Sweet Springs Alderman Derl Bernard, pictured here at the board's November meeting, died Thursday following a lengthy illness. Bernard was a mainstay of Sweet Springs government for nearly a half century. (Eric Crump/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge]

For the first time in nearly 50 years, Derl Bernard will no longer be in or around the offices of local government.

Bernard died Thursday, Feb. 28, after a lengthy illness that increasingly kept him from participating fully in the work of the Board of Aldermen.

He had filed to be on the April ballot for yet another term on the board, but recently he announced his withdrawal from the race, according to City Clerk Ronda Nienhueser.

For a half century, the city of Sweet Springs was rarely without his leadership in one capacity or another.

According to Nienhueser, Bernard first served on the board in 1959, appointed to fill out another alderman's term.

He was elected for the first time in 1961, and from that point onward, with only a few brief gaps, he served as either mayor or alderman, among other community leadership roles he played.

During the mid-1980s he also served a term as southern district commissioner for Saline County, Nienhueser said.

"He will very much be missed," said Nienhueser, who has worked for the city for nearly 30 years. "Not only was he a good friend, but you couldn't ask for somebody who was more interested in Sweet Springs. He wanted what was best for Sweet Springs."

Mayor Roxanne Hinton said she would always remember him as a friendly and generous person.

"He was always willing to help people," she said. "He's been a father of the city. He's probably done as much or more than anyone else to shape the community as it is today."

Fellow council member Lewis Bybee, who knew Bernard for 40 years, agreed that Bernard was central to the community, noting that he was a friendly man who laughed a lot.

"He drew a lot of people to him," Bybee said. "People liked to be around him."

Bybee remembered Bernard's role in helping develop the I-70 Medical Center in recent years. Bernard was also a member of the medical center's board.

Bernard was a lumber man for most of his career.

Bybee and his wife, city Collector Janice Bybee, said they remembered Bernard's lumber business as a place that had just about everything people needed for their projects.

"He literally had everything," Lewis Bybee said. "If you couldn't find something anywhere else, you could go to him. And he knew right where it was."

Many people remember a fire in 2001 that destroyed the lumber yard and took five area fire departments to extinguish.

Following the fire, Bernard relocated his store but did not rebuild the lumber yard.

Alderwoman Billie Clevenger said she remembers visiting Bernard's store when she was a kid.

"He used to give me a bottle of Coke," she said. "He used to take care of us kids."

Clevenger said Bernard would be missed.

"He's always been decent to me on the council, offering me advice," she said.

The fate of Bernard's seat on the council is still in some doubt.

The quorum required for the council to do business remains at three, according to Nienhueser, and with Alderwoman Vivian Wylie also in poor health, getting a quorum has been difficult in recent months.

Even though there is only a little more than a month to go before a new board is elected, Hinton said she was considering whether to ask the council to appoint someone to serve out Bernard's term.

Just for practical reasons, she said, it might be a good idea.

Contact Eric Crump at marshalleditor@socket.net