EnglishSpanish

Betty Lanford

Betty Lanford

1943-2020

Valley Memorial-Holly, Colorado

Graveside services for lifelong Holly, Colorado resident, Betty Lanford will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, December 12, 2020 at the Holly Cemetery in Holly, Colorado with Pastor Kathy Leathers officiating.  Visitation will be held from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., Friday, December 11, 2020 at Valley Memorial Funeral Chapel in Holly.

Betty Jean (Heck) Lanford was born on September 2, 1943 in Holly, Colorado to Bernard and Eunice (McCracken) Heck.  She passed away at Prowers Medical Center on November 29, 2020 at the age of 77.

Betty worked numerous jobs throughout her life; cooking at the Holly Nursing Care Center, cutting meat at Nick’s IGA, and medical coding at Anesthesia Consultants, P.C. until retiring in 2007.  Betty spent her time with the “Golden Girls”, having coffee and lunch dates.  Betty had the privilege of watching her great grandsons, Connor and Jack for the past few years.  This brought her so much joy.  She was often found in the stands at sporting events watching the Holly Wildcats.  Betty was a member of the Holly Alumni Association, the Mizpah Rebekah Lodge #97, and faithfully attended the Holly United Methodist Church.

Betty is survived by her daughter, Anjie (Brad) Simon of Holly, Colorado; son, Randy Channel of Rotan, Texas; grandchildren, Kelton Simon and girlfriend,Becca Heckman of Colorado Springs, Colorado and Kensie Simon of Holly, Colorado; great grandsons, Connor B. and Jackson Barnes of Holly, Colorado; sisters-in-law, Kathy Heck, Sue Wright, Lee Ann Lanford, Donna Kay Lanford; nieces, Mikki (Kurt) Hirschler and Bobbi Jo (Shane) Wiescamp; nephews, Royce (Rae) Heck and Dusty (Cassandra) Heck; numerous great nieces and nephews, cousins, and a host of friends.

She was preceded in death by her father, Bernard “Pappy” Heck on August 22, 1976; mother, Eunice “Punnie” Heck on June 10, 1999; first husband, Richard Channel on July 25, 1999; second husband, Don Lanford on May 29, 1997; and brother, Robert “Bob” Heck on April 17, 2008.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Holly Alumni Association, Holly Sports Boosters, or Holly Fire and Ambulance Fund in care of Valley Memorial Funeral Chapel, P.O. Box 950, Lamar, Colorado, 81052.

To leave online condolences or to view the live-streamed service please visit www.valleymemorialfc.com.

 

OBITUARIES

thumb

Shirley Naulls

Shirley Nadine Naulls passed away peacefully on December 9, 2025 in Denver, Colorado, at the age of 90, in the company of her sister Marjorie Hurst and niece Tracey Hall. She was born December 13, 1934 in Syracuse Kansas, to Edna and Clyde Jones.  She is preceded in death... [More]

Maria Salud Garcia De Gonzalez

Maria Salud Garcia De Gonzalez passed away December 13, 2025 at the Via Christi St. Francis Hospital, in Wichita, Kansas. She was the daughter of Jose Garcia and Maria Gauadalupe Rivera. She was born December 27. 1949 in Urireo Guanajuato, Mexico. Maria grew up in Guanajuato,... [More]

thumb

William “Bill” Thomeczek

 William (Bill) Joseph Thomeczek, age 78, of Girard, Kansas, born on March 19, 1947, in Syracuse, Kansas, went home to be with the Lord on December 15, 2025, in Girard, Kansas. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Carl Joseph Thomeczek and Marie Lillian (Kerns) Thomeczek;... [More]

thumb

Jerry Seybert

 Recitation of the Rosary for Holly, Colorado resident, Gerald "Jerry" Seybert will be held at 10:00 a.m., followed by the Funeral Liturgy at 10:30 a.m. with Deacon Alan Medina officiating, at Valley Memorial Funeral Chapel in Holly, Colorado. Interment will follow in the... [More]

thumb

Lester Eugene Harris

Lester Eugene Harris was born on January 31, 1961 in Concordia, KS.  He passed away at his home on December 4, 2025. He was the eldest son of Bill and Sharon Harris. Lester’s family moved to Syracuse, KS in 1973 where he attended Syracuse School District through... [More]

