Laverna Margaret (Brown) Schulte, age 88, passed away May 25, 2017, at the Graham County Hospital in Hill City, Kansas. She was born August 6, 1928, on a farm south of Victoria, Kansas, the
daughter of Nicholas J. and Mariann (Dreiling) Brown.
Her family later moved north of Gorham, Kansas where she spent the majority of her early years. She attended schools in the area through the eighth grade and graduated from Walker. She didn’t get to go to high school because her dad didn’t think girls needed more education, but they should stay home, and learn life skills for when they were married and had children.
There were so many happy memories of life in the hills north of Gorham with her many brothers and sisters. Laverna was the youngest in the family of eleven: six boys and five girls. They fished, hiked and went horseback riding in addition to the work that went along with living on a farm. Laverna always spoke wistfully of those days even though most of her childhood was spent in the hard times of the “Dirty Thirties”.
On December 17, 1942, when Laverna was 13, the family lost their dear mother. It was a terrible blow to Laverna because she felt the sun rose and set with her. This date would always remain a special day for remembering her mother.
After she left home, Laverna held various jobs including household work for farmers and working in the Hays hospital with a group of young women. She made many friends and had such a love for life. Laverna never met a stranger, always enjoying people from all walks of life. It was amazing the close connections she had with family and friends.
She began dating, found she loved to dance, and went to many barn dances held in that era. Because she was the youngest of the family, many of her older nieces and nephews were actually her age. She loved spending time with them while also helping care for the younger ones. She had a natural affinity for babies and children.
A tall, sandy haired sailor by the name of Virgil Schulte came into her life and there would be no other man for her. On a beautiful, sunny day, they were married April 20, 1948, at St. Bonaventure Church in Vincent, Kansas. They began their married life on a farm outside of Norton, Kansas. Laverna was a home-maker and worked alongside Virgil on the farm.
Marcia, Connie, Janet, Janice, Linda, Dianna and Keith were all born in Norton where Laverna and Virgil lived until 1959. A new job in the oil fields brought them to Hill City where they lived for the remainder of their lives. Many job opportunities came up for Virgil and they attempted to move a number of times, but it was not meant to be. Hill City was always home. Mary was the first to be born in Hill City, but died at birth; Jackie and Mike came later.
To help with the growing number of children, they built a coin operated Laundromat to make ends meet. Laverna knew how to stretch a dollar better than anyone. When Virgil was the manager of the Hill City Elks Club, she ran the kitchen which began her career in kitchen management. During the time she managed the Elks kitchen, she made time to coach the girls’ softball team, which earned her the nickname, “Casey Stengel”. While working as the kitchen manager for Graham County Hospital and Dawson Place, she studied for and obtained her GED and her Certified Dietary Manager Certification. She was so proud of her diploma. Some of that came from the hardworking thriftiness of the Volga German people. She was very proud of her heritage and spoke German before she learned English. She was a long time member of the Gorham, Kansas Chapter of the Daughters of Isabella. This heritage and rock solid faith carried her through many difficult times in her life. She never lost faith that Keith would talk and walk even when the doctors said otherwise. She taught us all by her example and prayed that we would return to the Church when some of us went astray or lost heart.
Laverna was well known for her cooking abilities and never tired of spending time in the kitchen at home, even after a long day’s
work. And oh the many jars of vegetables she canned, the fruit she picked and froze for her famous pies! She rolled oodles of noodles and placed them on every horizontal area in the house. She also made bierocks and cinnamon rolls which had no equal. Other specialties included her German dishes, especially green bean dumpling soup, and dumplings and beans. Mike’s boys loved her fried bread.
Laverna always sang and whistled when at home. The old country and western classics by Ray Price, Webb Pierce, Patsy Cline, and Kitty Wells were her favorites. She always let the kids choose the radio stations in the car, but she drew the line at “What’s New Pussycat?” and “I’m Henry the VIII, I Am.” Those songs drove her straight up the wall!
About three years ago, with a heavy heart, Laverna chose to enter the nursing home because of health issues. She discovered a whole new family there with the other residents and the staff. She was content, received excellent care, and loved them all in return.
Laverna was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a son, Mike Schulte; an infant daughter, Mary; six brothers; and four sisters. Survivors left to celebrate her life and cherish her memory are: daughters Marcia (John) Ashmore, Connie (Tom) Walz, Janet (Terry) Payne, Janice Perkowski, Linda (Lloyd) Toll, Dianna (Bob) Gatz, and Jacqueline (Mike) Neff; a son Keith Schulte; 17 grandchildren; 27 great grandchildren, one great-great grandchild, and many other relatives and friends.
Laverna loved her family with a continual, unconditional love. She had a wonderful way of always making them feel better. Her endurance through tough times and her sacrifice made for others set a beautiful example for all of us. She never stopped caring for her family. Even this past week she woke up in her hospital bed, looked at them and asked, “Have you guys had something to eat yet?” As a friend, she had an easy rapport with everyone. Laverna had what was known as the “Brown gift of gab.” She could converse with anyone and find out everything about them in one sitting.
Laverna was a woman of strength and always met challenges head on with the Lord’s help. She was a pillar of her church and her community. May you rest in the arms of the Lord.