Charles Loucks was a self-made man with an undying love for this Kansas prairie land. He amassed a large personal fortune of which a considerable amount was used towards the betterment of Lakin. Loucks Park just west of town is but one example of the generosity of Charles and his wife, Rhoda.
Born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, Charles was six years old when he came to Kearny County in 1879 with his parents, William and Amy Loucks, and his older brother, Fay. The family settled near Deerfield but within months made the move to Lakin. In 1899, Charles married Rhoda Long, a teacher who had moved to Kearny County in 1885 with her parents, Joseph and Amanda Long, and older brother, Adelbert. Charles and Rhoda were companions in life, bonding through love of their community and through loss. All of their siblings died before the age of 21, and Charles and Rhoda’s only child, a son, died at birth.
Charles picked up his early education from his mother at home and at a subscription school she organized in 1879. He later attended Lakin’s public schools and was 10 years old when he began wrangling horses for the N.H. Triangle Ranch. Not long after Kearny County was organized, he became deputy county clerk and served in various county offices as deputy until 1893. At the tender age of 16, he launched his first major business enterprise when he took over the abstract business of D.A. Andrews and expanded into real estate and insurance. In 1906, Charles joined the firm of Hart, Thorpe and Company as a partner in the hardware and lumber business. Also that year, he entered into the banking business by purchasing a large amount of stock in the Kearny County Bank and was serving as president of the bank at the time of his death. Farming and oil/gas development were also among his many interests.
Charles inherited a sense of service to his fellow man from his parents. William Loucks enlisted in the Civil War with the McClellan’s Dragoons, an organization which later merged with the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry. He became justice of the peace at Lakin, and his wife tended to the injured and sick in the community. In 1892, William and Amy Loucks gifted their land near Deerfield to be used for the Deerfield Cemetery.
Charles served overseas with the YMCA in World War I. He was a devoted Freemason, and during his long and distinguished Masonic career, Charles received practically every honor and filled most of the offices of the order both locally and on the state level. He was bestowed with the highest degree in the Masons when the honorary 33rd degree was conferred upon him in 1958. Loucks also served as president of the Kearny County Historical Society and was on the first Kearny County Library board of directors. Among his many memberships were the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, Saddle Club, and the Sportman’s Club. Rhoda was a member of the Historical Society, PEO, Mus-Art Club, Past Matron’s Association of the Order of Eastern Star, and also served as Grand Chaplain of the Grand Chapter Order of Eastern Star. She taught Sunday School classes and held many offices in the local Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterial of Kansas.
Formal Emerald Lodge member William H. Johnson had left a considerable sum of money for the construction of Lakin’s Masonic Temple, but when the temple was completed in 1956, there was not enough money to fully fund the project. Charles and Rhoda agreed not only to provide the additional construction costs but to also furnish the temple. They also generously contributed to the Presbyterian Church when it was built.
The couple gave 80 acres of land to the City in 1950 for a park and recreational area, and they provided funds to help develop the area which became known as Loucks Park. The park is home to the municipal golf course, rodeo arena, baseball field, fairgrounds and 4-H buildings. After Charles’ death in 1960, Rhoda gifted the city additional monies to build a golf clubhouse and improve upon the course’s irrigation system. Rhoda passed in 1967, and in her will, Mrs. Loucks specified that a percentage of her estate was to be set up in a trust fund as a memorial to her husband. The funds were to be invested in government securities and the interest used for repair and maintenance of the club house and watering trees, shrubbery and landscaping, and beautifying the golf course. This trust is managed by the Kearny County Bank.
Other county entities benefiting from the Loucks estate were the First Baptist, First Methodist, Pilgrim Holiness and First Christian churches of Lakin; the Immanuel Lutheran Church and First United Methodist Church of Deerfield; Lakin Cemetery District; Kearny County Library Association; and the Lakin O.E.S. Estate monies were also designated for establishing endowment funds for the Kansas Masonic Home of Wichita and Lakin’s Presbyterian Church.
Even decades after their deaths, the love that Charles and Rhoda Loucks had for this community and their influence continue to be felt. Their former home still stands at 301 N. Western Street.
SOURCES: A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans written and compiled by William E. Connelley; Kansas: The First Century by Dr. John D. Bright; Diggin’ Up Bones by Betty Barnes; History of Kearny County, Ks. Vols. I & II; City of Lakin minutes; Lakin Independent and Museum archives, with special thanks to Bob Beymer.
