Ila A Rose

Ila Allene (Craft) Rose, 82, passed away February 2, 2015, at Kansas Medical Center, Andover. She was born January 17, 1933, at the Craft homestead, south of Kinsley, daughter of Mary Ethel Thomasson Craft and Clarence Craft.

She graduated from Kinsley High School on May 17, 1951. Just prior to graduation time, Ila married Wayne Rose of Lewis on May 17, 1951, therefore graduating as Ila Rose.  They celebrated 60 years of marriage in May 2011. The majority of her life was spent living in Edwards County, with brief time spent in Wichita, Medicine Lodge and Lewis.

Wayne passed away in 2012, and in 2013 Ila choose to sell her home and car and move to Regent Vibrant Living Center in Wichita. An independent apartment complex just 5 minutes from her daughter, Sandra, and granddaughter, Melanie.  Upon this move Ila did not know one person in the 100 apartment complex. The beginning of many adventures for Ila.

Ila told anyone who listened that these were the best two years of her life. She had never lived so fancy nor so good. She was immediately accepted and soon became the social butterfly of the complex. She knew everyone and everyone knew her. Emmadale, a new Regent friend, said if you need to know something just ask Ila. If she doesn’t know the answer she will help you find it out.  This didn’t just go for the other residents it went for the employees of the complex. Many a time she would call one of her children to ask for help in resolving a problem for an employee that couldn’t pay or didn’t know where to go to find the answers.  In turn Ila was one of the most spoiled residents by the staff because of her kindness.

Ila is survived by three daughters, Sandra (Bob) Reed of Andover, Marsha (Tim) of Kinsley, Rhonda Melia of Kinsley; two sons, Tom Rose of Wichita and Teryl (Hayley) of Owasso, Okla.; two sisters, Wilma (Don) Liggett of Mullinville and Connie Burkhart of Newton; two brothers, Neil (Loretta) Craft and Leonard Craft, both of Kinsley. She was a very proud grandmother of 14 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren; many cousins, classmates, neighbors, friends  and Wichita Regent friends.

During recent years while attending Edwards County Farmers Market she met  a young Mennonite  hard working lady , Nichole Koehn, from Montezuma,  who Ila became quite  fond of and soon  Nichole became a member of Ila and Wayne’s  family.  Nichole visited Ila several times in her new apartment.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Wayne;  parents; Clarence and Mary Ethel Craft; two grandsons, Tyler Haxton and Ryan Haxton, two brother, Bernard Craft and William Craft, and one sister, Bernice Schmidt.

With five active children, Ila wore many hats. She spent years as a Girl Scout Leader in Kinsley, and had numerous stories on many local former girl scouts; she cherished her children and later on grandchildren’s sports and was dedicated to following their sport no matter what age or how successful they were doing; the Indian war call still rings in Grandson Nathan’s ears today, he knew Grandmother had arrived. Whether it was a 3 year old wrestler or a College football player, Ila was there for support.

Ila did enjoy doing a few things for herself. Those included women’s bowling league and shopping. She was always ready for a trip to Dillards and her son-n-law Bob said she could push a shopping cart around Target like a jackrabbit. A list of two items became 222. Who ever took her had to be prepared. While the family was trying to slow her down on the shopping trips she became acquainted with mail order catalogues and was very proficient at ordering a new sweatshirt-one in each color that is.

KU basketball was a favorite pastime that was a priority to almost everything she did. Phone calls were even annoying during the game. Until…. Coach Bill Self made my Mom angry and she gave all her KU things to her sister. Then we had to buy her new clothes and knick knacks when he got back in good graces with her. One enjoyable moment was when her sister, Connie, and Ila went to the Fog to see a real game. What an adventure for her.

Ila also was proud of her 1951 classmates and enjoyed working on class reunions until she could no longer do it. Her class had the most reunions and the most fun together. Some of her classmates children are also classmates of her children. So stories go around for generations, perhaps just not always the same way. Thanks to Connie, she was able to attend the last 3-year class reunion held this last Labor Day in Kinsley. She enjoyed seeing and talking to different ages of graduates.

Sewing, doing handiwork and making crafts were some of her hobbies, which she excelled at. She made her daughter’s clothes for many years and all the doll clothes. She made wedding dresses for her daughters and Christmas stockings for each family member and that is a bunch!.  They all had very intricate decorative work on them and she labored very hard to complete them. As a new member came into the family she would start making the Christmas stocking.  Wayne often expressed praise for her efforts of making these Christmas stockings at her age.

She became tired and her independent life became hard. She tried making all the adaptations the doctors suggested but there was something wrong. During a trip to the Emergency Room the doctors found she had a leaky heart valve and it would require surgery upon her gaining her strength. She just wanted to go to her apartment. Dr. Sheehen did not give up. He researched many different possibilities. She was on a waiting list for a surgery in Oklahoma City, Okla., always wondering if it was the right decision. She expressed the desire to have a quality life and not quantity like her mother had. Death came sudden surrounded by her family. She was struggling and it was time for her to have peace and to join the family angels in heaven.  A bet was quickly taken as to how long before Wayne was in trouble.