Mayola McFeders, activist for Beacon Hill community, dies at 98

Editor’s note: This feature is part of a weekly focus from The Star meant to highlight and remember the lives of Black Kansas Citians who have died.

Residents in Kansas City’s Beacon Hill neighborhood competed every December for bragging rights for the best Christmas decorations. For Mayola McFeders, winning was the only option.

“One year it was a Santa Claus theme,” Frances Boyd, McFeders’ daughter, said. “My mother would draw the figures on plywood and my father would cut them out. They would decorate the front yard.”

The McFeders Family was notorious for winning the “best lighting” category in the holiday competition.

Her mother, Boyd said, took great pride living in the historic neighborhood of Beacon Hill. She’d been there since she and her husband, Theodore McFeders, purchased their three-bedroom home in 1944.

Mayola McFeders died on July 5. She was 98.

McFeders was considered a pillar in the community, family said. She and her husband were a part of the Beacon Hill Community Council to propel the area forward.

Now named the Beacon Hill-McFeders Community Council in honor of the late Theodore McFeders, through the group the husband and wife duo worked alongside other community members to ensure Beacon Hills was a thriving place to live, work and play.

“There was a house on 25th and Tracy that was run down,” Boyd said. “They got a grant and they made that the Beacon Hill community Center.”

Family described McFeders as quiet in nature, but said she knew how to stand with her community by using her voice when she needed to.

In 2019, McFeders was featured in The Kansas City Star expressing her thoughts on the urban development of new homes in the Beacon Hill area.

“Through the years, she could see the transition of the neighborhood, some of it she thought was good but sometimes she felt as though they were pushing older people out to make room for the new,” Boyd said.

McFeders was born on Jan. 20, 1923, to Henry Campbell and Frances Maupins in Nevada, Missouri.

She grew up in Sedalia where, in high school, family said she met the love of her life, Theodore McFeders. The two married on July 17, 1943 and had four children together.

While living in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, McFeders was very active in the school her children attended as President of the PTA and her church home, Second Baptist Church.

“She taught Sunday school, she was the church secretary for 23 years and she worked on all kinds of ministries,” Boyd said.

McFeders was also active in the scouting program for many years. She was very crafty creating projects for her Scouts to do like making candy dishes or nut bowls by molding old albums and melting them in the oven.

“My father had the Boy Scouts and she was a Cub Scouts Leader. She would collect pine cones and they would paint them and make decorations with the tree,” Boyd added.

McFeders also had a knack for sewing, as well as a green thumb and loved working in her garden full of flowers, vegetables and peaches she’d turn into preserves.

“She was an excellent cook and baker. She made things from scratch,” Boyd said reflecting on the many Sunday and birthday dinners her mother hosted.

Traveling was another enjoyment for McFeders. She visited and vacationed to all of the States in the United States and Europe, family said.

“I am going to miss traveling with her,” Boyd said. “To live to be 98; she was special.”

MeFeders is survived by three sons; Theodore McFeders, Kenneth McFeders and Steven McFeders; one daughter, Frances Boyd, nine grandchildren; seven great grandchildren; a great-great granddaughter and a host of other family and friends.

Other remembrances

William Holliday

William Holliday, United States Army Veteran, died on Aug. 5. He was 62.

Holliday was born on June 17, 1959 in Aberdeen, Mississippi.

He moved to Kansas City, Kansas, in 1960, and later moved to Edwardsville, Kansas.

Holliday attended Bonner Springs High School and later served in the United States Army between 1978 and 1984.

He was baptized by the late R.C. Higgs at Bethel Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kansas.

Family described Holliday as a loving husband to his wife Canada Holliday for 23 years of marriage.

He worked for Compass Medical Group for 19 years as a phlebotomist.

He loved to ride his motorcycle and spend time with his family and friends, family said. He was a sports fan and loved spending his free time cheering for his Kansas City Chiefs.

He is survived by his wife Canada Holliday, their five children, his brother three sisters, as well as a host of in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandkids and friends.

Marco Bumphus

Marco Bumphus, avid Kansas City Chiefs fan, died on Aug. 1. He was 44.

Bumphus was born on June 4, 1977, to Joe Mack Rhodes and Betty Bumphus in Kansas City.

He graduated from McAlester High School in McAlester, Oklahoma. He later attended Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton, Oklahoma, and the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma. He completed his commercial driving license program at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park.

Bumphus worked as an over the road driver, a profession his family said he truly loved. He also worked for Ashley Distribution Services for two years, and prior to that he worked for Flexsteel for more than three years.

When he wasn’t driving over the road, family said he loved spending time with relatives, cooking, riding around Kansas City listening to music and watching the Kansas City Chiefs.

He accepted Christ at an early age and was baptized at the Mt. Triump Baptist Church in McClester, Ok. He later joined the Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church of Jesus Christ in Kansas City, Missouri.

He met the love of his life, Bridgette Nelson, in 2003.

Bumphus is survived by his fiancé, Brigette Nelson; sons, Christian Brown Sr., Mason Bumphus, and Noah Daniels; daughters, Taylor Daniels and Gracane Daniels; mother, Betty Bumphus; brothers, DeWayne Bumphus and Rocky Hughes; sisters, Sheila Bumphus, Ronda Bumphus, Wanda Bumphus, and Brenda Bumphus; three grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, uncles, cousins and many friends.

Edwenia Franklin

Edwenia Birdell Franklin, laboratory technician and Sunday school teacher, died on Aug. 9. She was 83.

Franklin was born on Aug. 11, 1938, one of five siblings.

She graduated from Manuel High School and later began her medical career at Osteopathic Hospital. She eventually got a job working at White’s Medical Laboratory as a laboratory technician, which she did for 20 years.

In 1972 she married Kandia Wesley Franklin. They were married for 25 years until he died.

Raised in the church, Franklin attended Grace Assembly Of God becoming a member in 1994. She was an active member, serving as a Sunday school teacher for the primary and junior class until she became ill.

Family said Franklin loved to help out with the hospitality committee and she worked on the Women’s Committee for a few years until she stepped down. She loved her church, family said, and she loved to worship and play her tambourine.

Franklin is survived by her sister Beverly Washington; children, Augustus Martin, Sheryl Martin, Tonya Johnson, Byron Martin and Teresa Martin; six grandchildren; four great grandchildren; a host of family and friends.