CLAFLIN — Menta A. Hofmeister, 88, died Dec. 20 at Great Bend Health and Rehabilitation Center. Born July 7, 1922, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, she was the daughter of Charles and Virginia (Reynolds) Eahart. On Oct. 12, 1947, she married Elmer Hofmeister in Parsons. He died Feb. 11, 2005. A long-time Claflin resident, she was an elementary teacher and a homemaker.

Mrs. Hofmeister was a member of the United Methodist Church and the United Methodist Women of Claflin and the Order of the Eastern Star Chapter 420 in Holyrood.

Survivors include a son, Fred Hofmeister of Claflin; three daughters, Betty Ruhlen of Lawrence, Phyllis Hofmeister of Hutchinson, and Helen Hawley of Hudsonville, Mich.; a sister, Cleo Smith of Iola; eight grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a sister, Virginia Blair; and a great-granddaughter, Emily Mills.

Funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday at Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home in Hoisington with the Rev. Gene Langhofer officiating. Burial will be at the Dubuque Cemetery, south of Dubuque. Friends may visit from 1 to 8 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. to service time on Thursday, all at the funeral home. Memorials are suggested to the United Methodist Church or the Claflin EMS, in care of the funeral home. Condolences may be sent and notice viewed at www.nicholsonrickefh.net.

Funeral arrangements provided by

Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home*

P.O. Box 146

Hoisington, KS 67544

Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, Dec. 22, 2010