Marvin Hampton
Marvin was born July 20, 1923, in Yates Center, KS, the third of six children born to Charles William and Mary Martha (Fortner) Hampton. He passed away on August 10, 2016 in Dodge City.
In his early teens, his family moved to his father’s Cherokee Indian Land Claim near Pryor, OK. As an adult he appreciated and took pride in his Cherokee heritage and is registered as a Cherokee citizen on the official roll, as are his father and grandfather. His five children, nine grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are also enrolled on the registry.
Marvin always wanted to be a farmer and so, at age18, he followed a friend to Kansas for wheat harvest, which led him to Dodge City. He finished his last year of high school at Dodge City High School and attended Dodge City Community College while working for a local farming family. Soon after starting the job, the crew celebrated his 19th birthday by throwing him into the stock tank. He later learned that one of the boys who threw him into the tank was celebrating his own birthday.
The neighborhood boys rode horses to work cattle, and Sunday afternoons were spent riding for fun to Horse Thief Canyon and other interesting places. One Sunday afternoon they rode through the yard of a neighbor whose 14-year-old daughter recognized that one of them was not just one of the neighbor boys. When he showed up with his employers’ family at the schoolhouse for a 4-H meeting, she told him she really liked his horse. He said “Well, I’ll bring her over and show her to you.” She ended up with the horse, and he later married her to get the horse back. Over the next several years, that horse named Roxie patiently babysat five rambunctious little Hamptons.
Marvin and Floris Jean Snyder were married on June 7, 1948, in the Methodist Church in Dodge City and soon began to build a farming and ranching business in NW Ford County. They bought their first land from his former employer. Located on Sawlog Creek, it had a limestone bluff with an eagles’ nest, so they aptly named their business Eagle Bluff Ranch.
While feeding cattle, a bale of hay fell on Marvin’s leg and broke it, resulting in a hospital stay where he met a high school friend who was a male RN back from the Army. Marvin told him that his wife regretted not having included nursing courses while in college and still wanted to pursue that. He said, “We need male nurses — why don’t you both go to nursing school?” So, after three years of planning, they took their five young children to Winfield, KS, for three years of nursing school. With the help of family and neighbors, they kept the farm going, became Registered Nurses, and returned to manage the family business and work in local hospitals.
Marvin was fascinated with airplanes and, while in nursing school in Winfield, took flying lessons. Back home he joined a flying club and became a lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol. He was excited to be on call for missions to locate missing planes. Eventually he had his own airplane that he used to check cattle, fences, and distant irrigation systems, sometimes landing his plane where no one expected an airplane to land. Friends and family members often got to ride along on those inspection flights. After one trip in particular, both his boys and sons-in-law declared that he would have to make those landings by himself – they would go by truck. But the grandchildren thought that a ride with Poppy in his airplane was an unbeatable thrill. He took off and landed in the pasture next to the house and parked in the yard by the house.
He served on various boards for the rural schools, township, Farm Bureau, and on extension committees and church council. He proudly served 29 years on the board of Victory Electric and 21 years on the Kansas Electric Power Coop Board. A high point of his life was being elected in 1980 to Kansas Master Farmer/Homemaker, a national group of farm leaders and wives who have made significant contributions to agriculture and their communities. Over the years he valued the friendships of so many and shared many hours working with his friend, cousin Dutch.
He had a surprising, quiet humor that could catch you off guard. He was so proud of his family, often saying “I like our kids” and “I like this lady”… until time and Alzheimer’s took that away.
He was predeceased by his parents, three brothers, two sisters, and two grandsons, Shiloh Ryan Windle and Levi Garrett Windle. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Floris Jean (Snyder); three daughters: Lee Anne Battite, (George) of Delray Beach, FL; Rebecca Lyn Cohen (Richard) of Delray Beach, FL; Gayle Diane Windle (Steve) of Buchanan Dam, TX; two sons: Wade Snyder Hampton and Van Zane Hampton, both of Dodge City; eight grandchildren: Amee (Cohen) McInnes of Houston, TX; Andee (Cohen) Holzman (Steven) of Boca Raton, FL; Brody Windle (Valerie) of Liberty Hill TX; Heath Hampton (Samy) of Maple Valley, WA; Sybil (Hampton) Pyle (Aaron) of Dodge City; Sarah Hampton of Valley Center, KS; Jessica Hampton of Norfolk, VA; Luke Hampton of Valley Center, KS; and six great-grandchildren.
Modest and unassuming, a true gentle-man, Marvin was a loving and supportive husband; proud father, grandfather, and great-grandfather; caring and compassionate nurse; and a skilled farmer who loved his fulfilling life. He was beloved by his family and esteemed by all who were fortunate to have known him.
Memorial service will be held at First United Methodist Church, Dodge City on Friday August 19 at 10:00 AM with Rev. Jerre Nolte presiding. Friends may sign the register book on Thursday, August 18 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM at Swaim Funeral Home, Dodge City. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Dodge City Community College Foundation or Alzheimer’s Foundation. Thoughts and memories may be shared in the online guest book at www.swaimfuneralhome.com.
