Bob Wootton

Bob Wootton, 86, passed away Monday, August 22, 2011, after a long illness at his Topeka home. Bob was born January 7, 1925, in Lamar, Missouri, son of Tom and Essie Wootton. After serving in the Pacific during World War II, he received his college degrees at Pittsburg State and began teaching Senior English at Shawnee Mission North High School in Merriam, Kansas. In 1968, Bob became a lobbyist for the Kansas National Education Association, until leaving to serve in the administration of Governor John Carlin. From 1992 to 1994, he represented the 57th House district of North Topeka in the Kansas Legislature. Surviving Bob is Wanda, his wife of 67 years; daughter Karen Harmon, of Hastings, England; son Mark Wootton and his wife Rochelle Vigurs, of Amherst, Mass.; daughter Kate Wootton and her husband Arthur Short Bull, of Estes Park, Colorado; and son Stephen Wootton and his wife Mary Lou Emery, of Iowa City, Iowa. Also surviving are two granddaughters, Ann Wootton of New Orleans, La., and Claire Emery-Wootton of Iowa City; and three brothers, Jack, Gary, and Richard Wootton. Bob loved reading, teaching, quail hunting, jazz music, and politics, but most of all his family and the friends he met through the years. A service will be held in Bobs memory at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, August 27, 2011, at Penwell-Gabel Parker-Price Chapel, 245 NW Independence Ave., Topeka. Inurnment will be at a later date at Howell Cemetery, Milford, Missouri. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Helping Hands Humane Society, 2625 NW Rochester Road, Topeka, KS 66617. To leave the family a special message online, visit www.PenwellGabelTopeka.com. Bob Wootton