CHANUTE — Grace Eleanor Morris died quietly at home Aug. 11, 2018 surrounded by family.
Grace was born April 25, 1936, to Emmet and Verlie Keller in Pratt County. “Gracie” was one of 16 children born to the Kellers and was deeply rooted in the faith and love she learned as a Kansas farm girl.
Grace graduated from Preston High School in 1954, and attended Central Christian College in McPherson before marrying John Kroeker Jan. 5, 1957. During the seven short years that followed, the couple moved to Fort Wayne, Ind. where John attended Fort Wayne Bible College, and then to Bucklin, where they ministered together until John’s death in 1964.
Following John’s death, Grace moved to Dodge City with their two young daughters and attended nursing school. While in school, she met Boyd Morris, and by the time she graduated and became an LPN, she and Boyd were married and making plans to move to Garden City. They remained together until Boyd’s death in February 2006, six months before they would have celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.
Grace loved her family and cared for them in ways too numerous to count. Grace loved her church family, and was an active member of congregations in Bucklin, Garden City, Dodge City, Liberal, Great Bend, and Olathe as Boyd’s work and retirement took them across Kansas.
Ministry was an ongoing theme in Grace’s life through singing, nursing home and bus ministries, calling on shut-ins, and serving as a deaconess due to the extent of her involvement in lay ministries. Grace also had a playful side, collecting dolls and toys, joining in silly games and contests at family reunions, and making her popular with the children of her church.
Grace is survived by four daughters — Terri Main, husband Doug, Las Vegas, N.M.; Cathy Anazao-Johnson, husband Billy, Alamogordo, N.M.; Denise Buchanan, husband Rick, Chanute; Jane Fortin, husband John, Overton; 13 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren. She also leaves three brothers, Roy Keller, wife Jean, Valley Center; Mike Keller, Wichita; Bud Keller, wife Sue, Preston; and two sisters, Freda Smith, husband Bill, Wichita; and Carol Buster, husband David, Stafford. Grace was preceded in death by a son, Don Morris, two grandchildren, sisters, Dorothy Reid and Gaylene Fischer, brothers Wesley, Fay, and Donald, and five siblings who died as infants.
The funeral service is scheduled at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18 at Westside Church of the Nazarene in Olathe. Graveside service will immediately following at Oak Lawn Memorial Gardens in Olathe. A reception for family and friends will be hosted at Westside Church of the Nazarene after the graveside service.
Memorial donations in Grace’s honor may go to the Westside Church of the Nazarene building fund to help pay off the mortgage on the new sanctuary that Boyd’s memorial helped to start. The family would like to thank new friends from First Baptist Church in Chanute for welcoming Grace into their fellowship over this past year, and faithful friends from Westside Church who sent cards, called, and visited during the last months of Grace’s life.
To leave a special message for the family, visit www.PenwellGabelOlathe.com.
Penwell-Gabel Cremations, Funerals
Olathe Chapel
14275 Black Bob Road
Olathe, KS. 66062
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune Aug. 16, 2018
