Paul Queen
Paul Norman Queen is someone you should know.
Paul was born in Jewell County in 1941 at the family’s farmhouse, with a midwife assisting his mother. The family moved to Phillips County in 1951 where his parents ran a gas station/ bait shop in Kirwin. Paul was the second child born, having 1 older sister, 2 younger brothers, and 1 younger sister.
Paul says that from the time he was a very young child -- all the way into adulthood -- he looked up to his mother as the cement that held the family together. She had strong nurturing instincts, and was fiercely and lovingly protective of the family unit. She ran a caring home environment, and when necessary, practiced tough love in order to teach the children to be responsible for their actions, and to learn to be good, respectful citizens. One particularly fond memory Paul has of his mother is watching her lead their farm turkeys out into the fields, Pied Piper fashion, to eat the abundant bugs and grasshoppers there.
He also remembers a good lesson taught to him and his siblings by their father. His dad would have the young children go out into the fields after harvest to gather any missed corn, and would pay them to do so before he let the hogs go in and finish the job. The small amount of spending money earned by each child helped them learn that hard work paid off. Paul credits his strong work ethic as being instilled by his parents.
Paul was a very good student throughout elementary school, earning nearly all A’s. He attended a small country church and was baptized at age 12 after completing doctrinal instruction, and became a communicant member of the church. He attended the small high school in Kirwin, and in his junior year there were 29 students in his grade level. In 1958, the family moved to Salina where he joined a senior class of 365! He still did well in his studies, but admits he received his first C’s in a couple classes. All the many activities and added competition were distractions to him in this new urban environment. He really enjoyed being challenged and learning new things. He was experiencing life to the fullest!
Paul’s carefree life changed dramatically when he went on a blind date to a hayrack ride in October of 1959. That’s when he met Kathy Leander and fell head-over-heels in love. The couple dated approximately two and a half years before Kathy became his wife in 1962. They eventually became a family of 4 with the addition of 2 healthy boys. Life was good.
Over the years, Paul held several diverse positions in the field of transportation, including early on as a “Star Route” mail truck driver. This vehicle was used by private contractors, rather than US Postal Service employees, to transport mail — typically between post offices or on rural routes. These routes, established in 1845, were marked with three stars (***) on contracts to signify requirements of priority and security. When Paul drove one of these contracts, he transported mail from Salina to Plainville, Kansas. Later he moved on to drive for REI Express in Manhattan. Eventually he delivered Ft. Riley freight with the Graves Truck Line.
Paul was a very new employee with Graves in Liberal, when in 1971, Kathy, then 27 years old, came down with fungal pneumonia. The boys were 8 and 6. Kathy spent 8 days of her lengthy hospitalization in an intensive care unit. Fellow employees and their families stepped up to help this young family. They took both boys into their homes so Paul could visit the hospital and keep his job that required his driving till midnight.
Praise be to God, Kathy recovered and returned home. Paul is still awed by the generosity of the employees at this company. (Bill Graves, owner of the trucking company, later became the 43rd Governor of Kansas.) After a few years, the company offered Paul a management position in Dodge City as the Terminal Manager. Paul performed well there, but was not as satisfied with the work as he had hoped, so he began studying for a license to sell insurance. When the timing was right, Paul left Graves and began working for Penn Mutual. During the next few years, Paul worked for Penn, then High Plains Journal, then back to Penn, then back to High Plains Journal. Paul excelled at sales, even though it involved a great deal of pressure to always make a sale. He had found his niche at last. Paul continued to sell insurance for the next 40 years.
During that time, the family had moved to Newton County, Kansas, in 1988. Kathy opened a small business through a company called Body Toning -- an exercise store for overweight folks. Five years later, they moved to Wichita in 1993.
Paul and Kathy were happily married for 59 years, before she passed away in 2021. Kathy suffered with Alzheimer’s for the last years of her life. Paul and Kathy’s legacy has been their two sons, Lawrence (late wife Tanya), and Mark (married to Kayla). Both men possess the strong work ethic instilled by their parents.
Paul visited his aunt, Charlotte Kemmerer, who worked for Darrel Bryant for a number of years, many times before he became a resident of Council Grove.
Paul is a passionate bridge player and enjoys volunteering at the Council Grove Senior Center.
He moved to Council Grove after retiring. He loves the town and character of the people here. He’s known for his unique sense of humor, and is quite active at the age of 85.
Paul Queen is someone you should get to know. He enjoys life and brings much laughter and fun to any gathering.