Barber County Kansas

The Gyp Hill Premiere, October 22, 2007.

Elsie (Stejskal) McGrath

Elsie McGrath, age 88, died Friday, October 12, 2007 at Medicine Lodge Memorial Hospital, Medicine Lodge.

She was born November 16, 1918, the 3rd child in a family of 9 of the late Luis and the late Antonett (Obory) Stejskal. As a young girl she loved farm life but found house cleaning and sewing not to her liking, but did love poultry. With a family that size it took several hundred chickens and dozens and dozens of ducks and geese. So as soon as she was big enough to carry buckets of feed and water, and gather eggs, she was assigned the task of taking care of them. One she must have enjoyed. She always had chickens, ducks and geese as long as her health would permit.

She finished her schooling in Rush County, then went to Great Bend and worked at St. Rose Hospital which was run by the Dominican Sisters. She spoke fondly of those times. The sisters were good to her and she enjoyed them very much. World War II had started and women were called to work in factories. She left Great Bend and went to Wichita and got a job at Beech Aircraft where two of her sisters were already working. She enjoyed being with them plus the pay was fantastic, fifty cents per hour. She literally became "Rosie The Rivoter" as the ads said, building units on the tail section of AJ7s and AJ11s. There she met her future husband Don. They were married November 11, 1943. In 1947 they moved from Wichita back to the ranch where Don grew up, to help his dad who was getting up in years. There Elsie spent her remaining years until poor health forced her to leave. But her family was her first love, always there, always caring, always ready to help in any way she could. She will be missed by all who knew her.

She is survived by her son Rolie, Lake City; two brothers Larry Stejskal and wife Betty Lou, Timken, KS; Rudy Stejskal and wife Betty, Hesston, KS; a sister Irene Lou Laqua, Wichita; 3 grandchildren Amy Brownlee and husband Larry, Sterling, KS; Mike McGrath and Matt McGrath, both of Medicine Lodge and 7 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her daughter Linda Ann and her husband Don.

Funeral was on Monday, October 15, 2007 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Medicine Lodge, where a Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated by Reverend John Strasser. Burial was in Highland Cemetery, Medicine Lodge.

Memorials may be sent to the church or Medicine Lodge Memorial Hospital, Medicine Lodge.

Personal condolences may be left at www.larrisonmortuary.com.


Thanks to Kevin Noland, publisher of The Gyp Hill Premiere, Medicine Lodge, Kansas, for permission to republish the above obituary from his newspaper.
http://www.gyphillpremiere.com/




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