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 Maria Anna (Dreiling) Brown.
Her family later moved north of Gorham where she spent the majority of her early years. She attended schools in the area through the eighth grade and graduated from Walker. Her dad didn’t think girls should to high school, but 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 besides 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”.
She lost her dear mother when she was thirteen. It was such a blow to Laverna because she felt the sun rose and set on Maria Anna. December 17th, the date of her death was always very vivid to her every year.
Laverna several types of jobs from doing household work for farmers to working in the hospital in Hays with a group of young women after she left home. 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 all the connections she had with family and friends.
She began dating, found she loved to dance, and went to many fun 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 also helping care for the younger ones. She had a natural affinity for babies and children which helped her when she reared her own 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 after him. On a beautiful, sunny day with all of their families attending, they were married April 20, 1948, in Vincent at St. Boniventure Church. They began married life on a farm outside of Norton
.
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.
Laverna began her life as a home-maker, worked alongside Virgil on the farm, and then later in town. To help with the growing number of children, they built a coin operated Laundromat to make ends meet. When Virgil was the manager of the Elks Club, she ran the kitchen which began her succession of jobs in kitchen management. While at her final one 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.
Laverna knew how to stretch a dollar better than anyone. Some of that came from the hard- working thriftiness of the Volga German people. She was very proud of her heritage and could speak their language before she spoke English.
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. We hate to think of how many jars of vegetables she canned and how much fruit was picked and frozen for her famous pies. She rolled out a lot of noodles and placed them on every horizontal area in the house. She also made bierocks and cinnamon rolls which had no equal. They were sent home with her kids, and later, the grandkids, going off to college. Other specialties included her German dishes, especially green bean dumpling soup, and dumplings and beans. Mike’s boys loved her fried bread that they dipped in syrup.
Marcia remembered mom always singing and whistling when we were little. The old country and western classics–Ray Price, Webb Pierce, Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells, etc. She always let us listen to most radio stations in the car when we were traveling, but she drew the line on Tom Jones “What’s New Pussycat?” and Herman’s Hermits “I’m Henry the VIII, I Am.” Those songs drove her straight up the wall!
Connie remembered the many rosaries we recited together every night during the month of May, the times when the weather was inclement, and driving home from seeing the relatives. Maybe that’s why we had so many safe journeys, that and the highway patrol feeling sorry for the poor woman with all those kids.
Janet was always amazed about how much energy mom had. How did she care for all of us, run the laundromat, and help dad with the Elks Club with hardly any time to herself ?!? She said she couldn’t have done it without us kids, but being able to do it all was extraordinary. A memory was watching her scrub & wax the dance floor at the Elks Club on hands and knees.
Janice admired mom for being one of the strongest women she knew. Many times she kidded mom about being at fault for raising such strong-willed, hardworking and determined children ~ her example was too strong to ignore. By watching mom, she learned how to sacrifice for others, to do without, and not feel like the whole world had to hear about it.
Supposedly, the quiet one in the family, Linda always appreciated mom’s easy rapport with anyone she met. Called it the “Brown gift of gab.” She could converse with all walks of life and any age group and find out everything about them in one setting. Many people would come to her with their problems because she was so sympathetic due to all the struggles she had endured herself.
Dianna remembers mom buying her a green, corduroy coat when mom needed one worse, but “hey” it was on sale at Wiesners; she taught us that cleaning house involved square corners, not round; she coached our softball team and earned the nickname, Coach Casey Stengel; and how she met challenges head on with the Lord’s help. Is that what Bob meant when he said she should have either been sainted “or” committed?
Keith knows Mom spoiled him rotten as the first son. He loved her breakfast pancakes and the cookie jar that was always filled with cookies. He loved her coffee and the teasing that went on around the dining room table. Mom believed that he would talk and walk when the doctors said otherwise. He loved the game of “Love Taps” because he was the middleman between Mom and dad. Mom will always be “His Girl”.
Jackie said mom had a wonderful way of always making her feel better. No matter how down in the dumps she was, she knew she could call her and Mom would raise her spirits just by the sound of her voice. No matter how bad a day or week mom had, she was always available. Mom always put everybody else first, without a thought to the fact that maybe she needed some comfort or understanding for herself.
If Mike were here, he would talk about her unconditional love and support of him and his boys. Brock said once that Grandma did so much preparation always when family went to her home. And he said, “That’s what a home is.” He said, “We all have our houses, but where there’s “Grandma,” there is HOME.”
The grandkids have mentioned her wonderful, warm hugs and always smiling face. They always felt supported in all their endeavors, knowing she continually rooted for them. They felt so well-loved and enjoyed the dining room table conversations with Grandma. “If that table could talk, it would have had its own TV channel,” according to Trevor.
Kelly said that even the leftovers were good at Grandma’s and as the saying goes, “If you go away hungry from Grandma’s, it’s your own fault.” It wasn’t for the lack of food. She enjoyed staying the night with Jenny at Grandma and Grandpa’s and giving them facials and new hairdos.
Tony said, to her dying day she was wanting to make sure we were all happy and well fed. She woke up in the hospital bed one day and asked him, “Have you guys had something to eat yet?”
Sean thought Grandma had a gift for making people feel special.
Laverna’s rock solid faith carried her through many difficult times in her life. She taught us all by her example and prayed us all back into the church when some of us went astray or lost heart. People would ask her to pray for them; she was an excellent Prayer Warrior. She was very proud that she was a long time member of the Gorham, Kansas Chapter of the Daughters of Isabella.
About three years ago, with a heavy heart, Mom 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; an infant daughter; six brothers; and four sisters. Survivors left to celebrate her life and cherish her memory are: daughters Marcia (John) Ashmore, Connie (Tom) Walz, Janet (Terrence) Payne, Janice Perkowski, Linda (Lloyd) Toll, Dianna Gatz, and Jacqueline Neff; a son Keith; 17 grandchildren; 27 great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.