Month: April 2015

The victim from the fatality accident that occurred on March 30 at 18th and State Avenue has been identified as Ramon Esponosa, 20, of Kansas City, Kan., according to police.

The accident remains under investigation by the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department’s Traffic Support Unit-Critical Collision Response Team.

Attorney John J. Jurcyk, who worked with Dr. O.L. Plucker for a number of years, remembered him as someone who had left the community in a better condition than he had found it.

Jurcyk knew Plucker for many years, as Jurcyk’s firm represented the Kansas City, Kan., Board of Education.

He said Plucker exemplified a well-known oath that encourages citizens to leave their community in a better condition than they found it.

“O.L. had the knack of being forward-looking and trying to do the best for the community,” Jurcyk said. “He was very instrumental in the study that came up with the Unified Government organizational structure.”

Jurcyk said he believed Dr. Plucker made the organizations he was involved with better, including the Kansas City, Kan., school district, the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce, and even after his retirement, when he was active with the Wyandotte Health Foundation.

Plucker was the superintendent during the time of a desegregation case, which resulted in the creation of Sumner Academy.

“He’s done a lot of good things for the community, and I’m proud to have known him,” Jurcyk said. “Whatever he worked on, when he left, it was better than when he started.”

– Mary Rupert

Dr. Orvin Lowell (O.L.) Plucker, superintendent emeritus of Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools, died peacefully on March 30, 2015, at the age of 92 surrounded by his family.

Dr. Plucker, affectionately known as “O.L.,” was born on a family farm near Emery, S.D., on July 18, 1922, as one of five children of John E. and Johanna Plucker. O.L. is survived by his devoted wife of 70 years, Mavis Plucker (Appleton); his only child, Mary McArthur (Mike); grandchildren Emily Swain Ossmann (Michael) and Matthew Swain (Rebecca); and two great-grandchildren Mitchell and Austin Swain.

Dr. Plucker went from graduating from a one-room country school to a public life devoted to local, state and national education concerns and public service.

Church and faith in a loving God were a core part of life for O.L. He served his church in many capacities and was a lifetime honorary board member of Central Baptist Seminary in Kansas City, Kan. After his retirement, he joined Old Mission Methodist Church where he frequently taught a senior Sunday School class.

His early years were spent working with horses, plows, reapers, and threshing crews on his father’s farm. While working as an orderly in the hospital, he met his lifetime love, Mavis who was in nurse’s training. Together they formed a mighty team which lasted over seventy years. His career in education as a teacher and administrator spanned over 43 years and took him from South Dakota to Colorado to Independence, Mo., to Kansas City, Kan., where he retired in 1986 as superintendent emeritus after serving as Superintendent for 24 years.

O.L. was a planner and a builder. During his 35 years as a superintendent, he directed construction of four new high schools, 13 new elementary schools, and a junior high. He planned and directed construction of a new public library and a vocational technical school in KCK. At the same time, he negotiated the closing and sale or demolition of more than 20 inefficient and antiquated structures, 15 of which predated 1900.

O.L. was also an educational innovator. He initiated the state legislative program authorizing the creation of county Community College districts with their own independent boards such as the KCK and Johnson County Community Colleges. His other local school innovations included the establishment of a comprehensive special education program, including the development of the Wyandotte Special Education Cooperative; the creation of a Career Opportunity Center for students having problems adjusting to traditional schools, the expansion and improvement of public library services; development of the first modern Vocational-Technical School in the KC metro area; and special educational opportunities for teenage mothers. Years of planning and months of court battles ended with the acceptance and implementation of his plan to establish Sumner Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the implementation of district wide changes in neighborhood school attendance areas made mandatory by desegregation requirements. Under Dr. Plucker’s direction this was accomplished without creating great public controversy.

O.L. was also active in numerous community boards and was especially gratified by his 43 year involvement with the YMCA of the Rockies whose board he chaired for seven years and his influence and leadership with the Wyandotte Health Foundation. His dedication to the betterment of his beloved KCK was evident when he chaired the KCK commission on the Form of City Government and was the primary author of the Charter Ordinance transitioning KCK from its antiquated three commissioner system to a Mayor-Council-Administrator form. In 1986, he was named as an Honoree in Celebration of Leadership by Kansas City Tomorrow as its founder and past board chairman.

Dr. Plucker was an active professional leader and served in leadership positions of local, state, and national educational organizations. His many service awards included a listing in Marquis’ “Who’s Who in America” and “Who’s Who in American Education”, an “I CARE” award; the Kilpatrick Governmental Relation’s Award from American Association of School Administrators; Distinguished Citizen and Outstanding Service Award from the KCK Chamber of Commerce; the L.P. Cunningham Award for Outstanding Performance in Public Administration, and the Kansas City Tomorrow Award for “Celebration of Leadership.”

During retirement, O.L. loved to spend time with his family in Florida and trips to the YMCA camp in Estes Park, Colo., were a yearly family tradition. He was always there to lend a helping hand or an ear to listen. He was a compassionate, principled, and non-judgmental man who loved his wife Mavis and his family, a man whose great leadership and dedication to others was evidenced throughout his life.

Friends may visit with the family on Saturday, April 18, at Old Mission Church in Fairway, Kan., from 10-11. A Celebration of his Life will be held at 11 a.m. with a reception following at the church.

Memorial contributions are suggested to Old Mission United Methodist Church Memorial Fund, 5519 State Park Road, Fairway, Kan., 66205 or to Cross-lines Community Outreach, Inc. 736 Shawnee Ave. Kansas City, Kan., 66105 or to your favorite charity.

Arrangements handled by Porter Funeral Home, Kansas City, Kan., and Lenexa, Kan.