Obituary

Evelyn Gatz Scheffler

1919 - 2015 Obituary

Evelyn Gatz Scheffler, 95, of Newton died Monday, September 14, 2015.

She was born on a farm near McPherson, Kansas on November 28, 1919 to George H. and Leota Robertson Gatz. She attended McPherson schools and graduated from McPherson High School in 1937. She attended Kansas State Teachers College for two years and received a Life Certificate to teach in May of 1939. She taught in Harvey County rural schools for three years. During the war years, she worked at Beech Aircraft in Wichita.

On September 17, 1944, she married James W. "Jim" Scheffler in the Chapel at Fort Crook in Omaha, Nebraska. After his discharge from the U.S. Army in 1945, they returned to Newton to make their home. They had two sons and she was a homemaker. Jim died on May 2, 1999. Their son, Ronald, died April 1, 2004. Their son, Robert, died August 22, 2015.

She was a member of Salem United Methodist Church, the Double Duty Sunday School class, and the United Methodist Women. She taught the kindergarten Sunday School class at Salem for thirty-seven years. She served on the Salem Endowment Committee and the Pastor-Parish Committee of the church. She served in all the offices of the United Methodist Women at the local level and for seven years as a Wichita district officer. In 2000, she was named the Newton Kansan Woman of the Year in the field of religion.

Evelyn served for seven years on the Board of Trustees of the Newton Public Library and for six years on the Twentieth Century Endowment Foundation of the library.

She was a member of the Entre Nous Club and the Monday Bridge Club. She was an avid golfer and gardener. She enjoyed reading and spending time with family and friends.

She is survived by her daughter-in-law, Vickie, of Newton and her three grandchildren, Daniel, and his wife, Tiffany, of Kansas City; Katherine, and her husband Bill of Norman, Oklahoma; and Michael of Kansas City and her great-grandson, Otto, of Kansas City.

She was preceded in death by her husband, two sons, sister Erma McCullough, brother George Gatz Jr., and her parents.

Visitation will be held at Petersen Funeral Home on Friday, September 18 from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. with the family receiving friends from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Services will be held on Saturday, September 19 at 10:00 a.m. at Salem United Methodist Church. Burial at Greenwood Cemetery will immediately follow the service.

Memorial donations can be made to the Salem Endowment Fund and the Library Twentieth Century Endowment Fund.