Ernie was born the first child to John Ludwig and Amalia "Mollie" Koleber Margheim on August 8, 1921. Their home was German-speaking so Ernest was about 10 years old before he learned to speak English at "Old Bosna" country school, near Wakeeney, Trego, Kansas. He had a love of music and learned to play guitar as a teenager. He created a western swing music show on the radio and performed as "The Sunflower Wrangler" in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He was loyal employee as he worked as Comptroller at Thies Packing/Great Bend Packing Co, in Great Bend, KS for 54 years. When he was not working at the plant, he was gardening, bowling, playing his guitar, reading, listening to western music, or researching his favorite subjects on the internet. He wrote a blog "Ernie's Journeys" where he shared his memories of his early life, he stayed in touch with friends through email, and really loved talking to friends on any subject. Ernie was a generous man, a very loyal friend and most of all was gracious. He lived a life of Gratitude and was an inspiration to all with whom he was associated. He wrote his auto-biography which can be found in the additional links. 

Phyllis was born March 16, 1924 to Henry James "Jim" and Helen (Marker) Jones, the oldest of their three children. Of her childhood she told me (her step-daughter) that she never missed a day of school, never made a grade below and A, and had to go fishing on Sundays with her parents and hated it. She loved Great Bend, KS so much she often wondered why God created the rest of the country. Of his wife, Ernie said 'To Phyllis, everything was black or white. There was no gray area. She was very loyal to her parents, putting in 70-80 hour weeks for 44 years at her father's laundry, which she managed most of her adult life. Phyllis was a good step-mother to Ernie's twins and loved children. She loved them so much that she taught the 4 year olds in Sunday School at Trinity Lutheran Church for 34 years. When her career ended at Jones Laundry after the death of her father, she worked for her son-in-law at Klein Electric Corp from 1977-1984. From there she went to employment where her husband worked at Great Bend Packing, serving as the Receptionist until her death in 1997. A few of the things we heard Phyllis say often were "You can do anything you put your mind to!", "Anything a man can do a woman can do better", "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" (and often her silence was deafening), and the favorite of her daughter "I know it's true, I read it in the newspaper!". That was Phyllis!