Grace Eileen Schwindt VanSickle, 91, of Emporia died on Saturday, November 19, 2016, in Emporia.
Grace was born on November 10, 1925, to Jacob Carl and Rosa May Rice Schwindt. She married Ralph Edward VanSickle, her high school sweetheart, on May 5, 1946, at the Ebenezer Evangelical Church in Olpe, KS. He died on November 20, 2007 in Emporia.
Surviving family members include daughters: Joan VanSickle Sloan and husband William (Bill) of Maryville, TN; Carol Schaefer and husband John of Emporia; and daughter-in-law Chris VanSickle of Newton, KS; sisters: Alice Wilken of Loveland, CO, and Clara Ann Coltharp and husband Jim of Cañon City, CO; grandchildren: David Sloan and Stacha Pressley of Maryville, TN, Nathan Sloan and wife Misty of Strawberry Plains, TN, Melodi Wood and husband Caleb of Ringgold, LA, Lisa Smallwood and husband Drue of Broken Arrow, OK, Brent VanSickle and wife Jennifer of Farmington, UT, Andrea Bazan and husband Steven of McKinney, TX; eleven great-grandchildren: Schaefer, Silas, Samuel and Shepherd Smallwood; Summer and Oliver Bazan; Shane and Sawyer Wood; Brook, Braden and Bryson VanSickle; Patience and Blaze Couch; multiple step-grandchildren and step great-grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Ralph; son, Ray Dean VanSickle; and sister, Rosa May Carlson.
Grace loved her family and had a strong faith in God. A homemaker, she also clerked for her husband’s Ralph VanSickle Realty and Auction service. She and Ralph also farmed and operated a dairy in the early years of their marriage. Before marriage, she taught three years at rural Lyon County elementary schools.
A member of the First Friends Church in Emporia, she was also active in the Gideons Auxiliary, extension unit, the Mound Ridge Community Club, the Twin Mound Ladies Aid Society, and previously the Twin Mound Friends Church in Olpe where she was long-time presiding clerk and Sunday School teacher. She hosted a community inter-denominational women’s Bible study in her home for many years.
Grace was a wonderful cook with the gift of hospitality, and she and Ralph hosted many family, church and community events. She was a former Sunnyside 4-H Club leader in garden, landscape and cooking. As an accomplished artist, she loved to paint and used to draw illustrations of Bible stories for Sunday School classes.
Funeral services will be Wednesday, November 23, 2016, at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 23, 2016, at Roberts-Blue-Barnett Funeral Home. Burial will follow at the Cottonwood Cemetery, Emporia. Visitation will be Tuesday night from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Memorial contributions to the First Friends Church or the Gideon’s International can be sent in care of the funeral home. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Grace Eileen Vansickle, please visit our flower store.
Grace was born on November 10, 1925, to Jacob Carl and Rosa May Rice Schwindt. She married Ralph Edward VanSickle, her high school sweetheart, on May 5, 1946, at the Ebenezer Evangelical Church in Olpe, KS. He died on November 20, 2007 in Emporia.
Surviving family members include daughters: Joan VanSickle Sloan and husband William (Bill) of Maryville, TN; Carol Schaefer and husband John of Emporia; and daughter-in-law Chris VanSickle of Newton, KS; sisters: Alice Wilken of Loveland, CO, and Clara Ann Coltharp and husband Jim of Cañon City, CO; grandchildren: David Sloan and Stacha Pressley of Maryville, TN, Nathan Sloan and wife Misty of Strawberry Plains, TN, Melodi Wood and husband Caleb of Ringgold, LA, Lisa Smallwood and husband Drue of Broken Arrow, OK, Brent VanSickle and wife Jennifer of Farmington, UT, Andrea Bazan and husband Steven of McKinney, TX; eleven great-grandchildren: Schaefer, Silas, Samuel and Shepherd Smallwood; Summer and Oliver Bazan; Shane and Sawyer Wood; Brook, Braden and Bryson VanSickle; Patience and Blaze Couch; multiple step-grandchildren and step great-grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Ralph; son, Ray Dean VanSickle; and sister, Rosa May Carlson.
Grace loved her family and had a strong faith in God. A homemaker, she also clerked for her husband’s Ralph VanSickle Realty and Auction service. She and Ralph also farmed and operated a dairy in the early years of their marriage. Before marriage, she taught three years at rural Lyon County elementary schools.
A member of the First Friends Church in Emporia, she was also active in the Gideons Auxiliary, extension unit, the Mound Ridge Community Club, the Twin Mound Ladies Aid Society, and previously the Twin Mound Friends Church in Olpe where she was long-time presiding clerk and Sunday School teacher. She hosted a community inter-denominational women’s Bible study in her home for many years.
Grace was a wonderful cook with the gift of hospitality, and she and Ralph hosted many family, church and community events. She was a former Sunnyside 4-H Club leader in garden, landscape and cooking. As an accomplished artist, she loved to paint and used to draw illustrations of Bible stories for Sunday School classes.
Funeral services will be Wednesday, November 23, 2016, at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 23, 2016, at Roberts-Blue-Barnett Funeral Home. Burial will follow at the Cottonwood Cemetery, Emporia. Visitation will be Tuesday night from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Memorial contributions to the First Friends Church or the Gideon’s International can be sent in care of the funeral home. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Grace Eileen Vansickle, please visit our flower store.
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