LARNED — Eldred Earnestine (Sanders) Dipman, age 93, formerly of Larned, passed away May 30, 2016, at Mennonite Friendship Communities, South Hutchinson. Eldred was born July 10, 1922 at home in Rodney, Arkansas, to parents Ida Matilda Langston and James Elbert Sanders, the next to the youngest of seven children.
Eldred attended school up to the seventh grade at Hall’s Chapel, Arkansas. She attended eighth grade at Norfork, Arkansas, then went to live with her sister Inez and family in Kansas to help care for a newborn niece. Eldred continued her schooling at Radium and in 1938 she was a freshman at Rozel.
The Great Depression forced Eldred to quit school and go to work, providing childcare and housekeeping. When she took a job for George and Sadie Dipman, she met their son, John.
Eldred and John were wed in Wichita by a Justice of the Peace on Feb. 7, 1942. They made their home on the family farm John’s grandparents had built after homesteading the ground in 1879. During the War years, hired help was hard to find, so Eldred drove the tractor and helped in the field. They lived on the farm 58 years, raising a family of four and welcoming their grandchildren and great-grandchildren who loved to come to Grandma’s house for meals featuring her fried chicken.
Eldred loved being around people, whether it was a big family gathering or a cup of coffee with a neighbor. She was a member of the C.I.C. and Ash Valley Grange for over 55 years, a 4-H sewing and cooking project leader, member of United Methodist Church, and U.M.W., all of Larned.
John and Eldred loved to travel and took many Grange Trips and later bought a motor home, vacationing in Arkansas, Colorado and Wyoming.
If it was your birthday and you were in Eldred Dipman’s family, you could count on one of her heavenly angel food cakes.
She made them for everyone’s birthday, whipping the eggs with a hand beater.
John and Eldred were married 65 years before he passed Nov. 5, 2006.
Survivors include: son, David of Casper, Wyoming; daughters Dedria Ashworth and husband Robert, Arlington, Kan., and Cindy Wallace, Rawlins, Wyoming; daughter-in-law Vicki Dipman, Larned; grandchildren, Sandi Bates and husband Jeff, Candi Parker and husband Randy, all of Larned; Dari Hilbert and husband Tom, Seneca; Darin Ashworth and wife Emily, Haven; Shane Wallace, Moundridge, and Brett Wallace and wife Lindsey, Medicine Lodge; and great-grandchildren, Keeli Howard and husband Josh, Larned; Kelbi Parker and Fianace Ian Harvey, Hays, Maurice, Abraham and Noah Hilbert, Seneca; Lorelei Ashworth, Haven and Ariana Wallace, Medicine Lodge.
She was preceded in death by her parents; son, Danny Dipman; sisters, Vada Goodwin, Inez Voss, Oma DeWitt; brothers, Gurnade Sanders, Clifton Sanders and Vernard Sanders.
Funeral service will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday, June 2, at Beckwith Mortuary Chapel with Pastor Joyce Beam presiding. Visitation will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday with family present from 5-7 p.m. at the mortuary. Burial will be in the Larned Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, family requests memorials be made to the Kansas 4-H Foundation or United Methodist Women, in care of the mortuary. Personal condolences may be left at www.beckwithmortuary.com.
Funeral arrangements provided by
Beckwith Mortuary**
P.O. Box 477; 916 Main
Larned, KS 67550
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, June 1, 2016