thumb

Jean Jorgensen

Jean DeLynn (White) Jorgensen, 83, of Winchester, KS, went to her heavenly home on Thursday, December 4th, 2025, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Lawrence, KS. She was born on July 21, 1942, in Denver, Colorado, the daughter of Robert and Grace (Burdick) White. Jean grew up... [More]

thumb

Jaivaren Smith

 Jaivaren Edward Phillip Smith, age 15, passed away on Wednesday, November 26, 2025, at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas. He was born on May 7, 2010, in Lakin, Kansas, the son of Johnathon and Christina (McNett) Smith. Jai, a sophomore at Ulysses High... [More]

thumb

Lenny Thompson

Funeral services for Lenny Thompson will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, November 29, 2025 at Holly Methodist Church in Holly, Colorado with Pastor Kathy Leathers officiating.  Interment will follow in the Holly Cemetery.  Per Lenny’s request, there will be no... [More]

More Obituaries

View All Obituaries

SPORTS

thumb

HI-PLAINS ALL LEAGUE

The Hi-Plains League has announced recipients of all-league basketball honors. The selection process begins when individual coaches submit names. The players are then voted on by the other HPL coaches. However, coaches may not vote on their own players.   Syracuse High School... [More]

thumb

SHS CHEER TAKES SECOND

Small but Mighty! That is the name high school Head Cheerleading Coach, Marcos Valadez put on the 2024-2025 squad last summer, “We may not have the numbers, but our team has overcome adversity and is always stepping up to the challenge.”  Proving this, the Syracuse... [More]

thumb

BULLDOGS OPEN FALL SEASON WITH FIRST PLACE FINISH IN GOLF

The Syracuse Bulldogs Ladies Varsity Golf Team took first at their season opener in Stanton County on Tuesday afternoon. They shot a team score of 207 at the Prairie Pines Golf Course in Johnson. The varsity team  is Lanee Owens, Bronwyn Lewis, Sammy Schwieterman, Maddy... [More]

thumb

LEWIS HEADS TO STATE TRACK

Qualifying members of the high school track team traveled to Hill City Thursday, May 16 to compete in the 2-A regional meet against 15 teams, Ellinwood, Ellis, Hill City, Hoxie, Lincoln, Meade, Medicine Lodge, Oakley, Plainville, Smith Center, Stanton County, Sublette, Thomas... [More]

thumb

BULLDOGS TAKE SECOND AT REGIONALS - HEADED TO STATE

The Syracuse High School boys golf team battled breezy conditions on Monday May 13 competing in the 2-A Regional meet on their own Tamarisk Golf Course.  Adjusting to windy conditions and competing at home paid off for the Bulldogs Monday, placing second, qualifying... [More]

thumb

STATE GOLF RESULTS

State golf on Monday had the Varsity Bulldogs miss playing in the finals as a team by one stroke. They finished seventh out of twelve teams.  On Day 1, Brody Keller shot a 92 missing day two by two strokes. Ian Brummett shot a 95, Mason Scott  and Johnny TeVelde shot... [More]

thumb

JH BASKETBALL WINS

Junior High Boys Basketball A, B, and C teams travelled to Elkhart on Monday, November 21. The A team won 41-34, B team won 26-21, and  C team lost to Elkhart 13-20. Head Coach Vance Keller said, “Elkhart was a tough win for both the A and B teams but both grinded... [More]

thumb

LADY BULLDOGS BORDER WARS CHAMPIONS!!

The Lady Bulldogs were undefeated during the Border Wars, defeating Eads on Friday, 42-7 and Walsh on Saturday 62-5, bringing their record to 3-1. But the winner wasn’t announced until Tuesday evening. Syracuse Athletic Director Josh Johnson explained, “It came down... [More]

