ELLINWOOD — Clara “Louise” Meadows passed away peacefully on January 25, 2018, in Ellinwood, Kansas, of natural causes. She was 99.
Known most of her adult life as Louise, she was born at home in Eureka, Greenwood County, Kansas, to loving parents Elmer “Red” Sanders and CLARA “Bartlett” Sanders on November 3, 1918. She married her sweetheart, Christopher “Harmon” Meadows, on May 5, 1937 and they had three children, Carol, Imogene and Sally, soon after in and around Hamilton, Kansas.
In 1944, Louise moved to Ellinwood, Kansas, with her family. She spent the rest of her life there raising her daughters and then going to work cleaning houses until 1970, when she made the fateful decision to change careers and become a traveling saleswoman. Selling specialty advertising for Newton Manufacturing Company of Newton, Iowa, proved to be a good fit for her talents. She quickly soared to the company’s top tier of salespeople, where she remained for several decades until her retirement in her nineties.
Louise loved flowers and took pride in the expansive gardens she tended behind and around her house. A strong presence in her family, she constantly strove for the well being of her loved ones. Her doors were always open to immediate and extended family, who often gathered at her home for her famous fried chicken dinners on Sundays. She adored her customers, who lived all over central and western Kansas. Driving to them from early morning to late at night six days a week gave her great satisfaction. She came to know many successive generations of businesspeople and talked of them like family. She also spoke with representatives at Newton Manufacturing daily and felt a close kinship with everyone who assisted her there.
Louise Meadows was preceded in death by her husband, Harmon Meadows, and her daughters, Carol Smith and Imogene Werner. She is survived by her daughter, Sally Bayer, of Ellinwood; her son-in-law, Norman Werner of Chicago, Illinois; her grandson, Mitch Werner, and his husband, John Jakupcak, of Butte, Montana; her granddaughter, Kelly Wiederrecht, and her husband, Gary, and their three children, Thomas, Rachel, and Emily, of Elmhurst, Illinois; her grandson, James Shaw, of Great Bend; her granddaughter, Hilary Tarasuk, and her husband, George, and their two children, Andrew and Sophia, of LaGrange Park, Illinois; and her special great grandson, Zachary Allsbury, and his wife, Bryanna, of Durant, Oklahoma.
Funeral service will be held at Immanuel United Church of Christ in Ellinwood on Monday, January 29 at 10 a.m. with Pastor Bill Johnson officiating. Burial will follow at Lakin-Comanche Cemetery, Ellinwood. Viewing is scheduled from 1-8 p.m. on Sunday January 28th at Minnis Chapel with family present from 7-8.
Donations in memory of Louise Meadows may be made to the Ellinwood Hospital Foundation or the Ellinwood Ambulance Service by mail at: Minnis Chapel, 113 N Main St, Ellinwood, KS 67526 or online at www.minnischapel.org.
Funeral arrangements provided by
Minnis Chapel
113 N Main St
Ellinwood, KS 67526
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, Jan. 28, 2018
