Lyla Marie (Jantz) Killfoil
10/24/1920 - 10/6/2021
Daughter of Andrew B. Jantz and Martha
Marie (Buller) Jantz. Lyla was born October 24, 1920 in Goltry,
Oklahoma.
She was married on November 7, 1937 to
Fred Elton Killfoil in Lankin, Kansas. Lyla and Fred had 7 children,
19 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great
grandchildren.
Lyla grew up in western Kansas where
she loved school. She was always a teacher's helper, especially when
it came time to help with Plays or other activities.
Lyla was creative and an artist. She
would make many of the background scenes for the plays at school.
Lyla liked ceramics and drawing, later in her Golden Years she loved
to color things. She taught herself to play any musical instrument
she could put her hands on. Lyla played piano, organ, accordion,
guitar, banjo, mandolin, steel-guitar and xylophone. She also taught
others to play music. All of her children are artists and/or musical
singers.
Lyla was an excellent cook. She was in
charge of the family kitchen at age 10 because her father and mother
had to work in their farm fields all day long. Lyla also had to take
care of the house and her 2 younger sisters. At age 15 she worked on
a ranch cooking and baking for a large group of workers to help
support her family. Lyla was a self-taught seamstress and made her
children nice homemade clothes. She lived in Newton, Kansas for 75
years. Lyla played the Church piano at Church of God of the Firstborn
on S. Kansas for 73 years. She lived the last 4 years of her life at
Asbury Park, now Paramount Community Rehab Center where she passed on
to Heaven the 6th of October, 2021, 17 days short of reaching 101
years old. Lyla is preceded in death by her mother, father, two
sisters, daughter, son, 2 grandsons, 2 granddaughters and 2
great-granddaughters.
Children are:
Jerry Killfoil of Newton, Kansas.
Shirley O Neil of Newton, Kansas.
Jane and Thomas Carrell of Newton,
Kansas.
Carolyn and Stanley Smith of Crestview,
Florida.
James and Judy Killfoil of Grand Forks,
North Dakota.
