Ruth Phyllis Timmerman Decker, 88, longtime resident of Junction City, Kansas, died Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016, at the Good Samaritan Society in Hays, Kansas. Mrs. Decker was born Nov. 21, 1928, to Ernest and Anna (Lohse) Timmerman in Mills County, Iowa. She grew up and attended school in and around the Glenwood, Iowa, area.

Mrs. Decker received an emergency teaching certificate from Omaha University at age 17 and took great pride in being a one-room country school teacher for several years. She married Drexel Donald Decker on April 26, 1947, in Clarinda, Iowa; and the couple had three daughters, Barbara Georgiadis, Campbell, Ohio; Beverly Wilkens, Salina, Kansas; and Belinda Venters, Wichita, Kansas.

Mrs. Decker also was very proud of being a homemaker and military wife. For a number of years she was a Wal-mart employee in Junction City. Mrs. Decker was a member of the First Baptist Church, its Priscilla Circle; the American Cancer Society, including her work with the Relay for Life and Daffodil Days; The Retired Enlisted Association and Zeta Phi Sorority, all of Junction City. She also was a Sunday School Superintendent at the Fort Riley Morris Hill Chapel, a Girl Scout and 4-H leader, and an Auxiliary Life Member and past commander of the Disabled American Veterans. Her recognitions included being named Protestant Woman of the Year, donating in excess of 800 hours of chapel work while at Fort Riley, and receiving her five-year pin for volunteering with the Big Red 1. Her family was her focus, but Mrs. Decker also enjoyed quilting, embroidering, scrapbooking, reading and traveling.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband of 45 years, sisters: Darlene Stille, Glenwood, Iowa; and Dorothy Benincosa, Galena, Illinois; infant granddaughter (Cobb), grandson, Michael Georgiadis; and son-in-law, Peter Georgiadis.

She is survived by her three daughters, son-in-law, Kent Venters, Wichita, Kansas; and five grandchildren, Jodi Suglio, Seattle, Washington; Julee Cobb, Bennington, Kansas; Nick Georgiadis, Campbell, Ohio; and Christian and Caeden Venters, Wichita, Kansas.

A graveside memorial service will be held at the Fort Riley Cemetery on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017, at 11 a.m. Attendees need to enter Fort Riley at the Marshall Air Field entrance at exit 301 off of U.S. Interstate Highway 70 and gather in the parking lot of the Visitor Control Center, Building 885, promptly at 10:45 a.m. Mrs. Decker’s favorite color was red, so please feel free to add it to your attire that day.

After the service, family and friends are invited to meet for lunch. A room has been reserved at Bella’s Italian Restaurant at 605 N. Washington St. in Junction City from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials in Mrs. Decker’s name to the Dorothy Bramlage Public Library, 230 W. 7th St., Junction City, Kansas 66441; or the Central and Western Kansas Alzheimer’s Association at 1820 E. Douglas Ave., Wichita, Kansas 67214, https://www.alz.org/cwkansas/.

Brock’s North Hill Chapel of Hays, Kansas, has been entrusted with the funeral arrangements. Condolences may be left at https://www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com/.