Belinda Mary (Brockish) Ebert

BELINDA MARY BROCKISH EBERT, Founder of Westmoreland’s First Convenience Store, BB’s Handi-Korner, Dies Westmoreland, Kansas, December 9, 2013 – Belinda Mary Brockish Ebert, died on Saturday, December 7, 2013, at the Westmoreland Care Home in Westmoreland, Kansas where she had been a resident for the past five years. She was 78. Known for her entrepreneurial spirit and passion for cooking, Belinda pursued her dreams to purchase her mother’s liquor store located at the corner of Highway 99 and Main Street in Westmoreland in 1989 and turn it into an enterprising business. Seeing a need in the community for basic services, she remodeled and expanded the small store and opened the community’s first full-service convenience store, gas station and restaurant, known then as BB’s Handi-Korner. She operated the popular spot seven days a week by offering creative daily food specials, basic necessities and friendly conversation for over 10 years before she retired. Belinda was born on May 20, 1935 in Blaine, Kansas, to Genevieve and John L. Brockish. They preceded her in death. She graduated from Westmoreland High School in 1952 and married Delbert L. Dekat in 1953. They lived in the country near Westmoreland for 23 years and later divorced. Belinda’s surviving daughters and family include Debra J. Elder and John Weimer (San Tan Valley, Arizona), Cynthia S. and Kent Dugger (Manhattan, Kansas), and Mary Kay and Chuck Gunnels (Kansas City, Kansas), plus three grandchildren, Courtney Gunnels (Manhattan, Kansas), Carly Gunnels (Kansas City, Kansas) and Tyler Dugger (Manhattan, Kansas.) She worked at the Hildebrand/Hoffman Pharmacy in Westmoreland early in her career. She later served as Secretary to the Pottawatomie County Soil Conservation District for over 20 years. She diligently promoted watershed and conservation efforts for the county and community. In 1993, she married James Ebert and moved to their home in Wamego. Belinda was an avid gardener, extraordinary cook, enthusiastic traveler and witty conversationalist. She and James enjoyed working together in their bountiful garden, entertaining family and friends at their rural home, and traveling before she was diagnosed in 2000 with a rare debilitating brain disease. This disease attributed to her many other medical struggles but she still managed to keep a positive attitude the last years of her life even when daily living was overwhelmingly physically and mentally challenging. She is survived by her husband, daughters, five step-children (Becky Riniker, Denise Carlston, Rhonda Trudo, Lisa Diedrich and Jimmy Ebert), and 13 step-grandchildren. She also leaves a brother, Kenneth Brockish of St. Mary’s, Kansas. Visitation is at Stewart Funeral Home of Wamego on Tuesday, December 10, at 6:00 PM, followed by a rosary at 7:00 PM. Mass of Christian Burial is at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Flush on Wednesday, December 11th, at 11:00 AM, with burial to follow at Flush Cemetery. Family and friends are invited to meet afterward for lunch at the Parish Hall. Contributions may be made to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, the American Stroke Foundation, or the Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Research Center and may be left in care of the Stewart Funeral Home, PO Box 48, Wamego, KS 66547.