Obituaries

Edna Klema, 94, passed away Feb. 10, 2020 at Medicalodges of Great Bend. She was born Jan. 8, 1926 at Wilson, to Edward Adolph and Ethel Mary (Miller) Macek. She married John A. Klema July 26, 1949, at Wilson. He survives.  Coming from Ellsworth in 1960, Edna is a Great Bend resident.

Yvonne Faithe (Swisher) Nelson, 92, passed away Feb. 9, 2020 at Medicalodges Goddard in Goddard, Kan. surrounded by her family. She was born July 17, 1927 in Vesper, Kan. to Kyle Upton and Loretta Rachel (Snavely) Swisher. Yvonne is survived by her sister, Florence Pauline White of Kanopolis, Kan.

Kepka Betty Belton, the little Bohemian lady who reintroduced Czech Kraslic to the Czech Capital of Wilson, Kan. resulting in a 20-foot egg off Old Highway 40, died Feb. 5, 2019, at Pinecrest Farms in Midland, Mich.

Blanche (Jelinek) Helwick died peacefully Jan. 29, 2020, just short of her 102nd birthday. She was born Feb. 25, 1918 in Ellsworth, Kan. to Joseph and Anna (Bezemek) Jelinek.

Neoma M. Thaemert-Baer, 95, passed away Feb. 7, 2020 in Ellsworth. She was born March 11, 1924 in Lincoln, Kan. to John Henry Karl Meier and Minnie Augusta (Semlow) Meier. Neoma married Wilmer John Thaemert in Lincoln Nov. 27, 1947. He preceded her in death in 1986.

Richard Leland McKittrick of Manhattan, died Tuesday Feb. 4, 2020 at Meadowlark Scenic House for Memory Care in Manhattan. He was born May 24, 1928 in Wilson, Kan., the only son and fifth child, to Joseph Leland and Martha Desdia Alderson McKittrick.

Karen Marie Larsen, 78, of Salina, passed away at Presbyterian Manor  Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020, as a result of complications from diverticulitis. She was born Nov. 17, 1941 in Ellsworth, Kan. Karen graduated from Vesper High School in 1959 and attended K-State for a short time.

Lucretia J. “Creech” Cunningham, 80, passed away Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, at her home in Wilson, Kan. She was born Oct. 8, 1939 in Cottonwood Falls, Kan. to William Riley and Wanetta (Hulett) Storment.  Creech was a graduate of Hays High School in Hays, Kan. She was united in marriage to Gary B.

Glenna “Faye” Rayls, 77, of Salina, passed away Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. She was born April 30, 1942 in Dodge City to Fred and Euneva (Brock) Kuhne.   Faye worked at Cashco, Inc. in Ellsworth, University of Missouri Medical Center in Columbia, Mo.

Melba Darlene Bunch, 86, formerly of Kanopolis, passed away Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, at Garden Valley Retirement Village in Garden City, Kan. She was born March 30, 1933 in Barnard, Kan. to Virgil and Fern (Brown) Bunch.