Ellen Blass Laner Obituary (2008) - Mission Hills, Kansas

Ellen Blass Laner, 83, of Mission Hills, KS, passed away Sunday, September 28, 2008 at St. Luke’s Hospital. Memorial services will be at 4:00pm Wednesday, October 1, at The New Reform Temple, Gregory & Main, Kansas City, MO. Reception following memorial service at the Oakwood Country Club, 9800 Grandview Rd., Kansas City, MO. Burial will be a private family service. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the charities she supported. Mrs. Laner was a committed and passionate community volunteer and was very politically engaged. She was named Citizen of the Year by the United Community Services; twice named Volunteer of the Year by the Johnson County Mental Health Association; received the Hannah B. Solomon Award from the National Council of Jewish Women; awarded the Stand Up, Speak Out Award from the Mainstream Coalition; helped in the establishment of Johnson County Community College and served as a Trustee of its Board of Trustees; had many years of service in the Kansas League of Women Voters, eventually serving as President; was very active in the establishment and growth of the Mainstream Coalition and served as President; volunteered as a Board Member of the Johnson County Library Foundation; was an active volunteer for Planned Parenthood of Kansas City and Western Missouri, working as its Resource Development Director and for a short time was its Executive Director; She was a founder of the Johnson County Coalition for Prevention of Child Abuse (now Sunflower House). Mrs. Laner loved golf, bridge, dogs, and professional sports. She was a member of the New Reform Temple and Oakwood Country Club. Mrs. Laner was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, daughter of Noland and Isabel Blass, and came to the Kansas City area in 1950 after her marriage to S. Harvey “Bud” Laner, who preceded her in death in 1980. She is survived by son and daughter-in-law: Joel and Marsha Laner and their three children Allison Laner, Blass Laner and Duncan Laner; Kansas City, MO; her daughter: Laurie Laner, Minneapolis, MN; her brother and his wife Gus and Patricia Blass of Little Rock, AR and their children Gus Blass III and his wife Becky; Constance Blass O’Neill and her husband Chris; her sister-in-law: Barbara Phillips, Little Rock, AR and her children Beverly Wittenberg and Peter Phillips and her great-nieces and nephews.