Eleanor Bogart

Eleanor Anne Bogart, 86 passed away on Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at Via Christi Village Hays Ks. She was born on May 30, 1928, in Blessing Hospital at Quincy, Illinois, the daughter of Walter and Katherine (Smith) Bogart. She was preceded in death by her parents, grandmother, Lenora Pabst, and older brother, Loren Bogart.

Eleanor leaves to mourn her loss, her younger brother Quentin J. and his wife, Norma (Munsell) Bogart, from Mesa, Arizona, a sister in-law, Billie Bogart of Mesa, Arizona, three nephews, several great nieces and nephews as well as her life - long companion, Wilda M. Smith of Hays.

Eleanor's early childhood was spent in Mendon, Illinois, and Des Moines, Iowa. She attend elementary school in Decatur, Illinois, and graduated from high school in Austin, Minnesota. She moved to Hays, Kansas in late summer of 1947, to join her mother and younger brother, Quentin, where her mother was employed at Fort Hays State College as an English and French teacher. Eleanor spent 1950-1951 in Truro, England where her mother taught French at a girl's school as a Fulbright Scholar. She earned a bachelor's degree in English at Fort Hays, in 1954 and a Master's degree in Library Science at the University of Illinois in 1959 where she had an assistantship in the Library School. Eleanor's working life was one of great variety. It began in the summer of 1947 when she acted in Summer Stock with the Piper Players in Colorado. She spent some time working at Harkness News Agency as a secretary before graduating from Fort Hays State College in 1954. She taught English for two years at Ellis High School. After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1959. She returned to Hays in 1960 to begin working as a freelance writer and researcher. She had numerous articles, essays and poems published as well as the biography of a Kansas woman entitled Peggy Hull: The Life and Times of a War Correspondent, co-authored with Wilda M. Smith which was published in 1991.

Eleanor satisfied her life-long desire to be an actress when she had a role in Paper Moon in 1973. Publications of which she was most proud were the biography and an article, I Always Knew I'd Be A Star about her movie experience which was published in The New York Times on March 4, 1973.

Eleanor was involved in a number of civic activities including a volunteer at Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Friends of Old Fort Hays, Friends of the Ellis County Museum where she worked on the History of Ellis County. She will be greatly missed.

A celebration gathering will be Saturday 2 PM - 4 PM at Brock's Keithley Funeral Chapel 2509 Vine Hays, KS 67601. Burial will follow in Mt. Allen Cemetery.

Memorials are suggested to the Hays Public Library.











Service Information









Visitation Saturday

February 7, 2015

2:00 PM to 4:00 PM



2509 Vine Street

Hays, Kansas 67601









Graveside Service Saturday

February 7, 2015

4:00 PM

Mt. Allen Cemetery



Hays, KS