Helen Shoemaker, Cawker City
December 17, 1926 - December 18, 2022
Helen Letha (Lemon) Shoemaker was born December 17, 1926 near Max, Nebraska to Bert E. Lemon and Jessie Grace (Gardener), the fifth of seven children. She died on December 18, 2022 at the Downs Nursing and Rehab Center at the age of 96 years.
She married Vern Leroy Shoemaker on September 4, 1949 in Benkelman, Nebraska. To this union, four children were born Glenn, Keith, Carla, and Dale. They were married for 73 years.
They raised their children in Wheeler, Kansas, and were members of the First Christian Church in St. Francis, Kansas. She also taught Sunday School for many years. She was a homemaker and helped run the Shoemaker Store. In 1983, they transferred to Cawker City, Kansas when the Wheeler Post Office closed, and resided there following Vern’s retirement from the postal service.
Helen loved to bake, cook, sew, and do crafts. She also loved to travel. She and Vern traveled to all 50 states, and several international destinations including the Panama Canal, Ireland, China, Europe, and the Battlefields of WWII. She also enjoyed several cruises with her family.
Survivors include her husband Vern; children Glenn (Mary) of Hutchinson, Keith (Linda) of Oakley, and Carla (Curt) Rapp of Stockbridge, GA; grandchildren Kelly (Brent) Thompson, Jenny Shoemaker, Amber Shoemaker, Kylie (Brett) Ziegler, and Taylor (Hailey) Rapp; and great-grandchildren Brylie and Kerrigan Thompson, and Braxton and Adley Ziegler.
She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Earl, Roy, and Glen Lemon; sisters Opal Humphreys, Dorothy Humphreys, and Hope Morris; son Dale Shoemaker; and great-grandson Cade Thompson.
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