Alice Claassen
February 19, 1932 ~ January 4, 2024
Alice Claassen, age 91, peacefully passed away at her Bethany Home residence in Lindsborg, KS on January 4, 2024. Her family was able to spend many hours together with her during her last months and days. Occasional visits by grandkids, great grandkids and even family pets accounted as treasured moments.
Alice was born in Hillsboro, KS on February 19, 1932, to Carl and Katherine (Doell) Stelting. She attended schools in Abilene and Hillsboro, KS and a year at Prairie Bible Institute, Three Hills, Alberta, Canada, near her Aunt Lydia and Uncle Leo Janz. She graduated from Hillsboro High School. She was married to Abe Claassen in 1950. Together they had three sons: Steve, Stan and Rodney.
From her earliest years, Alice had a great love for music, self-teaching herself to play piano and read music while in grade school. After formal piano instruction, she accompanied various choirs and soloists during her high school years. Just last week, she mentioned that her piano teacher was not really thrilled about her self-taught piano techniques. In her early teen years, she waved goodbye to her Father as he went off to non-combat military service in WWII serving as a medic. She took her first job candling eggs and then as a telephone operator in Hillsboro, KS.
When Alice moved to Wichita, with Abe, she was deeply involved in the music department at First Mennonite Brethren Church singing in choirs and small groups and serving on music boards, directing musical productions and playing piano and organ for choirs, congregations and groups. Her boys were really impressed when her ladies trio sang on a local television show called the “Party Line” during the noon hour programming. Alice’s love of music was passed on to all her boys via hours of piano and instrument practices, continuous listening to a variety of music records and taking them to many musical and theater productions.
Alice regularly served as Church Vacation Bible School director while her children were young. She served as church secretary at First Mennonite Brethren Church alongside Pastors Bob Vogt, Dale Warkentin, Torrey Brinkley, Ben Nikkel, Don Heinrich and Roland Reimer, and then later worked as an Administrative Assistant in the Nursing Department at Via Christi-St. Francis Hospital.
Alice's hobbies were music, home decorating, gardening and cooking/baking/canning/freezing fabulous foods for her family and friends. At various times she was a room mother for each of her boys’ classrooms, bringing the very best treats and snacks for holidays, birthdays and events. She was somewhat of a tomboy as a child who loved to play sports and later was an avid and faithful follower/supporter of her boy’s athletic pursuits. When her boys were playing high school sports, Alice kept her own statistics at their games, mainly to help with her anxiety and worry. She at times would insist that her stats were more accurate then the team’s.
Most summers included a lot of gardening and canning chores which her boys were forced to help with before they could go swimming at the public pool. Best memories were trips to orchards to pick up peaches for canning. She would remind the boys to pick, not just eat the peaches.
Alice was an avid fan of the Wichita State University Basketball Team, particularly in their earlier glory days in the 60’s and for decades after until their last trip to the Final Four in 2013. She shared the story many times and fondly recalled just last week about taking the boys to the Wichita Airport to welcome Shockers Nate Bowman, Dave Stalworth and Kelly Pete home from a national tournament. She later had season tickets to attend WSU games at the Roundhouse and enjoyed opportunities to attend Kansas City Chiefs games at Arrowhead for many years where she sometimes tailgated with Rodney and wife Karen (now deceased) along with her then housemate Linnell Maier. Occasionally, Stan, who was living in Topeka or Lawrence then, would join them as well.
The family also enjoyed occasional camping vacations to the Colorado mountains where she would cook the most amazing food on the old Coleman Stove that Stan still uses sixty years later, or over an open fire. Summer highlights included near weekly camping, cooking, boating and water skiing trips and later visits to various Kansas lakes with family and friends and Church youth groups.
Upon retirement, Alice enjoyed time in travel, especially to see cousins in Canada. She eventually moved to Arizona with her longtime friend, Linnell Meier, for a warmer climate and to be near her brother Gordon’s family. She and Linnell loved to travel which was how they became friends. They traveled to all of the United States with the exception of Connecticut, the favorite destinations being Sidney by the Sea in British Columbia and Lake Louise in Alberta. As her health declined, she moved back to Kansas to Bethany Homes to be cared for by her children.
Alice was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and was eager to share her faith with friends and family. We know of her unceasing prayers for her family and others throughout her life. One evidence of this is a touching heartfelt handwritten prayer we recently discovered in her Bible that we believe she wrote in the mid 80’s. She often listened to her favorite gospel singers including the Bill Gaither Trio, Sandi Patty along with many other Christian artists. In recent months, she enjoyed reading the new Dr. David Jeremiah book “The Great Disappearance'' based on the verses in I Thessalonians 4:13-7 “But I do not want you to be ignorant brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have not hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus”. Of late, she enjoyed Steve and Rodney reading from this book and also from the Psalms.
Alice is survived by her brother Gordon (Charlene) Stelting, Surprise, AZ, and her three sons Steve (Nancy) Wichita, KS, Stan Florissant, CO and Rodney (Sondra), Lincoln, KS; grandchildren Brandon (Jaleen), Daryl, and Christopher Claassen, Preston (Claire) Mossman, Michael Howe, Danielle Rohr and Kassie (Greg) Bieker; and great grandchildren Brady, Elias, Juliet and Pepper Claassen, Holly and Willa Mossman, Dylan Howe, and August and Otto Bieker.
A memorial service is scheduled for Thursday, January 11, 2024, 11:00 am at the Ridgepoint Church, 8000 West 21st Street North, Wichita, KS, preceded with a private burial at Maize Park Cemetery, Maize, KS. Services in care of Downing & Lahey West Mortuary.
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Alice, what a hoot!! She coordinated our wedding in 1975. Paul cleaned and installed carpets over the many years in Wichita . Loved our many conversations about family and biblical topics.
Always a delight. We’ll reunite in Heaven some day.
Paul and Jo Anna Jones