Max Eldo SSgt, USAF. Max was the son of Samuel Michael and Gertrude HUNT Barner. b. unknown. d 11 Nov.1944 Italy. FAMILY HISTORY SAM AND GERTRUDE BARNER Samuel Michael Barner was the son of Edward and Mollie Lester Barner and the grandson of Michael and Martha Mohn Barner. Samuel was born January 9, 1897 and died December 16, 1983. The original BARNER homestead was four miles east anD two miles south of Belle Plaine, Kansas. Sam and his brother, Jim, were born and raised four miles east of town. They attended Valley Home School and helped their father farm. Sam served in the US ARMY in WWI. In 1921 he married Gertrude Hunt and they lived on the BARNER farm. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in November of 1971. Gertrude Hunt Barner was born 20 March 1898 on a farm west of Belle Plaine. She was one on nine children born to Charles Whittingham and Amanda Belle FORNEY Hunt. Gertrude was the granddaughter of Anderson Gilbert and Samantha DULL Forney and John Henry and Mary Elizabeth ECCLES Hunt. Gertrude attended Meeker School and graduated from Belle Plaine High School. Sam and Gertrude were blessed with one son, MAX ELDO BARNER, who attended Valley Home School and graduated from Belle Plaine High School. Max served in the USAF in WWII and lost his life when his plane went down over Italy in 1944. Sam was an excellent father, stockman and business. Sam and Gertrude accumulated land bordering the Arkansas River. This area was known as Paradise Valley. Sam farmed with mules in the beginning, buying and selling mules for many years. Later he used modern equipment to farm. He was a Pioneer Seed Dealer for many uears. The State Cornhusking Bee was held on the BARNER farm in October of 1938 with 30,000 persons in attendance. In the early years, the Barner's grew lots of corn, wheat and alfalfa and wheat. Barner's watermelon patch was known by all for miles around. Sam and Gertrude moved from the home place to town, letting his only nephew, Grant Barner, take over the farming. Later they bult a new home on one of their farms on the bank of the Cowskin Creek and moved back to the country. They purchased a building and ground and gave it to the city to be used as a Senior Citizen Center. This building was named THE BARNER CENTER in their honor. Story written in 1984 and submitted to BELLE PLAINE: A CENTURY of MEMORIES 1884-1984. BELLE PLAINE, KANSAS. Compiled by Vicky Sue Blankenship.

Belle Plaine, Sumner County, Kansas servicemen listed in the Belle Plaine Cemetery book page 20.