Welcome, Y’all!
That’s how visitors are greeted by a small banner near Marlene’s front door. It’s also reminiscent of the Bentley, Kansas community and farming lifestyle she was born and raised in.
Before graduation from high school she worked in the laundry and various other wards at Halstead hospital which became on-the-job training for her LPN work even after her marriage to another hospital staff person, an X-ray runner who later became a Wichita police officer.
Her husband’s service in the International Kansas National Guard allowed the couple to adopt a Korean daughter (who resides in Kansas) along with two other children born to their union: a daughter (residing in Sedgwick) and a son (residing in Colorado).
She met her second husband who was a civilian federal employee serving at McConnell Air Force Base with two sons by a previous marriage. Their families blended and traveled extensively due to job promotions; the couple eventually established a home in Texas.
Following her husband’s death and nearly thirty years of nursing, Marlene realized she needed to go back to Kansas, live life on her own terms.
That’s how she learned about Kansas Christian Home and made the transition to life here in Newton where she can have access to a pleasant community, family, and be nurtured in faith.
These days Marlene volunteers at our local Senior Center and channels a lot of her energy into craft projects: knitting caps for cancer/oncology patients, brightening her windows with leaded glass suncatchers, and making delicate and detailed diamond work pictorial pieces to name a few.
This is someone whose hands are busy even while watching sports!
Occasionally she’ll break her creating routines to make mufflers or items as donations that touch the lives of others with kindness and beauty.
Inside her residence are many artworks and objects to be admired as well as an impressive variety of spittoons.
For all these reasons and more we’re glad to have such a crafty and pleasant curator living at KCH!