EDITH VIOLA (PAXTON) DWINELLE

†

Edith Viola (Paxton) Dwinelle
died

Friday, January 21, 2011, at Pinnacle Park.
She was 99-1/2 years old.

Edith, formerly of Paradise, Kansas was born to Alfred Crumley and Julia Lucretia (Andrews) Paxton at Natoma on July 24, 1911.

She married Ray Max Dwinelle on September 13, 1935 at Girard, Kansas. The couple celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary a few months before Ray passed away. The couple lived in Paradise most of their lives.

Edith was a homemaker and did babysitting (Spud and Beth Whitman of Paradise claimed she was their favorite sitter). She also cleaned the wholesale at Paradise, was a cook at the grade/high schools for a time, and substituted at the Central Telephone Office. She loved to cook and bake for her family (Ray took his lunch with him on the wholesale truck). At one time she operated the former Smith's grocery store. Edith spent numerous hours playing board games with her kids, putting puzzles together and playing bingo. When she wanted to take a wall out between the kitchen and dining room, Ray told her it couldn't be done. He came home from work one day and found it could be done. When she waxed the floors, her kids had fun putting on some old socks and shining it for her.

Before school began, she would purchase material and sew her girls their school clothes. You always knew what she was doing because you could smell the aroma of new cloth in the house and hear the sewing machine purring away. Their front yard was the hub of many softball games with Ray doing the pitching. A thorn tree was first base, the light pole was second base, and whatever they could find to put down was third base. Parents throughout Paradise knew where their kids were. Paradise had a neighborhood watch program back then and families didn't have cause for worry. The kids also loved her popcorn balls at Halloween and Edith made cookies for the paper boy, Danny Hoisington.

Their Dwinelle home was headquarters for many family dinners over the years with relatives, as their home was the "home place" of Ray's parents. After retirement, Ray and Edith moved to Salina for medical reasons and to be closer to their family. Edith was outgoing and enjoyed it when friends and family stopped by. Her last days were spent at Pinnacle Park Nursing and Rehabilitation. She loved the exercise class, playing bingo and skipbo. She also enjoyed her arts and crafts. The aides, nurses and staff were a great comfort to her.

Edith was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Ray (5/23/97); son, Marvin (11/1/63); and daughter, Betty (1/6/93). Her four brothers, George, Jim, Dean and Ralph are also deceased.

Survivors are:
Daughters, Vada (Lynn) Krumwiede, Salina, and Sharon Leiker (Keyton Barker), Sun City West, Arizona.
Son-in-law, Robert McNeal (husband of Betty).
9 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren & 7 great-great grandchildren.

A celebration of Edith’s life will be held at Paradise United Methodist Church on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 11 AM with Pastor Sharon Thomas officiating.

Burial will follow at Mt. Herman Cemetery in rural Paradise.

Visitation will be from 9 AM to 8 PM on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at the mortuary.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given for the sound system at the Paradise Methodist Church and sent in care of the mortuary. Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary of Russell is in charge of the funeral service arrangements.


When we went to the Paradise reunion
in 2008, I took these pictures of Edith.
She was such a "classy" lady and she was the oldest alumni at the reunion.

You can view the Paradise Blog 2008 posting about Edith if you click on this link.
↓
http://paradiseeducated.blogspot.com/2008/07/what-class.html


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