(Paulyne) Kay Richter, 86, passed away on September 8, 2023, at Bethany Home in Lindsborg, Kansas. She was born on October 21, 1936, to Ernest and Ruth (Clark) Farmer of rural Jamestown, Kansas. She married Robert C. Richter on October 9, 1955, in Jamestown. In 1958 they moved to a farm outside Assaria, Kansas that would be the family home for the rest of their lives. Three children, Linda, Doug, and Karen completed the family. Bob preceded her in death in 2019.
Kay began her elementary education in a one-room school near her rural Cloud County home. When the country school closed, she went to Jamestown for the rest of her education and graduated from Jamestown High School in 1954. After graduation, she completed a 1-year course at Brown Mackie School of Business in Salina.
Kay was energetic, outgoing, fun-loving, and creative. She used her artistic creativity to bring beauty to the world through her paintings and craft creations. She was active in church and community groups and was a long-time volunteer at the Tri-Rivers Fair in Salina. Kay loved to keep up on community happenings and spent more than 20 years writing about them in her Assaria News column for the Lindsborg News-Record newspaper.
During their early married years, Kay left the workforce to support the needs of the farm and the family’s church, school, and 4-H activities. She returned to the workforce as an Avon lady when her children were in school and then became a teller at the Assaria State Bank, later First Bank Kansas, where she worked for many years until her retirement.
Kay loved to travel and after retirement, she and Bob were able to take her bucket-list trip to Washington DC. She enjoyed taking road trips with her daughters and bus trips with her daughter-in-law and traveled with the whole family to see her granddaughter perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
She is survived by her children, Linda Beech (Doug) of Manhattan, Doug Richter (Debbie) of Assaria, and Karen Richter of Titusville, FL; grandchildren John Walter and Emily Terry (Tyler); and great-grandsons Brayden and Tucker Terry. She was preceded in death by her husband Bob Richter and a brother, Buddy Lee Farmer.
A memorial service to honor Kay will be held on Monday, September 18 at 11:00 a.m. at the Assaria Lutheran Church, Assaria, Kansas, with a reception following in the Family Life Center. The family will receive visitors on Sunday, September 17 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at Ryan Mortuary, 137 N. 8th Street, Salina, Kansas. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to Bethany Home or Assaria Lutheran Church in care of the funeral home.