GLADIOLA M. BACKHUS
Gladiola M. Backhus, 94, died August 16, 2014, at Twin Oaks Assisted Living, Lansing, Kansas. She was born January 15, 1920, at Hope, Kansas, the daughter of J. John and Bertha (Gentz) Kuhn.
A lifetime resident of the Hope/Herington area, Gladiola attended St. John's Lutheran Parochial School and Hope High School. She was a homemaker and worked side by side with her husband on the farm. She was an excellent seamstress and cook, and she loved music. Gladiola was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, Lyons Creek, Herington, Kansas, and active in the LWML.
She married Emil A. Backhus on April 7, 1940, at St. John's, Lyons Creek. He died on January 25, 2006. Survivors include her sister, Elaine (husband-Harry)
Backhus of Leavenworth, Kansas, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral service will be Wednesday morning at the St. John Lutheran
Church, with the Rev. Walter Gilkey, officiating. Burial will follow at the church cemetery. Musician for the service will be Melody Williams and serving as pallbearers will be Evan Backhus, Sonny Backhus, Alan Bentz, Eldred Brockmeier, Robert Gentz, Dennis Meyer, and as honorary bearers will be
Jim Anderson, LeRoy Gentz, and Dean Loe.
Memorials may be given to St. John's Lutheran Church, Lyons Creek, and they
may be sent in care of the Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home, 404 S. Broadway,
Herington, KS, 67449-3038.