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Kemp Sylvester Landis
Kemp Sylvester Landis, 81, of Kenna, W.Va., passed away April 5, 2004, at CAMC General Hospital, after a short illness due to a stroke.
Kemp was born in Charleston on Jan. 30, 1923, the oldest son of the late Ola and Lessie Walker Landis. He was married to his childhood sweetheart, Eurada L. Skeen, daughter of Virgil and Alice Kern Skeen, for 62 years.
He was raised at Kentuck and attended Ripley High School, where he lettered in football three years. He was a Christian by faith. As a young man, he was baptized and attended Goshen Baptist Church. He always kept and loved to ride Harley motorcycles, even until this year.
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Field Artillery in Oklahoma. He went to work in the gas fields at age 16. Starting at age 18, he was employed at Libbey-Owen-Ford Plate Glass Plant in Kanawha City for 42 years, where he worked his way from labor to general superintendent of plate glass production.
During this time, he purchased a dozer and built ponds and roads all over Jackson County. He played on and sponsored a baseball team in the old Jackson County League. He hauled the team in a large truck to play other teams throughout the county. He loved sports, local, college and professional.
After the glass plant closed due to the new process and changing technology, Kemp began to purchase farmland and raise beef cattle. That farm grew to more than 600 acres with 40-plus head of beef cattle at his death.
Kemp was active in the Democratic Party as a committee member and county committee chairman. He was selected ?Democrat of the Year? in 1996. He was a 60-year member of the IOOF.
He continued to be active in the Southern Jackson County Community Association, where he worked to get better roads, schools and utilities like city water to southern Jackson County, as well as the stoplight near Ripley High School. He was instrumental in the construction of the present Goshen Baptist Church and the Kentuck Community Building.
Kemp and Eurada operated the Kentuck General Store for 13 years before she became a teacher. Kemp was a mechanic and loved to tinker. He was a carpenter that built four homes for his family in Jackson and Kanawha counties. He loved to attend equipment auctions in Ohio, Tennessee and Florida.
Kemp never really retired. He always had some equipment to repair, some fence to build, some cows to feed, or a community project to work on. He loved to visit with his family and friends, sit a spell, tell some stories of the past, and have some great laughs.
Kemp and Eurada raised a large loving family. Their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were the priority of their life. He was never too tired or too busy. Kemp was happiest when the house was filled with babies calling, ?Papa Kemp!?
He is survived by five children, Zelma (Frank) Boggess of Ripley, Mary (Dencil) Sayre, Carolyn Landis, Gary (Dottie) Landis of Kenna, Shannon (Charlie) Foutche of Charleston; grandchildren, Brent (Julie) Sayre, Patrick (Leslie) Boggess of Evans, Jo Boggess Phillips (Mike) of Ripley, Beth Boggess of Charlotte, Betsy Sayre Stephens (Shannon), Dustin Lewis, Laramy Lewis (Arin), Brandon Landis, Clifton (Carissa) Landis, Jason (Ashley Fox) all of Kenna; great-grandchildren, Sydney and Bailey Sayre, Chelsey, Lindsey and Nathan Boggess, Solomon, Bennett, Garrison and Anderson Phillips, Hunter, Mason and Aubrey Stephens, Kelsey Shamblin, Madyson, Landis, and Brittin Lewis; brothers, Neil Landis and Richard (Monnie) Landis of Ripley; sisters, Juanita Skeen of Mount Vernon, Ohio, Wanda (Larry) Phalem of Pataskia, Ohio, Wilda (Dale) Scarbrough of Ohio; brother-in-law, Ray Casto of Charleston.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one grandson, Kerby Sayre; three sisters-in-law, Doris Skeen, Dicie Casto, and Emogene Landis; three brothers-in-law, Lincoln Skeen, Neal Skeen and Howard Skeen.
Friends may call from 3 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 9, 2004, at the Parsons Waybright Funeral Home in Ripley.
Service will be 1 p.m. Saturday, April 10, 2004, at Parsons-Waybright Funeral Home. Burial will be in the Goshen Cemetery at Kentuck.
Following the service, family, neighbors and friends are invited to Kenna Elementary School Gym, Route 21, Kenna, WV, for a time of food and fellowship in celebration of Kemp's life.
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West Virginia Pioneers
1923 - 2004 (81 years)
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