By Marcia and Roger Eaton*
*Relation to Andy and/or Flora Lehr
The oldest of four, Andy Lehr had two brothers and a sister. Francis, or Bay, was three years younger than Andy. Then came Leo six years behind Andy. Thelma was eight years younger than Andy. They all grew up in Augusta and Derby, Kansas. They experienced some insufferable hardships and yet all enjoyed rich fulfilled lives.
All three men dedicated their professional lives to the oil business. Andy and Leo spent their careers at Skelly Refinery in El Dorado, Kansas while Bay’s career took him to Texas Company Refinery in Claflin, Kansas. In her time, women were a rare sight in the workforce. Thelma carved out a rewarding career at Steffan’s Dairy in Wichita, Kansas.
Andy had the longest lifespan of the four at 69 years. Each of them had longer lifespans than their parents.
Andy Lehr’s parents, Andrew and Katie Lehr were ages 46 and 43 when pneumonia gripped the entire family. Andrew and his daughter Thelma were too sick to attend Katie’s funeral services. Andrew was gone four days after Katie and Thelma wasn’t expected to survive. She and her brothers recovered. A year earlier, Andy suffered a punctured lung in a harrow (farm implement) accident. He was fortunate to survive a bout of pneumonia. Leo tackled another bout with pneumonia as a teenager.
As orphans, the family was separated among relatives. The boys went to Elizabeth (Miers) Hoffman “Aunt Lizzie”. They were a welcome addition to her household and provided immeasurable assistance on her farm. Thelma joined her Aunt Ada (Hughes) Chase.
Leo Paul “L.P.” Lehr
Leo Lehr was the middle child of Andrew Lehr and Katie Hughes Lehr, born on June 16, 1901. When orphaned at age 10, he lived with his Aunt Lizzie Miers Hoffman. The boys helped the Hoffmans with their farming duties. Leo became ill with pneumonia again 6 years after his parents died.
When his older brother, Andy went into the army. Leo received letters from him during World War I.
St. Johns Academy in West Wichita is where he attended school at age 13 with his brother Frances. It later became known as Newman University.
Like his siblings he held a job at a young age. He was a photographer at Orr Studio in Augusta at age 19. As a photographer he traveled to Towanda, Oil Hill, Leon, Piedmont, Beaumont, Severy and a week in Oklahoma mostly taking baby photos.
Mr. and Mrs. Orr sold the studio to move to Vera Cruz, Mexico. This prompted Leo at go to Vera Cruz as well.
At age 21, he found gainful employment in El Dorado a few miles from Augusta. He began a long career at the Midland Refinery. It was founded in 1917 by W. G. Skelly and W. Osborn at a cost of half million dollars. Both of his older brothers worked at the refinery, which later became known as Skelly Refinery.
Aunt Lizzie hosted a 21st birthday party for Leo in which Nellie Walker was invited. A common bond between them was the fact they had both become orphans at a young age.
Nellie Walker became the bride of Leo on April 29, 1923. The same day as his first niece, Mary Elizabeth Lehr, was born. They decided to marry when Leo was 22 and Nellie was 17. Nellie and Leo moved to El Dorado after they married.
Their family included four sons and three daughters.
Robert James Lehr 1924-2001
Donald Woodrow Lehr 1925-2006
David Lee Lehr 1931
Mary Louise (Lehr) Harms 1933-2019
Katherine Marie (Lehr) Neill 1934-2024
Raymond Vincent Lehr 1936-2009
Sondra Sue (Lehr) Jennings 1938-2001
Row 3 – David, Robert, Donald. Photo from the collection of Betty Lehr
Leo was 40 years old with seven children when the United States entered World War II. He did not serve in the military.
Leo and Nellie were members of St John’s parish, where Leo was in the Knights of Columbus.
Each of the seven children went to St. John’s parish school. Nellie was innovative by thinking of ways to save time with laundry for her large family. Her ideas were published in a national magazine, Successful Farming. Leo also saved her five hours of standing each week by constructing a low ironing board so she could sit.
By Kye Lehr, Grand Nephew*
*Relation to Andy and/or Flora Lehr
I saw Kathryn [(Lehr) Palmer, Andy Lehr’s niece] on her 90th birthday and although she seemed in relatively good health, I don’t think her recognitive ability is real good. Dad’s [David Lehr, Andy Lehr’s nephew] rare a little better and I try to make notes whenever we talk about his life growing up. I get the feeling LP did not spend a lot of one-on-one time with each child as they were growing up. He does tell the story about LP and a friend riding on horses to old Mexico in hopes of claiming some land. I have added it to his timeline.
The story goes, In February 1922 at the age of 19 LP and an unknown friend rode on horseback from El Dorado to Mexico. The Mexican Government had advertised free land for adventurers willing to establish a residence on a partial of land and live there for one year. LP and his friend traveled with the Mexican army while looking for land to settle on as the local banditos were always on the lookout for gringos to rob.
After a while it became apparent to LP that the promise from the Mexican Government was not exactly “as advertised” so the two adventure seekers opted to ride back to El Dorado. Little else is known about this chapter in LP’s life as he almost never talked about it. I have seen a brief mention of this in a newspaper article, unfortunately I have not been able to relocate it.
Leo’s, “L.P.” Residences
123 was the house address on N Residence. The house they [L.P. Lehr family] lived in that was a Refinery “company” home was on the northeast area of the Skelly property. That’s all storage tanks now. They moved from the refinery to Topeka when Dad [David Lehr] was 3 (1931).