BonnerSprings.com

A longtime Bonner Springs resident, retired teacher and all-around character will be celebrating her 90th birthday this Saturday. Edna Kloepper, whom residents may recognize from her frequent jaunts through downtown Bonner on her electric scooter, is known to some as Scooter Girl.

Kloepper is throwing her own birthday party, 2-5 p.m., Saturday, in the Bonner Springs High School, and the public is invited. There will be cake and catered food.

"I'm fixing for 150," Kloepper said. "Now if you don't come, shame on you."

Kloepper came to Bonner in 1950, and she taught at Bonner Springs Elementary School. She retired in 1983, when she turned 65.

By Kloepper's count she's taught more than 600 children in her 44 years of teaching.

Kloepper grew up in Nortonville, just south of Atchison, and began teaching with just a certificate the year after she graduated high school.

Her first class numbered five students in grades first through eighth in a rural one-room schoolhouse in Atchison County.

"I carried coal and wood, and swept," she said.

Kloepper is still sharp, and self-effacingly calls herself a cripple, a condition she said was the reason she was glad to get her first teaching job. It was also indirectly the reason she kept pursuing college degrees she said - because she couldn't find a husband.

She went on to study during the summers to get bachelor's, master's and specialist degrees from Pittsburg State University and Kansas University.

This January, Kloepper was honored by the Bonner Springs-Edwardsville Chamber of Commerce with the Bonner Springs Community Service Award for her work and support for local civic clubs, including Vaughn-Trent Community Services, Bonner Springs Senior Center, Bonner Springs Elementary School and many other local worthies.

Kloepper also played the organ and taught Sunday school for more than 40 years at Emmaus Lutheran Church.

"She's a wonderful person," said Mary Hininger, who has been friends with Kloepper for 50 years. "She gives to all the people that need help, and she's always helping the poor."

In her free time, "I ride carts and visit people," Kloepper said. "I don't do anything special."

The "RESTING" sign on Kloepper's scooter handlebar was made by her friend Kenny Tewell, to stop passersby from worrying and awaking her when she parks her scooter under a tree to sleep during summer days.

Kloepper said she was hoping for a good turnout for her party, as her last party 10 years ago attracted a good turnout, and she figures this will be the last one.

"I did it for my 80th," Kloeppers said. "The Lord's going to take me home before I get to my 100th."

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