Charles E 'Bus' Cornelius
Charles E. "Bus" Cornelius, 92, passed away Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 at Kansas Christian Home in Newton. He was born on Nov. 6, 1916, in Whitewater, one of nine children born to George Ellsworth and Alice Margaret (Corman) Cornelius. He obtained formal education in the Whitewater school districts. He graduated from Whitewater High School in 1937. Early in life, he was employed as a farmhand. In 1939, at the age of 23 he went to California to work in the fruit harvesting and dairy farming industries. There he joined the National Guard in July 1942; he later was drafted into the U.S. Army on Nov. 11, 1942, in Fresno, Calif. In 1943, he was deployed to Glasgow, Scotland, to serve in the European Theater-England, France, and Belgium and Germany. In early 1945, he was directly involved in the epic "Battle of the Bulge" in Belgium (Dec 16, 1944 ~ Jan 25, 1945). He returned stateside, where he was discharged on Dec 25, 1945. He then returned to California, where he met Tela Virginia Pendergraft. They were married on June 8, 1947, in Reno, Nevada. Charles returned to Kansas in 1952, working for Beech Aircraft, and Boeing. He then owned and operated mobile repair shops. In the '70s, he worked for Oil Companies in Newton as Station Manager. Prior to his retirement in 1982, he was employed at the Hesston Corp., and Excel. In the late '80s and early '90s, he returned to work at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Newton, where he was employed as a Colonel Sanders look alike.
