be semi-truck drivers, we’re not sure. He stuck with us and we eventually mastered that car. It was passed down from Julie to Janet and we’re not sure what happened to it after that. Janet was driving it one day and the stick shift came off in her hand! Thankfully Dad was good with duct tape!

We have many more memories to share and I’m sure we are not done posting. Thanks to everyone for reading this and giving us an opportunity to share these special times with all of you.
Love,
Julie, Janet & Jeff