Joseph Prochazka

Joseph W. Prochazka Jr. was born March 20, 1922, in the family home northwest of Atwood where he lived for 70 years. He died Wednesday, July 1, 2015, at age 93.


The third child of Joseph and Frances (Dozbaba) Prochazka, Joe attended the Queen of Driftwood and Pleasant Lawn rural grade schools, spent his freshman year at St. Mary’s High School in Colorado Springs and then attended Atwood Community High School. His primary interests were math and music, both band and vocal. After school he worked in the back of Williams Bros. grocery, sacking bulk candy, nuts and other bulk foods.


He graduated in 1939 with an interest in aircraft service and enrolled in Fairfax Aviation School in Kansas City for two years. Then he worked at the Glenn L. Martin plant at the Offutt Air Force Base, near Omaha, Neb., on the flight line. He was the only civilian certified to make power runs with the B-26 bomber.


Joe returned to join his parents on the family farm, where he was a steward of the soil and raised livestock until retiring in 1992 and moving into Atwood. Except for brief stints away, he was a lifetime resident of his beloved Rawlins County.


He was active in the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, serving on the executive board for 11 years, seven of which he was vice president. A recipient of the Goodyear Award and local Bankers Award, he served on the board of directors of Farmers Bank and Trust for 34 years. He served as chairman of the Rawlins County Democrats for four years while Robert Docking was governor.


A lifelong Catholic, Joe was the second grand knight of Knights of Columbus Council 3033 of Atwood, served as district deputy from this district, then served several years on state deputies administrations. In 1952, he organized the Fourth Degree Knights for northwest Kansas. The St. Pius X General Assembly started with 16 members and today numbers about 140. The Knights of Columbus Family of the Year honor went to Joe’s family in the 1980s.


Joe always loved Gregorian music and for 38 years served as choir director of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church, 12 miles northwest of Atwood. He was a member of Sacred Heart Church of Atwood and for eight years, in retirement, sang bass in the contemporary choir at Sacred Heart Church of Tucson, Ariz., where he and his wife spent the winter for many years. He helped organize and sang in the men’s choir at Sacred Heart Church in Atwood and had sung with the Tumbleweed Chorus barbershop group of Colby.


He married Lowana M. Stephen of Kipp, Kan., on Oct. 12, 1950, at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Church. She joined him in a life of farming and raising a family. Both also enjoyed traveling and after a honeymoon to the Deep South and Cuba, visited farms in the Scandinavian countries and traveled to Alaska and Ireland. Joe also toured farms in the Soviet Union.


Survivors include his wife, Lowana, of the home; four children, Kathy Ross and husband, Scott, of Lucas and Stockton; Larry of Longmont, Colo.; Mary Jo Prochazka of Longmont, Colo. (Kelly Presnell of Tucson, Ariz.) and Bill and wife, Jeannette, of Saratoga Springs, Utah; two grandchildren, Jessica (Ross) Graus and husband, Brian, of Longmont, Colo., and Seth Ross and wife, Edie, of Hutchinson; two great grandchildren, Ryle and Elias Ross of Hutchinson; and numerous nieces and nephews, friends and other relatives.


He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Lucille Sramek of rural Atwood, who died Jan. 26, 2013 and a brother, George, who died in infancy.


Visitation will be from 4-7:00 p.m. with a Vigil Service at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 5, 2015 at Baalmann Mortuary, Atwood. Funeral Mass will take place 10:30 a.m. Monday, July 6, 2015 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Atwood. Burial will follow in Mount Calvary Cemetery, Atwood. Memorials may be made to the Capuchin Franciscans of Mid-America , P.O. Box 11605, Denver, CO 80211. Online Condolences: www.baalmannmortuary.com