He later married Barbara Bangston, with whom he shared the joy of their son Robbie’s arrival. Barbara’s passing left a void in Robert’s life, but in time, he found companionship and love once more with Iris Jean Butchee, who also preceded him in death. He is preceded in death by his parents, son Robbie, wife Barbara and wife Jean; brothers, Gary, Lowel and Dwayne and sister-in-law Pat Stevens. Robert is survived by his son, Danny Stevens of Council Bluffs, IA., sisters-in-law Linda Stevens of Clarinda, IA., Linda Stevens of Paola, KS., nieces Julie (Brent) Jennings, Susan (Mark) Naylor and Stacie Stevens along with many other family. Graveside services were held at the Clarinda Cemetery, Monday, March 31, 2025, at 1 pm. A visitation gathering was held following the graveside at the Clarinda Lied Center at approximately 1:45 with refreshments. Please make the memorials out to Danny to be designated to a memorial in Robert’s name at a later time.
By DORIS McKINNON Special Contributor to The Page County Post
Often
Then
Has
We
Page
Just
their livelihood.
Any season of the year you will be pleasantly rewarded with sights you have never noticed before.
We in Page County are some of the most fortunate people living in America.
God has given us a world of the most beautiful sights of nature ever created. It does not matter where
we live in our towns or rural areas, there are many sights to behold that trigger questions in our minds. One such area I would like to share with you is in Clarinda.
Have you ever gone walking on a seldom traveled country road, searching for
pretty colored rocks or maybe some that have an amazing design or form of their own?
If you take Hwy. 2 west and travel to 1201 S. 20th St., you will see a gigantic boulder.
IT IS AMAZING!
I marvel at this site each time I pass.
Please come with me to Clarinda. At the south edge of the city, you will come to a fourway stop. That is where Highways 2 and 71 meet to create a bypass of the business district.
Please share the history of this boulder with me … also how it has found its resting place in Clarinda.
In 1986, Truman Davison and wife Charlotte were residents of Clarinda.
This huge rock rested in a heavily-wooded area known as Ross Park. Truman often visited this area because of his interest in
Truman had left his country home, built their house at 1201 S. 20th St., and was employed as farm manager of Page County Care Facility.
Opening Day and baseball
By PHIL COBB phil@pagecountypost.com
Yesterday was Opening Day of the 2025 Major League Baseball season, and just like every Opening Day for as long as I can remember — either in person or at home — my eyes have been glued to the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals and I share the same birth month and year — April, 1969.
Some of my earliest memories are watching baseball with my dad in the “den” (I’m sure it would be called a “man cave” today) of our mobile home when he was teaching in Odessa, Missouri.
In addition to the Royals, the Cincinnati “Big Red Machine” Reds was one of our favorite teams to watch.
I still remember Dad saying, “If you’re going to play baseball, you should play like Pete Rose does.” This was well before “Charlie Hustle” was banned from the game for gambling on games in which he was the manager.
I could have only been four years old at the most, but I specifically remember Rose sprinting to first base after he was issued a base on balls, which prompted my dad’s advice.
However, the Royals have always been my favorite, and I have some very clear reasons why.
See, Dad was good buddies with Dean Vogelar, who, throughout the time I was in school, was the public relations manager of the Royals.
Leaning on that relationship, and legitimately owning an official media outlet, Dad was able to get pretty much unlimited access to most places he wanted to
go at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium). By the way, he hated when people called it “The K” and when they put miniature golf and a merry-go-round in the outfield concourse.
Anyway, when I was maybe eight or nine years old, I got to go in the press box, clubhouse, dugout, on the field during batting practice, etc.
I remember being on the field, and getting to watch Wade Boggs, Freddie Lynn, and Jim Rice take batting practice, as well as, George Brett, Hal McRae, and Frank White, among others.
I got to chase foul balls in the stands, and then later get players to autograph them. I remember being with a couple of my friends from Richmond, Mo., and roaming the stands during batting practice, when a stray ball rolled into the left field corner.
Willie Wilson jogged over to pick up the ball, and I yelled, “Hey, Mr. Wilson, will you throw me that ball?
Of course, I was ready with my glove.
But he just turned and ran out toward center field, not even acknowledging me and my buddies.
But when I yelled, “Thank you, anyway!,” he was so shocked that he turned, jogged back to the wall, and tossed me the ball.
I wish I could say I still had it, but honestly, I got so many balls through the years that I didn’t keep track of many of them. Usually they ended up being balls we used in practice later on.
Of course my dad coached our team.
I was able to collect quite a few souvenirs from those years.
One of my favorites is an
autographed bat that George Brett gave my dad.
It is one of his official game bats, but he hadn’t used it yet, and so it doesn’t have any pine tar on it.
Regardless, it’s priceless to me.
I also have an official 1985 World Series ball, autographed by Brett.
I have an autographed catcher’s mitt from former Royals catcher and manager John Wathan.
The best of all the stories I have from those years was from when I was 10 years old.
Dad had become good friends with some of the players, having spent a lot of time around the team in those years.
It was 1981, and the Royals were coming off of a World Series appearance in 1980.
