Lucille M. VanGilder

Lucille M. VanGilder, 94, of Vermillion, died Sunday, March 14, 2010 at the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca. A funeral service was held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, March 19, at the United Methodist Church in Vermillion. Burial was in the Vermillion Cemetery. Mayetta Amanda Lucille Byers Van Gilder was born October 6, 1915, at Beattie, KS, to Worley and Gladys (Selp) Byers. Lucille was a star basketball player on girls State Championship basketball team. While playing basketball, she unfortunately broke her back, which caused her great pain for the remainder of her life. However, she did not let the pain defeat her and she was in constant motion. She worked while attending school and after. She was active in all school, social and community activities. On December 7, 1934 she married Jimmie Van Gilder of Vermillion. They moved to a farm south of Vermillion. To this union six children were born. Lucille was a long time member of the Vermillion Methodist Ladies Aid Guild, PTA at Windy Ridge School, band mother and Kayette mother for Vermillion High School. She loved visiting with neighbors and shared sewing/embroidery “bees” with friends and neighbors. She made all her children’s clothing including coats, suits, etc. until they were in high school. But the thrill of her life was when she had time to make a beautiful quilt, and she made many of them. Children, grandchildren and friends have all been the recipients of these beautiful creations. She could drive the horses to plant the crops, shuck corn alongside her man, she enjoyed mowing, even when she had to push one without a motor. She loved flowers, always had a large garden and canned all summer long. She raised her own chickens for meat and eggs. She was an excellent guardian of her household funds, was a perfectionist at cleaning, and made her own shuck mattresses. She had a long reputation as one of the best cooks around and was absolutely horrified if someone didn’t at least want a cookie at her house. She loved children; her own and others. A baseball game on Sunday afternoon usually saw her out in the middle of the kids. She curled her daughter’s hair with a curling iron in a hot lamp. She cut the boys hair. This woman was truly a gem in her husbands crown. There was not a job she would not try and usually succeed wonderfully. She kept her children in school and Sunday School, even at a time when it was not always considered necessary for a daughter to go to school. She taught her daughters how to cook, keep house, sew and be good stewards. She taught all of her children to “do whatever you do to the best of your ability” and she practiced what she preached. She was a nurse/doctor to her family, and to the farm animals when required. She was a true Kansas Pioneer Woman, even though she did not have to travel in a covered wagon. But she could have, if she had needed to. Lucille was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 65 years, her daughter Sharon Lindemuth, great granddaughters, Sabrina Collins and Natalie Wade, son-in-law Howard (Bud) Eden, brothers Emmett, Cleo (Bo), Fenton (Bud), John (Jack) and sister-in-laws, Hazel and Hazel. Survivors include her brother, Paul Byers (Jean); sister, Katherine of Boise, Idaho; sister-in-laws, Delores of Springdale, Ark., Marie Byers, Beattie; son-in-law, Frank Lindemuth of Seneca; children, Maxie Eden, Tulsa, OK, Sandra Allport (Chuck), Beaver Creek, OH, Jimmie Van Gilder (Karen) of Centralia, KS, Larry Van Gilder (Diane) of Topeka, Dennis Van Gilder of Vermillion; seventeen grandchildren, forty great-grandchildren, six great-great-grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Lucille M. VanGilder, please visit our flower store.