Michael Eugene Foster

Michael Eugene Foster was born on February 19, 1950, in West Plains, Missouri to Alonzo (A.L.) and Anna Marie Foster. As a teenager, Michael enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served his country as a Military Police Officer during the Vietnam War. He married Brenda Reed in 1970 and had one daughter, Tonee Marie. In 1979, he remarried to Constance Welliver and together they had one daughter, Sarah Anne. Michael worked for Chance Industries for more than 25 years until the mid-1990s. There, he often led a team of artists and builders that famously built beautiful, themed bathtubs for the Wichita River Festival bathtub races and wooden rocking horses for the Toys for Tots program through the U.S. Marine Corps. He later drove a truck for Belger Cartage until his retirement. He enjoyed gardening, tinkering with old cars, inventing new machines, and creating objects and cabinetry with wood to enhance the lives of his friends and family. He was also the master of telling bad jokes and an avid NASCAR and Wichita State University Shocker Men’s Basketball fan. Michael E. Foster, 73, died Monday, May 29, 2023. A memorial service will be at 1:00 p.m., Monday, June 5, 2023, at Downing & Lahey West Mortuary. He was preceded in death by his parents, Alonzo A. and Anna Marie Foster; brother, Gaylon Foster; sister, Micky Hastings; grandson, Jacob L. Lohf. Michael is survived by his wife, Constance "Connie" C. Foster of Goddard, KS; sister, Sheila Watson of Ozark, MO; daughter, Tonee (Frank) Zimmerman of Edmond, OK; their children, Benjamin (Andrea) Zimmerman, Aimee Zimmerman, and Zachary Zimmerman; their grandchild, Otto Zimmerman; daughter, Sarah Foster of Goddard, KS; her children, Connor Smith, Breanna Smith, Andrew Gross, Ey’dan Smith, Phillip Truman, Samuel Truman and Maximillian Truman; her grandchildren, Kateri Smith and Grady Todd; step-daughter, Vanessa (Charles II) Lohf of Wichita, KS. A memorial has been established with: Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, 313 S Market, Wichita, KS 67202. Services in care of Downing & Lahey Mortuary - West Chapel.