Emeline Ida Platt

Emeline “Emy” Platt, age 85, of Iola, Kansas, passed away Tuesday, June 4, 2019, at Allen County Regional Hospital, Iola, Kansas following a long illness. Emy was born October 7, 1933, in LaSalle, Minnesota to Blake Sifford and Dagny (Carlson) Sifford.                 In 1951 she graduated from St. James High School in St. James, Minnesota. She attended Mankato State College in Mankato, Minnesota for two years.                 After college, she moved to Minneapolis where she worked over the years at the Cargil Corp., Erle Savage Advertising Company and Augsburg Publishing Company.                 Emy married Charles “Chuck” Platt on May 25, 1968 at the Zion Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In October of 1986 they moved to Iola and purchased the coast to Coast Hardware Store which later became the Iola Ace Hardware. She was known for her personality-a stranger to no one, she retired in 2006.                 She has been active in church affairs all her life. She was a member of the First Presbyterian
Church in Iola where she was a long time member of the choir. She served as an Elder and a frequent lay leader.                 She enjoyed being in front of a crowd and performed in several of Iola Theater Group’s productions. Her favorite was Steel Magnolia’s where she played Ouiser Boudreaux and has frequently repeated her line “I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood for forty years!”                 When attending stage shows, she would always volunteer to participate when a volunteer was invited to the stage to hold a duck or assist a magician etc. She was a soloist at several Iola Municipal Band Concerts. She served many years as an Iola Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassador.                   Of course, she will always be remembered as Iola’s Hat Lady. She was rarely seen without one of her hats. She conducted programs around the community on the subject of her hat collection.                 She enjoyed traveling. She and her husband started tent camping in Minnesota and advanced to traveling by motorhome. For many years they took winter vacations to Mazatlán, Mexico. Later they traveled coast to coast via motor coach tours. They went on ship cruises to Alaska, the Panama Canal, and around the Hawaiian Islands.                        As a homebody, she loved her flora and fauna. She had a house and garden full of flowers and plants. She owned and loved several cats and dogs over the years. She was one of the original participants in the organization of the Allen County Animal Rescue Facility (A.C.A.R.F).                 She also had an eye for finding four leaf clovers which she laminated and passed out everywhere she went. She has distributed them from San Francisco to Washington D.C. and from Austin, Texas to Mackinac Island, Michigan.                 She was devoted to her family and was particularly close to her nieces and nephews: Kathy Mullen, Madelia, Minnesota; Ronny and Sandy Bird, Kenneth, Minnesota; Mike and Penny Bird, Batavia, Illinois; Jean and Mike Oldenburg, Madelia, Minnesota; Larry and Sandra Bird, Rosser, Man. Canada.                 She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Arlene (Sifford) Bird.                 Emy has requested cremation.                 On Wednesday, June 26th, at 2:00 p.m. a memorial service will be held at the Iola First Presbyterian Church, 302 E. Madison. Inurnment of her cremated remains will be beside her parents and sister in LaSalle, Minnesota.                 Cards only please, no flowers or plants. She requested memorial contributions be made to the Iola First Presbyterian Church or Allen County Animal Rescue Facility.