Friends of Stan Sommers on Wednesday reminisced about a man whose feet always itched to travel, even as they were firmly rooted in the Emporia community.
Sommers, a former banker and long-time owner of International Tours, died unexpectedly on Tuesday at Newman Regional Health. He was 66.
A native of Olathe, Sommers had stayed in Emporia after graduating from Emporia State University with a degree in business administration. He married Emporian Karen Wayman on June 8, 1968, and in 1970 became commercial loan vice president at Emporia State Bank, now ESB Financial. In 1985, he became president of International Tours, where he was working Monday morning when he became ill.
Sommers had enjoyed the travel agency, whether he was booking trips for others, or personally leading them on group tours to fun places.
“He was certainly in the right business, as he loved to travel and loved to entertain,” said long-time friend Mike Turnbull. “Having been on many trips with Stan and Karen, they were a dynamic team when it came to making sure that everyone had a great time.”
The couple had an exciting, if not great, time in 1985, when they were in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico, for a travel conference.
An earthquake during the conference forced 400 to 500 people to evacuate the hotel; they spent the night in a cobblestone parking lot that Karen Sommers described as “beautiful to look at and horrible to sleep on,” according to Gazette files.
Mike Patton and his sons had taken a ski trip led by Sommers, producing a lasting friendship that resulted in Patton and his wife, Kathy, often taking vacations with the Sommerses.
Both Turnbull and Patton appreciated Sommers’ frankness, as well as his friendship.
“He tells it like it is,” Patton said on Wednesday. “But he’s a real friend. He’d do anything for you if you’re his friend.”
“He’s a very caring person and a very honest person,” Kathy Patton added.
Sommers remained quite athletic from youth through mature adulthood, Mike Patton said, enjoying all types of sports from scuba diving to skiing.
“One of the things was, he played for Olathe football when Olathe had 16,000 people and only had one (high) school. In the Olathe paper, it talked about Stan with the golden arm,” Patton said. “I used to always call him The Man With the Golden Arm.”
For Sue Longbine, Sommers was simply golden in every way.
“I truly lost one of my best friends,” Longbine said. “For 23 years, I probably never walked outside and not talked to Stan. He fed our cat when we were gone; he picked up our mail and our paper without being asked. He mowed when we weren’t here and we never asked for any of this.
“He truly was one of the best neighbors anyone could ever have.”
After the death of Longbine’s first husband, Rich, Sommers taught her how to run the lawnmower herself and fired up the weed trimmer because she couldn’t pull the cord hard enough to make it run.
“He was a teacher for me, as well as a really good friend,” Longbine said. “... He took my new husband Bill (Burns) in with open arms, and they have become very good friends.”
Longbine admired Sommers’ devotion to his family and the way he helped around the house to give Karen Sommers time to fulfill her own commitments in professional and community activities.
“He was very, very proud of her and he did a lot of things so that she was able to shine,” Longbine said. “... He was a perfectionist about this house and about himself.”
Sommers was devoted to the community, too, evidence of which first surfaced in 1971, when he was selected as one of the Outstanding Young Men of America “for outstanding ability, accomplishments and service to his community,” according to Gazette files.
Sommers focused his efforts through the years primarily in two arenas: the Emporia Areas Chamber of Commerce and related organizations, and the Noon Rotary Club. He had been a member of the board of directors of Emporia Enterprises, serving as chairman in 2000 and 2001, and was as past president of the Regional Development Association.
Karen and Stan Sommers each had served as chairperson of the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors, with Stan Sommer’s term coming in 1992.
“What a wonderful person,” said Jeanine McKenna, Chamber president and chief executive officer. “I always enjoyed working with him. He was so easy to work with.
“He was a good listener. He wasn’t afraid to give his opinion,” she said. “It was an opinion you always appreciated because it was well thought-out.”
Ken Calhoun honored Sommers as a strong supporter for Emporia, in addition to being a loyal friend for more than 40 years.
“I can remember stepping over his kids when they were little,” Calhoun said, smiling at the memory. “I think his easygoing nature, but concerned about events and people, was always his strongest attribute. He was always interested in the community. ... He always had the community’s interest ahead of his own.”
Calhoun said he and Sommers often had scuba-dived together and had been part of a foursome that played golf together every week that weather allowed. Larry DeBauge and Rich Longbine completed the group.
When Rich Longbine died in 2004, the group became and remained a threesome. Now it is two.
“No one fills in,” Calhoun said. “It’s just not the same.”
A full obituary for Sommers is on page 2 of today’s Gazette.
bloomsbury (SC DIXON) says...
One of the GOOD guys who will be missed for a long, long time.
February 2, 2012 at 2:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )