Hays woman wears honor with humility
By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN
Florence Wear is used to being the organizer, one who gets things done behind the scenes.
The Hays woman isn't accustomed to -- much less likes -- being the center of attention.
But, those close to her say she's a good sport.
She had to be Saturday, when Wear definitely was in the public eye, cruising down Main Street in a 1985 Cadillac convertible owned by Bob and Sondra Swift from Hays.
Wear was to be honored as the All-America Citizen of the 2009 Wild West Festival that night and therefore was one of the celebrities in the morning's parade.
It's only the second time in the 15-year history of the event that Wear has attended the festival.
"I went one year, and it was too hot," she said. "The dust and the dirt was blowing."
This year was different for organizers, though.
Sometimes the committee in charge of the All-America Citizen award will surprise that year's honoree.
That's when they are sure they will be in attendance.
This time, the committee knew it was necessary to tell the recipient beforehand, although it was met with some opposition.
Wear said she was surprised when she received the call about the award.
"Oh, my," Wear said. "I still think they could have found someone else. There are a lot of people who do more than I do."
Some would beg to differ.
"She still says she doesn't think she deserves it," Jodie Leiker, the youngest of Wear's six children, said Saturday morning.
"But," added Leiker, who nominated her mother for the award. "She said she'd do whatever she needed to."
That's been Wear's way for a long, long time.
The wife of Vietnam War veteran Billy Wear, who died in 1994, Florence Wear is committed to honoring veterans in many ways.
She has donated and delivered patio chairs to the veteran's hospital in Dodge City.
She has headed numerous projects through the VFW Ladies Auxiliary, including a variety of ways to raise money for veterans.
Every Memorial Day, Wear recruits family members to help distribute flags at the headstone of each veteran buried in Memorial Gardens west of Hays.
And she was instrumental in restoring the World War II Memorial in Mount Allen Cemetery that had become neglected through the years.
"It's kind of been forgotten since the (memorial) went up by the courthouse," Wear said of the cemetery memorial. "It was overgrown with big bushes, and so many people didn't even know it was there."
Wear, who saw to it that the memorial was complete with a large lighted American flag, also has been active in other ways in the community.
She was the mastermind of the community Thanksgiving Day dinner at the National Guard Armory in downtown Hays for about 10 years.
"She really brought the community together with that," Leiker said. "People who couldn't be there wanted to give in some way, too, and it really became a community thing."
It definitely became a Wear family thing, just like so many other endeavors the Wears have tackled together.
"I couldn't have done anything without the help of my kids," Wear said.
"(Mom) usually needs some kind of assistance, and we're easy volunteers," Leiker said with a laugh.
Wear appreciates all the help from her children through the years, so much so she even was trying to pass off the All-America Citizen award to them.
"It should have gone to my kids," she said. "They're the ones who pitch in and are right there to do things for me."
This is one honor, though, the matriarch is going to have to wear alone.
"She beams Americanism from head to toe," Leiker wrote in her nomination letter, "and deserves recognition for her dedication."