Theron Sylvester Black

Theron Sylvester Black, 100, former Grand Lodge Auditor for the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers, died Tuesday, February 4, 2020. Funeral services will be held at Downing & Lahey East Mortuary at 10:00 am, Friday, February 7, 2020. Theron was born in Wichita to John W. and Rachel E. Black who preceded him in death. As a boy, Theron spent summers with relatives, farming and working as a harvest hand. His first job after graduation from Wichita East High School in 1938 was an office boy for a chemical company. Then he went to trade school to learn drafting and was hired by Beech Aircraft Co. in final assembly. Drafted in 1943, he served in the Air Corps as a flight engineer with the 3rd Photo Reconnaissance Squadron making pre- and post-mission photo flights, helping mark targets in the South Pacific, China, and Japan. After military service he returned to Beech and became active in the Machinists Union. He served various offices of his local lodge, was elected secretary-treasurer of District Lodge 70 and was chosen to serve as a district auditor for the Grand Lodge in Washington, D.C. He volunteered time as President of the Wichita Labor Federation, member of the Wichita State University Board of Trustees, Tenth District Economics Advisory Council to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, United Way Fund executive committee and board, Community Planning Council, Model Cities Task Force, Citizens Committee for Community Progress, and the boards of Maude Carpenter Children’s Home (now Carpenter Place) and Wichita Area Girl Scout Council. Theron was instrumental in creating and establishing KANSEL (Kansas School for Effective Learning), a nonprofit adult education center providing GED preparation classes in English and Spanish. Preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Lois Black, and brothers, Gale E. Black and S. Ronald Black. Survivors: son, Dennis Black of Wichita; daughter, Debra (Seyhan) Nuyan of Atlanta, GA; sisters, Ramona Phipps of Colorado Springs, CO, Kathleen Ritchie of Dallas, TX; sisters-in-law, Sara Black of Wichita, Bonnie Black of Dallas, TX. Memorials have been established with Carpenter Place, 1501 N. Meridian, Wichita, KS 67203, and Riverwalk Church of Christ Mission Fund, 225 N. Waco St., Wichita, KS 67202.