Eleanor Ann Tallman

Tallman, Eleanor Elizabeth, 93, tailors assistant, died Monday, October 29, 2012. Funeral Service will be at 11:00 A.M., Saturday, November 3, 2012 at Downing Lahey Mortuary East. Eleanor was born on June 30, 1919 to William Kearns and Elizabeth Banker Kearns in Salina, Kansas. The family included three other children, Courtney, Ursula, and Janice. She was graduated from Hays High School and in 1938 married Benjamin “Bud” Tallman. Bud and Eleanor moved to Wichita in 1941, and Bud worked at Boeing during World War II. They lived in Planeview, where the family welcomed children Richard, Michael, Kathleen, and Gary. Later Bud owned his own business, the Mutual Cafe in downtown Wichita, and the family moved to a neighborhood near College Hill. Eleanor combined childrearing with part time work at the restaurant during those years. The biggest challenge of Eleanors life was her husbands sudden death from a heart attack in 1967. This tragedy was followed a month later by the death of sister Janice in a car accident. Eleanor went to work as a tailors assistant at Henrys Department Store. After her youngest son started college she moved to the Hilltop neighborhood of Wichita. She retired from Henrys in 1984. In retirement, Eleanor was active in the congregation of the University United Methodist Church. She enjoyed sewing for herself and her family, socializing with friends, and flower gardening. She was blessed with good health until shortly before her death at age 93 of natural causes, at St. Josephs Hospital in Wichita. In addition to her husband and younger sister, Eleanor was preceded in death by her parents and siblings Courtney Kearns and Ursela Kearns Hayden. Survivors include sister-in-law Erna Kearns of Elizabeth, Arkansas; son Richard of Lancaster, California; son Michael of Boise, Idaho, and his wife, Anita; daughter Kathleen and her husband, Corby Nanay, of Oakland, Arkansas; son Gary and his wife, Roxanne Sellberg, of Evanston, Illinois; granddaughter Tiffany York and her husband, Don Brown, of Fort Worth, Texas; grandson Garrett Tallman of San Diego, California; granddaughter Robin Carlson of Bristol, South Dakota; grandson Eric Tallman of Bakersfield, California; and four great grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established with Senior Services of Wichita, Inc., 200 S. Walnut, Wichita, KS 67213.