Thelma Alverda (Keil) Gross

Thelma A. Gross, age 92, of Hays died Wednesday, September 05, 2012, at Hays, Kansas with her children by her side.

Thelma was born July 11, 1920, in Galatia, Kansas, to Benjamin and Bertha (Strecker) Keil. Thelma was a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church, VFW Auxiliary and American Legion Auxiliary and the Senior Companion program, all of Hays. All her life Thelma was a care giver, first caring for her family and later she worked at the Russell Nursing home for 25 years and after her retirement she volunteered for the Senior Companion Program in Hays until her health no longer permitted her to work. She was an expert at crocheting and made beautiful creations from memory or by looking at a picture.

Survivors include her eight children; Charlene Graham and her husband, Ross of Alva, Oklahoma, George Wolf and his wife, Julie of Salina, Kansas, Mary Schoenberger of Hays, Sharon Wolf of Alva, Okla., Linda Baird and her husband, Jerry of Hays, Dan Wolf and his wife, Patty of Hays, Kathy Kinney and husband, Curt of Garden City, Kansas, Steven Wolf and his wife, Karen of Holcomb, Kansas; 46 grandchildren, 63 great grandchildren, and 13 great, great grandchildren; brother, Glen Keil and his wife, Helen of Russell, Kansas; sisters, Ailene Sanders and her husband, Darrell of Wells, Kansas, and LaFern Trent of Russell, Kansas. Thelma was preceded in death by a son, Franklin Wayne Wolf, five grandchildren, Debra Jo, Franklin James, JuliAn Foote, twin infant boy Foote and Curtis Schoenberger; a son in law, Wilmer Schoenberger; her parents; brothers, Clarence, Wayne, and Leland Keil; sisters, Clarnetta Brainerd, Elsie Keil, and Lucille Hall. She was also preceded in death by her first husband, George F. Wolf in 1969 and her second husband, Alex Gross in 1991.

Thelma was a devoted mother and grandmother, teaching her grandchildren to play cards and bingo and she never forgot to tell them how much she loved them and was a great collector of hugs from them all. She touched the lives of everyone who knew her and always made time to listen or share a kind word or a loving touch. She will be missed by all who knew her.

Funeral services will be held at the Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home, 1906 Pine St. on Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. Burial will be in the St. Joseph Cemetery in Hays. Friends may call at the funeral home on Friday from 5 until 8 p.m. and on Saturday from 1:30 p.m. until the time of service. Memorials in her name and memory may be given to the Senior Companion program, in care of the funeral home. Condolences to the family at www.haysmemorial.com