37th Orphan Train Rider Statue Unveiled at Brown Grand Theatre

The 37th Orphan Train Rider Statue was unveiled Friday, June 3rd on the second day of the 19th Annual Celebration of Orphan Train Riders.

Located at the Brown Grand Theatre in downtown Concordia, the statue honors Mary Mullen Leikam Kraus Jacobs Hardt.  Mary Mullen was born to Mary Ann Mullen in 1899 in New York City.  As an infant, she was taken to the New York Foundling Hospital, to be cared for by the Sisters of Charity.  Soon, she was selected for placement in a western home, and traveled to Ellis County, Kansas to live with John and Ottilia Leikam.  The Leikams were young Russian immigrants who lived in Wakeeny, Kansas, and had no children of their own.

Mary and her adoptive parents relocated to Chicago around 1914.  There, Mary met her first husband, Henry Krause.  They had one son together before Henry passed away.  Mary then married Anthony Jacobs, and the pair raised five children together before divorcing after 1940.

Finally, Mary married Henry Hardt.  Mary and Henry remained together until Henry's death in 1981.

Mary passed away in 1992 at age 92.  She left behind eight children, twenty-nine grandchildren, thirty-three great grandchildren, and multiple great-great grandchildren.

The statue is sponsored in loving memory of Hannalesa and Jack Roney.

Marlesa Roney, daughter of Hannalesa and Jack, said the Brown Grand Theatre holds a very special place in her heart.  Jack was instrumental in securing recognition of the Brown Grand Theatre on the National Historic Register, and was a founding member of the Board of Directors that oversaw the renovation of the opera house.

During the planning of the statue project, Marlesa says they discovered one of Mary Mullen's grandchildren grew up to marry into the Roney family.

Marlesa told KNCK News the statue also seemed like a fitting tribute to her parents because Hannalesa and Jack adopted both her and her sister Laurie.

Marlesa said she was blown away following the unveiling of the statue Friday.

The bronze Orphan Train Rider statues are created by the Randolph Rose Collection in Yonkers, New York.