Marilea Jane Hall Wendler, age 87, was born on October 5, 1926 in the small Kansas town of Schaeffer and passed to eternal life at Carle Hospital in Urbana, Illinois on June 2, 2014 at age 87. She was preceded in death by her parents Fanny Moore Hall and Anthony Cornelius Hall, a brother Wayne Hall, sisters Atha (Dwight) Kerschner and Marjorie (Clarence) Scheuerman, her husband Arthur Cyril Wendler and her daughter Artilea Ann Wendler. She is survived by her sons Kent Anthony (Anne) Wendler, their two children, and Craig Arthur (Lorie) Wendler and their six children.

A visitation will be held beginning at 6:30 on the evening of Thursday, June 12, at the Fitzgerald Funeral Home in Ness City, Kansas with a funeral Mass the next day, Friday, June 13, 10:30 A.M. at St. Michael's Catholic Church in La Crosse, Kansas. Interment will follow in the family plot in the Alexander, Kansas cemetery.

A child of the great depression, she grew up on the family farm in west central Kansas, and lived most of her life there. Prior to her marriage she taught school for several years. She was a devoted mother and farm wife and also wrote poetry, with one privately published collection of her works. Also devoted to animals, she enjoyed the companionship of many dogs and cats during her life.

Memorial donations may be made to The Humane Society of the United States (http://humanesociety.org/kindredspirits), or as Mass offerings to a local Catholic Church.

Words of sympathy and support may be left for the family by clicking on the "Sign Guest Book" link above.