LYONS - Gracie Florine Kitchen, 98, died May 17 at the Good Samaritan Center in Lyons. She was born June 25, 1906, near Lewis, the daughter of Charles Milton and Carrie Ostrander Huckstep. She graduated from Lewis High School in 1924 and received her teaching degree from Fort Hays State College. She married Elda N. Kitchen on May 8, 1926, at Lewis. He died Oct. 13, 1983. She was a resident of Lyons since 1990, formerly of Bushton and Frederick. She was a homemaker and taught elementary school for two years in Edwards County and was a licensed day care provider for 20 years at Bushton. Kitchen was a member of Faith Bible Church and assisted with the Awana Children's Ministry in Lyons; member of the former Frederick Baptist Church where she taught Sunday School classes for 65 years including Junior B.Y.F. and Teenage Guild Girls; Bushton Study Club for 25 years; and AARP. Survivors include one daughter, Wanda Plautz of Bushton; eight grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; six stepgreat-grandchildren; seven great-great-grandchildren; and one stepgreat-great-granddaughter. She was preceded in death by one son, Harry Charles Kitchen; two daughters, Arla May Hoelscher and Joyce Brack; three brothers, Arthur, Edmund and Willie Huckstep; two sisters, Lottie and Pearl Huckstep; and one stepgrandson, Gary Wagner. Funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Sillin Funeral Home in Lyons, with the Rev. Curtis Fitzgerald officiating. Burial will be at the Lyons Municipal Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2-7 p.m. Friday. Memorials are suggested to Faith Bible Church Building Fund or the Salem United Methodist Church Scholarship Fund. Funeral arrangements provided by Sillin Funeral Home 214 West Ave. South Lyons, KS 67554 620-257-2211

from the Great Bend Tribune 19 May 2005