This is Dedicated to the One I Love

Though I tend to be selfish and feel sometimes that this big change in our lives is affecting mostly me, it isn't affecting only me. Truly. I realize it is not all about me. My husband the hero has roots that run deep here in Kansas City. I'm just a first generation girl here. My family moved here before I was born, but I'm the only Kansas City born, the only Midwest born person in my family. Mark's family, on the other hand came to KC early in the last century. His grandfather's family came here from Novgorod, Russia. Mark's grandfather grew up in Kansas City and eventually opened up a small business in 1924 called Copeland's U.S. Army Store.

Manny Copeland in his new store June 1924

He would eventually marry Eunice in 1930, have a son in 1934 and open several new stores near Army Forts in Kansas and Missouri during WWII and a second location in Kansas City. Finally in 1939, they settled into their final location at 1305 Walnut in a large four story building.

In post war years, Copeland's was known for selling Western wear and riding apparel. It was located in the heart of what was once a thriving downtown.

Hero worked at the family business as a teenager and during summer breaks home from KU. Shown in the photo below, is Manny Copeland (known as Babby to his family) posing in front of Copeland's during the Kansas City Centennial in 1950, so handsome!

After nearly sixty years in business, Copeland's closed its doors in the early 1980's. Not a bad run for a business started on a shoestring.

The old building is gone today, taken down in the name of progress to make way for the new revitalization of today's downtown.

The Copeland siblings of this generation are still here, though, and the children. So are the cousins. The roots run deep. Hero would never make a big deal out of leaving Kansas City, or of any sentimental attachment because he likes to be strong for me. Well, each time I see these pictures I feel sentimental for something, someone I never knew and wish I did, because I know how very much Mark loved him and what a very special man he was to his family and to his community. I'm going to go ahead and make a big deal about it, just this one time. For him.