Kris Elaine (Jost) JantzÂ
Kris Elaine (Jost) Jantz
March 20, 1957 - July 27, 2022
A Funeral Service for Kris Jantz will be held at 9:30 a.m. MST, Friday, August 5, 2022, at the Syracuse Wesleyan Church in Syracuse, KS. Interment will follow in the Syracuse Cemetery. Kris Elaine (Jost) Jantz passed away on July 27, 2022, at the Greeley County Hospital in Tribune, Kansas, at the age of 65. She was born March 20, 1957, in McPherson, Kansas, to Dale and Mary Louise (Jacobs) Jost.
Kris’s parents moved to Syracuse the same year of her birth. She attended Syracuse school and graduated with honors in 1975. After graduation she attended Dodge City Community College for two years, working towards her teaching degree. Kris was united in marriage to Kenneth Ray Jantz on April 1, 1977. After the birth of her two children, Kelli and Kaylon, Kris attended Fort Hays State University to finish her degree in teaching. She completed one year of student teaching in Syracuse for the 5th grade and then continued to teach in Syracuse for 28 years between teaching kindergarten and 2nd grade classes. Kris transferred to Holly School in 2016, teaching 2nd grade for five more years. She touched many children’s lives, dedicating countless hours preparing every day and devoted even more time for summer school. Kris’s hobbies included gardening, bowling, playing cards, garage sales, boating, fishing, painting and small home improvements, along with experimental cooking. Her love to travel took her to Mississippi with her sister, Ann on a mission to clean up after the hurricane and trips to Mexico, San Francisco, Washington D.C., South Carolina, and several more destinations for skiing and spring break adventures with her children and grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Dale and Louise Jost; sister, Lorenza Vasquez; and her maternal and paternal grandparents.
Kris is survived by her husband, Kenneth Jantz; daughter, Kelli Hatcher; son, Kaylon Jantz; son-in-law, Derrick Hatcher; grandchildren, Savanah, Allias, Krislyn, and Dyrvor; two greatgrandchildren, Blythe and Rhett; two sisters, Nancy and Ann, and their families; two sisters-in-law, Gail and Toni, and their families; seven nephews and two nieces; many other relatives and a host of friends.
The family will be setting up a Scholarship in Kris’s name for a student pursuing a degree in education. Memorial contributions may be made to Valley Memorial Funeral Chapel, P.O. Box 950, Lamar, CO 81052. To leave online condolences, please visit www.valleymemorialfc.com.
OBITUARIES
Robert Darnell
A Memorial Service for Robert Darnell will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, March 20, 2026 at the Bent County Community Center in Las Animas, Colorado with Pastor Rick Beard officiating. Private inurnment will take place in the Bent County-Las Animas Cemetery. Per... [More]
Patricia Kuban
A Memorial Service for Holly, Colorado resident Patricia Kuban will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, March 7, 2026 at Valley Funeral & Cremation in Holly, Colorado. Pastor Steve Knobbe will be officiating, alongside Pastor Greg Tomlinson and Pastor Kathy Leathers.... [More]
Noel Perkins
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Kent Willhite
Funeral services for Kent Willhite will be held at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, February 24, 2026 at First Baptist Church of Holly with interment following in Maxey Cemetery, Baca County, Colorado at 3:00 p.m. Visitation will be held on Monday, February 23, 2026... [More]
Sharon (Walker) Schmidt
Sharon Louise (Walker) Schmidt, 82, passed away peacefully on February 6, 2026, at Hamilton County Hospital in Syracuse, Kansas, with her sister Charlotte by her side. She was born May 10, 1943, in Garden City, Kansas, to Willard Wesley Walker and Lucille Rebecca (Eichenauer)... [More]
Terry Eugene Ford
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Jimmie Wayne “J.W.” Wilks
A memorial celebration of life for Wiley resident Jimmie Wayne Wilks affectionately known to his family and friends as J.W. will be held at 10:00AM on Friday, February 27, 2026 at the Life Center Church in Lamar, Colorado with Pastor Manuel Tamez and Pastor Mike Schneider... [More]
Jonathan Seufer
Funeral Services for Jonathan Seufer will be held at 10:00 a.m., Friday, February 6, 2026 at the Holly High School. Interment will follow in the Holly Cemetery, Holly, Colorado. Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., Thursday, February 5, 2026... [More]
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SPORTS
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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NEWS
Out With The Old: City Wide Cleanup
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Aguilera Appointed to City Council of Syracuse
2008 Syracuse High School graduate, Luis Aguilera, was appointed to the City Council of Syracuse at the noon meeting on Tuesday. After Joe Thomeczek resigned his position to serve, the seat was vacant. Letters of interest were mailed into the city office. Mayor Blake... [More]
Main Street Market Opens With Limited Hours
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Giving Back To Community Brings Joy
Community thrives when it’s citizens put the people above themselves. Many give by serving on boards, some volunteer as coaches, and sometimes people just decide to give. Two such people, Pat Barrett and Ann Gattis, come to mind. Pat Barrett read an article in... [More]
Honduran Man and Kansas Woman Indicted for Fraudulently Obtaining Custody of an Unaccompanied Alien Child
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Commmunity Invited to Learn About Digital Health and Our Children
You have seen the headlines - Child Commits Suicide where an AI platform encouraged a child to commit suicide. Sextortion cases where teens and youth are killing themselves because they were threatened naked pictures of them would be shared. They made a mistake. They sent a nude... [More]
Former Syracusan Jessie Bee Writes Book
The Prophecy of Three; The Melanthia Chronicles, a story about a 17-year-old teenage heroine, named Summer, written by Jessie Bee. What makes this book unique is that Jessie Bee has strong ties to Syracuse. Jessica (Nielsen) Blais wrote her book under a pen name,... [More]
Einspahr Lights Up The Stage As The Nutcracker
Months of hard work and collaboration came to fruition the first week of December 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... [More]
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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
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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]
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