Walt Ireland served community in many ways
Walt Ireland has spent his 77 years of life doing many things. Besides running a business, he found time to offer services to the community.
For 40 years, he has been serving as observer for the National Weather Service.
He became an observer May 1, 1962, when he was 37 years old and ran a filling station on U.S.-50. The station also served as a Continental Trailways bus stop.
Walt took over the job with the weather service from Ralph Smith. It was his responsibility to keep track of daily temperature highs and lows and to report rainfall amounts. A regular, daily reading also was taken and recorded.
He was recognized for 25 years of service in 1987.
During the past three or four years, Betty has been assisting Walt due to his declining health.
At first, temperature thermometers recording highs and lows were housed in a special wooden box out in the Irelands' yard. Now, they have a digital recorder which sits on top of their refrigerator. Temperature changes can be viewed as they occur, and just a touch of a button reveals the day's high and low temperatures.
They still are using the original instrument for measuring rainfall. It is a small metal tube within a large metal tube and is accurate to the tenth of an inch.
Whenever a major rainfall occurs, a measurement is taken at 7 a.m., and Betty uses an 800 number to call the weather service in Wichita and report the amount.
"We have no expense with the service, just our time," Betty said. "Everything is provided."
She submits a monthly report listing the highs and lows for each day, the daily reading, and amount of rainfall if any. She also adds daily comments regarding general weather conditions.
The Irelands receive $30 every three months for their service. With 365 days to a year, they have spent at least 14,600 continuous days of service.
For several years, Walt also served as a storm spotter and had a CB radio. They don't have a basement in their house, Betty said, so Walt kept in close contact with her when he was out in the country watching the storm clouds.
In addition, he served on an ambulance crew. He is a longstanding Oddfellow, Mason, and Shriner.
A history
Walt was born in 1925 to Frank and Marie Ireland of the Youngtown community. He had four brothers and three sisters. One brother died as a teen-ager.
Walt said they all played musical instruments. He attended Lincolnville High School for two years, where he and his brothers formed a brass quartet.
In 1940, the family moved to a farm west of Florence. After graduating from high school a couple of years later, Walt was mail carrier for a while and worked at two filling stations.
He then established Walt's Produce in downtown Florence, buying cream and eggs from the farmers around Florence. Eggs were sold to Seymour Packing Co. in Marion. Cream was shipped by rail to Lincoln, Neb.
In 1950, his parents bought two city lots in Florence and moved to town. The lots were on the northeast side of town, where the new U.S.-50 highway was about to be built.
Walt said his father had the foresight to see the coming demand and helped Walt build a gas station there. It was under construction at the same time as the highway.
It opened in 1952 as Ireland's Standard Service. Besides operating the station, Walt also had an ice house.
In 1955, tragedy struck when Walt's father was killed at the intersection of U.S.-50/77.
During the same year, however, he had the happy experience of marrying Betty Jean Padgett, a girl he learned to know when they were farm neighbors. They were married in Fort Worth, Texas, where his brother Gail lived. He was their best man.
Walt was a good water-witcher and helped Curtis Padgett (Betty's father), Walt Hett, and John Stoewe locate good spots for water wells.
In 1956, Walt and Betty bought their present home. It was a farm house located seven miles south of Florence and was moved to 302 W. 11th St., Florence, just southeast of the station. The site was part of the property purchased by Walt's parents in 1950. The cost for purchasing, moving, and updating the house was $2,000.
During the next three years, the Irelands had a son, Wayne, and twin daughters, Wanda and Wava.
From 1963 to 1983, Walt's station served as a bus stop for Continental Trailways. Walt and his mother were commissioned agents.
He said many people used the bus for transportation, including workers at the quarries. The bus also was used to ship a lot of freight in and out of Florence.
"We had a lot of good fun running the station," Walt said.
However, all good things must come to an end and, in 1984, he closed the station. The underground tanks were removed in 1990, as required by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The building is still standing. It was sold in 1995 and is used for storage.
As if running a service station wasn't enough, Walt also worked at Hesston Corporation (now Hay and Forage) from 1966 until his retirement in 1989.
In 1988, he underwent open-heart surgery to replace a mitral valve. He remains active, doing yard work and helping with projects around the house.
Betty said Walt would like to continue with the weather service, but the couple often has to be gone two or three days at a time, making it impossible to keep accurate records.
They are trying to help the weather service find a replacement.
Son Wayne and his wife, Kalen, live in Topeka and have four children. Daughter Wanda Vaupel lives in Wichita and has one child. Wava lives in El Dorado.
