Roy Wilford Riegle

Roy Wilford Riegle, commonly known as Wilford Riegle, was born in Lyons, KS on April 27, 1896. Struggling to get by on his own towards the pursuit of higher education, he worked at a local mortuary in Jetmore, KS. Attending the Kansas State Normal School in the late 1910s, he met his future wife (Keith Maria Roberts). He also first entered the city he would reside in for the remainder of his life: Emporia, KS. He fought during World War I as part of the United States Army in Company L, 137th Infantry, 35th Division, and maintained a presence in the military as a Colonel during World War II. He was a Republican member of both the Kansas House of Representatives and the Kansas Senate for multiple terms. In 1957, he became President of the Kansas State Historical Society. In 1973, he took office as the Grand Master of the Knights Templar of the United States of America. This was a revered position for any Kansan, yet alone any countryman, to achieve. By the end of his career in 1986, he was the longest-serving probate judge in the history of Lyon County and, quite possibly, the state of Kansas itself. He died in peace, surrounded by his family, on February 2, 1988.