Arnold Frederick Essmiller Jr., 92, died Nov. 21, 2017, at Cherry Village Nursing Home in Great Bend. He was born July 9, 1925, at Great Bend, the son of Arnold Frederick, Sr., and Arabella Dorothea (Miller) Essmiller. He married Joyce Deanne Phillips Jan. 19, 1944, at Great Bend. A lifetime Great Bend resident, Mr. Essmiller was a farmer and stockman and owned and operated Essmiller Oil Company.
Mr. Essmiller was a member of First Presbyterian Church, the Elks Lodge, a charter member of the Great Bend Evening Lions Club, Barton County Historical Society, Optimist Club, and served as a school board member of Countryside School District 108 from its creation in 1954 until the school closing in the late 1960’s. He was named one of Great Bend’s Outstanding Young Farmers of the Year in 1959 by American State Bank and the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Essmiller loved planes and aviation, obtaining his pilot’s license in the early 1950’s. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather “Papa,” who loved nothing more than family gatherings, and was so happy when his granddaughter and her husband bought part of the family farm west of Great Bend, and his great-grandsons would be growing up in the home where he was born and raised.
Survivors include his wife, Joyce Essmiller, of the home; three daughters, Jan Marie Bolick of Carmel, Ind., ArNell Deanne Briel and husband Jon of Great Bend, and Jadean Louise Takao and husband Eric of Kailua, Hawaii; four grandchildren, Brent Bolick and wife Amy of Jacksonville, Fla., Wendy Sundahl and husband Shane of Larned, Robin Murphy and husband Matt of Fishers, Ind., and Hayley Dicks and husband Shane of Great Bend; and eight great-grandchildren, Sophie Bolick, Olivia Bolick, Connor Deer, Brady Murphy, Dalton Dicks, Parker Dicks, Slade Sundahl and Darby Sundahl. He was preceded in death by one brother, Fritz Diedrich Essmiller; and one sister, Arlene Margaret Ford.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m., Monday, Nov. 27, at First Presbyterian Church in Great Bend with Pastor Don Paden officiating. Burial will be in Great Bend Cemetery. Friends may call from 1-9 p.m., with the family receiving friends from 6-8 p.m.,today at Bryant Funeral Home. Memorials have been established with Wounded Warrior Project or Golden Belt Humane Society, in care of Bryant Funeral Home. Condolences may be sent and notice viewed at www.bryantfh.net

Funeral arrangements provided by
Bryant Funeral Home**
1425 Patton Road
Great Bend, Ks. 67530
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, Nov. 26, 2017