Murray Cecil Bandy

HESSTON- Murray Cecil Bandy, age 93, died on Friday, May 4, 2012. He was born on December 18, 1918 on a farm west of Snyder, Oklahoma to Joseph Edgar and Ola Ellison Bandy. Murray was a graduate of the Snyder Public Schools and Hills Business College in Oklahoma City. He came to Hesston in 1939. He married Dessie Troyer in Hesston in 1940 and they were together for 67 years. Murray was baptized in the Church of Christ at age 13. He joined the Hesston Mennonite Church in 1940 and was a faithful member, teaching Sunday School classes and chairing the congregation’s finance committee. Murray served in Europe (England, France, and Germany) during World War II where he was assigned to the Chief Medical Officer of the European Theater of Operations. He returned home as a Tech Sergeant. Murray was an accountant and sales manager. He was employed by King Motor Co, Hesston Mill, and Hesston Manufacturing Co. through 1955. Together with Dessie, he owned and operated the Village Motel in Hesston. He was an agent for Farm Bureau Insurance in Harvey County, and general manager, supervising sales personnel in nine counties for the Victory Life Insurance Company. He taught Dale Carnegie courses. In 1972 he opened a real estate brokerage in Hesston which he operated until his retirement in 1980. Murray loved Hesston. He faithfully served the Hesston community as police judge, chair of the school board, member of the city council, mayor, organizer and first chair of the city planning commission, president of the Chamber of Commerce and the Lions Club, and author of the city’s centennial history. Murray is survived by his daughter Sondra Bandy Koontz and her husband Philip of Newton, and three nieces and three nephews. His beloved wife Dessie died in 2007. Murray was also preceded in death by his parents; three brothers – James Wiley, Joe Alan, and Jess Ellison; and two sisters – Eileen Utsey and Nina West; and two nieces and one nephew. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. with the family present from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at Miller-Ott Funeral Home, Hesston. Graveside Services will be at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, May 10, 2012 at Eastlawn Cemetery, Hesston with a memorial service to follow at 2 p.m., Thursday, May 10, 2012 at Hesston Mennonite Church, Hesston. Memorials may be sent to Bethesda Home, Goessel in care of Miller-Ott Funeral Home 107 S. Lancaster, P.O. Box 32 Hesston, KS, 67062.

Murray Cecil Bandy

December 18, 1918 - May 4, 2012