Dad was in the clubhouse talking to Frank White and the topic of me playing Pony League baseball came up.
Dad asked Frank what kind of glove he would suggest me using.
Frank shuffled around in his duffle bag and then said, “How about this one?”
He pulled out a glove that he had used in the World Series and handed it to my dad.
The only stipulation was that he would not sign it because he didn’t want me to sell it and he didn’t want me to put it up on a shelf … he wanted me to use it, and I did from then until the day when I aged out of organized baseball.
Years later, after he retired from playing, Frank was traveling with the Royals Caravan and I was able to get him to sign the glove and tell
See PHIL, Page 6
DORIS
FROM PAGE 4
a huge rock formation buried there.
He loved rocks and was intrigued by this particular one.
Also, that area had special meaning to him because his mother, Ruth Davison, was born and raised on their farm adjacent to the wooded area where the rock was buried.
What Truman could see of the rock sticking out
of the ground was about five inches high, 30 inches long, and 24 inches wide, tapering to nothing more.
Several people were aware of this rock and had tried digging it out.
Others entertained the idea of using dynamite, but decided the rock was too big.
Truman and his friends never dismissed the removal of the huge rock.
He often stated his wishes, “I really would enjoy having that rock in my yard.”
Rick Davison, son of the Davisons, gave this account of the rock: “It really is a boulder, weighing 14 tons, Rick Davison said. “We decided to move it with the help of Bob Crawford, who was a dozer operator for Roger Gant.”
Attacking the 14 tons were Rick Davison, Roger Gant, and Bob Crawford. They dislodged it, and were amazed at its size.
Rick said: “If Roger can haul it, we will take it to Dad’s house.”
Gant said: “We will put it
on the back end of the semi that hauls the dozer.”
Phil Tornholm was there and said he would get it off with his four-wheel-drive tractor.
This 14-ton rock is equivalent to the weight of a loaded gravel truck.
You can imagine their surprise when the earth let go of its hold on the huge object.
Truman was called from his work to supervise its placement in their yard.
He made the comment that he was glad his wife
was not home for the unloading of the giant.
Besides the weight of the rock, it is 44 inches tall, 99 inches wide in one direction and 105 inches wide in another.
The late Mack Farmer and the late Russell Kent, local geologists at the time, evaluated the behemoth and determined that it is composed primarily of quartzide, which was formed in an ancient Minnesota sea bed and quartz pebbles which were washed in from an ancient
river. The Wisconsin Glacier of 15-25 thousand years ago moved the rock to the location in southwest Iowa, where it was until removed.
Randy and Pat Davison now own the home at 1201 S. 20th St. in Clarinda. They welcome those who are interested to stop by.
Randy is one of four sons of the Davisons.
If you have not had the opportunity to see this 14ton product of nature, it is surely worth the trip and your time to see it.
him how much it had meant to me.
One more story from the past, and then I’ll share what I thought of this year’s Opening Day.
I was 16 in 1985, and the Royals were back in the World Series, this time to face the dreaded redbirds from St. Louis.
Dad went to every game of that series, which infamously if you’re a Cardinals fan, went to seven games.
He had pulled every string he thought he could find to get me into one of the games, but had yet to figure that one out, when his buddy Vogelar said, “Why don’t you just tell them you need him to push your wheelchair.”
Dad had a wheelchair, but usually only used it around our house.
Normally he got around just fine with his “forearm crutches.”
But that gave us the perfect excuse we needed to get me into 1985 World Series Game 7, where my favorite team blew out the Cardinals, 11-0,
and became world champions for the first time.
Like I said before, I look back and think, man, I had what many would consider to be a storybook childhood, and the Kansas City Royals are a big reason why.
I have to say I was pretty disappointed in my team’s performance on this Opening Day versus the Cleveland Guardians.
It has always baffled me how players can have the God-given ability to make it to the major leagues, but somehow never pick up on some of the nuances of the
game, like baserunning, fielding, throwing to the right base, bunting, etc.
The Royals made one of the bigger baserunning gaffes you’ll see at that level during their Opening Day loss, and immediately backed it up with another boneheaded baserunning blunder, resulting in a double play, which, in my opinion, determined the outcome of the game.
They went from having two runners on and nobody out to having one runner on and two outs, ahead of their best player, arguably THE best player coming to the
plate two batters later.
The starting pitching wasn’t great, with Cole Ragans fighting to find his command.
But maybe my biggest concern is the defense.
A team that has traditionally hung its hat on superior defense was chasing the ball all over the field.
The Royals have publicly admitted that they are willing to give up a little on the defense in return for a more powerful lineup at the plate, and I think we saw the first hints of that on Thursday.
Regardless, I think this
team is good enough to make a serious push to win the Central Division, and get deep into the playoffs.
I’m hoping they can take the division with around 90 wins, and I’m going to assume that some of what we saw Thursday was the exception and not the rule with this year’s squad.
It’s been six weeks now, and we’re still adding to the mix.
Thank you to the Clarinda Chamber of Commerce, Akin Building Center, and Walker-Merrick-Billings Funeral Home.
