On January 19th, 2023, we lost a very important Gunter family member, Patricia (Gunter) Besheer, after 94 wonderful years of life.
Pat was born in 1928 in Kansas City and attended Central High School where she met her husband of 73 years, Norman Besheer. Pat’s dad – Gunter founder Reggie Gunter – owned a candy factory where the Levee KC sits today when Pat was in her early teens. Reggie named a candy bar after her, The Patty Bar. It was basically exactly like a peppermint patty, and during the Great Depression when Reggie had to shutter his candy shop, he sold the recipe for $100. Our family thinks the recipe may have then been tied to the famous peppermint chocolate candy coin-shaped bar that coincidentally hit the market around the same time.
Roughly a decade later when Pat was in her early 20s, Reggie took over his cousin’s small pest control company, and years later the company evolved into a successful pest firm that we now call Gunter Pest and Lawn.
Pat attended Baker University and joined Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity in the 1940s, and shortly after leaving Baker, she and Norman were married.
In 1971, Pat’s father Reggie Gunter passed down his pest control firm Gunter Pest Management to her husband Norman. As one of her careers, Pat worked for several years alongside her husband and three of her children in the Gunter office in the 1980s and then later took great pride in helping raise their four children as a stay-at-home parent and as a very involved grandparent.
Years later in the early 2000s, Pat’s son Jay Gunter Besheer took over the business, and now her grandson Noah Gunter Besheer runs the company as the 4th generation president. Our family is proud continue on the legacy that Pat and her dad Reggie Gunter started over 70 years ago.
Pat will be forever cherished and remembered by her husband Norman, four children, ten grand children, one step-grandchild, seven great-grandchildren, and multiple other extended family members. Pat was very involved in the community, and lived in Waldo KC for a very big chunk of her life. A celebration of life will be held at their church, Keystone United Methodist in Waldo at 1pm on February 4th – where Pat and Norman have been active members for decades.
To read Pat’s obituary and for more information about the service, click here.
