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Former Kearney board member remembered by son during public comment
Summary
A Kearney High School alumnus and Lawrence resident addressed the board to recall his mother’s longtime volunteer and elected service to the district and her role on the high school dedication plaque.
During public comment, GR Gordon Ross, a 1993 Kearney High School graduate now living in Lawrence, Kansas, told the board about his mother, Diane Abay Gordon Ross Weber, who died Jan. 7. Ross described his mother's decades of involvement with the district as a volunteer and school secretary, and recounted that she later served on the Kearney Board of Education. "My mom believed deeply in public education and in giving back to institutions that shaped her life and ours," Ross said.
Ross said that, according to family accounts, his mother was the first woman elected to the Kearney Board of Education and that one of her proudest moments was seeing her name on the high school dedication plaque; he added that he had not independently verified the "first woman" claim but had always accepted it as family history. He recounted volunteering memories and described her later work marking first downs at home football games before she moved to Lawrence.
Board members thanked Ross for attending and for sharing memories of his mother's service to the district. One board member said they had seen the obituary and recalled other contributions by Ross's mother; another board member said several people had told them the same recollection about her being the first woman on the board.
The comment was given during the public comment portion of the meeting; no board action followed.
