Florence Leah Sellers

FLORENCE, KS –      

Florence Leah (Soule) Sellers, 72, passed away on September 16, 2016 at Asbury Park, Newton, Kansas. She was born on February 11, 1944, to Freeman Wilber and Sarah Emma (Cronk) Soule in Eureka, Kansas. Following her 1962 graduation from Eureka High School, Leah attended the Halstead Hospital School of Nursing (Halstead, Kansas), completing the program and earning her Registered Nurse’s license in 1965. She worked in the Halstead Hospital Surgery Department and later, for Dr. Rate, a thoracic and general surgeon at Halstead Hospital.

            Leah married Robert Lee Sellers of Florence, Kansas, on July 12, 1968. The couple made their home on and worked the Sellers family farm west of Florence, Kansas, enjoying forty-eight years together. Leah and Robert had two children, Karen Denise and Julie Ann. In addition to her work on the farm, Leah worked as a registered nurse at the Peabody Nursing Home following her marriage, and in later years, at Regency Health Care in Florence.

            Leah attended the Florence Christian Church where she participated in various activities. Se coordinated Vacation Bible School crafts for many years, helped plan, produce, and make costumes for the annual Christmas Program, and helped serve many funeral dinners. Leah was active in her daughters’ community, school, and 4-H events. She served as a project and community leader for the Florence Jayhawk 4-H Club. She also served on the Marion County Cooperative Extension Board. Leah enjoyed a close relationship with her parents-in-law, Benard and Helen Stromberg, for whom she cared in their later years. Leah was an avid gardener and quilter and enjoyed feeding and watching the birds around her home.

            Survivors include her husband, Robert (Florence, KS); daughters Karen Denise Sellers, (Larned, KS) and Dr. Julie Sellers and her husband PJ Vaske (Atchison, KS). Other survivors include sisters Betty Uhl (Hamilton, KS); Susan Thole (Stafford, KS); Joan Talkington (Hamilton, KS); Thedda Olson, Sharron Urton, and Karen Nordmeyer (Eureka, KS); and brothers Merle Soule (Mt. Vernon, IL); Jerry Soule (Madison, KS), and Dick Soule (Marshall, TX).

            Leah was preceded in death by her parents Sarah and Wilber Soule; sisters Carol Soule; Sandra Soule; Bertha Erickson; Phyllis Enos, and Eleanor Jacoby, and a brother William Soule.

            The Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 20, 2016, at the Christian Church of Florence, KS.  Interment will be in the Hillcrest Cemetery, Florence, KS.

            Memorials are suggested to the Kansas 4-H Foundation, in care of Zeiner Funeral Home, 205 Elm, Marion, KS, 66861.  Online Condolences may be left at www.zeinerfuneralhomes.com.