Elizabeth "Ann" Wilkening, 76, of Mayetta, died Monday October 14, 2019 at Stormont-Vail Hospital in Topeka.
She was born September 15, 1943 in Wellington, Kansas, the daughter of Paul and Dorothea Epp Heath. She graduated from Centennial High School in Pueblo, Colorado. In 2000 she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Washburn University. For many years she was a substitute teacher, primarily for the Royal Valley School System, at schools in both Mayetta and Hoyt. On May 8, 1971, Ann married Larry Wilkening in Illinois. They moved to Mayetta, Kansas, in 1985, where they enjoyed living on 7 acres with their 2 horses and multiple adopted “stray” dogs. She was a member of the Potawatomi United Methodist Church at Mayetta, frequently providing guitar accompaniment for music during the services there. She was also a member of the United Methodist Women. She enjoyed playing the guitar, creating her own songs, as well as strumming familiar tunes.
Ann was preceded in death by her parents and her husband Larry.
Survivors include a brother and a sister and their families: Stephen Heath and wife Tessie, of Downers Grove, IL, and their children Sherry Tietz and Tammy Leigh; and Rebecca Malick and husband Guy, of Lansdale, PA and their children Megan Malick, Erin Thompson, and Laura Glaudel, and multiple great nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, October 21st at the Potawatomi United Methodist Church with Pastor Howard Sudduth officiating. Burial will follow in the Mayetta Cemetery. Ann will lie in state from Noon until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday at the Chapel Oaks Funeral Home in Hoyt. Family and friends will meet from 1:00 until service time at the church on Monday. Memorials are suggested to the Potawatomi United Methodist Church, and may be sent in care of the funeral home, PO Box 280, Hoyt, KS 66440.