More Sports

NEWS

thumb

Einspahr Lights Up The Stage As The Nutcracker

Months of hard work and collaboration came to fruition this weekend at the Steps Dance School production of The Nutcracker, held at the Clifford Hope Auditorium in Garden City.  Director Ginny Duncan worked closely with prop and set designers, 14 choreographers and over... [More]

thumb

1999 Exchange Student Returns Reliving His Syracuse Days

Summer of August 1998, a young man from Germany set out on an adventure as an exchange student through the EF Foundation to Syracuse Kansas to attend high school for one year.  Georg Motzko wanted the experience of studying in another country to become more self-confident,... [More]

thumb

Veterans Day Thank You

US Major Andy Davis, call sign “CHAOS”, is a fourth-generation pilot in the Davis family of Syracuse and has flown several models of F-16 fighter jets in his 12 years in the Active-Duty Air Force. He has had several assignments and deployments across the globe, including... [More]

thumb

1991 SHS Grad Awarded Colorado Water Commissioner of the Year Division 2

Brandy Cole, 1991 SHS graduate, recently received the Water Commissioner of the Year Award, at the Annual Colorado Division 2 of Water Resources (DWR) meeting.  The award was presented by Jason Ullmann Colorado State Engineer and Rachel Lawhorn, DWR Division 2 Engineer.... [More]

thumb

30th Annual Classic and Antique Fly-In This Saturday

The 30th annual Classic and Antique Fly In will be held Saturday, October 11, at the Hamilton County Airport, hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EEA) Chapter 377.  Every year the annual Fly-In brings young and old to the local airport to look at vintage planes.... [More]

Important Information About City of Syracuse’s Drinking Water

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER SYRACUSE, CITY OF, Water System submitted the Initial Lead Service Line Inventory after October 16, 2024. This inventory identifies lead, non-lead, galvanized requiring replacement and unknown service lines between the water main... [More]

thumb

Urie Takes First at Rocky Mountain Race Week

Rocky Mountain Race Weekend, held at Pueblo Motorsports Park September 5-7, is a weekend of squalling tires, roaring engines, and hanging out with friends and family. Darrin, Kim, and children Ebben and Adalyn Urie travelled to Pueblo so the kids could compete, doing just... [More]

thumb

Jireh Family Restaurant

Photo - Cintia Tetrault, Maria Vindel, Carlos Vindel, Dalia Vindel/photo by Krista Norton

More News

OPINIONS

More love, less hate

Happy Thursday! I am writing this Wednesday morning . When this paper goes out, I need to start on next week’s, the final edition of the year. There won’t be a newspaper for January 1, 2026.  The calendar last year left zero room for a break and I am desperately... [More]

Purpose in the Pain

It’s November! It’s a beautiful cool, fall Wednesday morning as I write this. I took a walk with my dogs, chatted with my friend, and coughed. But the cough has been way better! Tuesday was Election Day. The contest for mayor of Coolidge was one many were watching.... [More]

Fruit of the Spirit

October is here! The cool mornings are lovely! Looking forward to cooler afternoons too! Thought I would share some quick updates. My respiratory junk is not wanting to exit this human. Got another round of antibiotics and more breathing treatments. Thankfully I am improving. ... [More]

Where Can God Use You Today?

A long haired shaggy white dog, likely a Great Pyrenees, showed up at our farm last week.  After a couple of days, we saw it wasn’t going anywhere. We started to feed it. He let us get closer.  What we found was a skinny, malnourished dog with a horrible case... [More]

How Vulnerable Are You?

Thanks for your patience last week. I am still recovering but have returned to the land of the living! I get frustrated with how slow it takes to recover sometimes when really I should focus on the fact that I am recovering.  I truly feel like I am getting stronger and then... [More]

Let God

It’s the first week of September. After I get the paper onto stands, we are headed to the state fair. They changed some of the stalling procedures this year for sheep which leaves some unknowns for us. But every year we go, we learn new things. After my irritation and frustration... [More]

thumb

Breathing Space

I slipped away for a quick getaway for back to school clothes shopping, visiting family, some good food, and a trip to Barnes and Noble.  We left Thursday afternoon and returned Sunday.  It was triple digit heat when we left our sheep in good hands to be taken care... [More]

Building Moments and Memories

Another week has passed after the fair but I am still not recovered. Monday is the start of school and I am hoping we get a quick getaway even for one night.  I was out of the office on Tuesday while we bred our lambs in Healy, Kansas. We rose early, hooked up the trailer,... [More]

More Opinions