Velma M. Krause, 91, of Kanawha, passed away Saturday, March 30, 2002, at the
Kanawha Community Home in Kanawha.
Velma Mae Krause of Kanawha was born near Corwith, Iowa on September 7, 1910.
Her parents were Robert Wm. and Mathilda (Clark) Hughes. She grew up in Hancock
County on various farms and attended country schools around Corwith, Stilson,
and Britt.
Velma attended high school in Britt, Iowa and graduated from Goldfield High
School in 1929. She attended Britt Junior College for two years as well as
attending summer school in Cedar Falls. She taught for two years in a country
school.
Velma Mae Hughes married Gerhart Herman Krause on November 18, 1934 at the
Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. They made their home on various farms
until they bought 80 acres near Kanawha. They raised their six children in the
Kanawha area.
Velma was always interested in education and reading was a main past-time. She
enjoyed reading books, magazines and especially newspapers. Other hobbies
included sewing, quilting, gardening, tending flowers, cooking, photography and
nature watching. She also enjoyed traveling and some of her fondest memories
were her overnight bustrips and elder hostel trips for weeklong stays at various
colleges. She recalled her last train trip across Canada from Vancouver to
Niagara Falls. The pinnacle of her travels was going to her parental homelands
of Wales and Scotland following a visit to London, England.
She was a member of the Kanawha United Methodist Church and UMW and served in
many circles. She also enjoyed bible studies as well as teaching children and
adult Sunday school classes. Other clubs she belonged to were The Builders
Club, Country Women's Club, ABC Club of Kanawha, and County Cousins trips to
Mississippi. She had a life membership to the Liberty School Museum and , with
a Group of Teachers and Former Teachers, helped relocate and establish it as a
museum.
Husband, family, and church were first and foremost all of her adult years. Her
Christian faith grew steadily and a favorite remark was, "I am always becoming
and striving for spiritual maturity. God is always beside me in steadfast
love."
Velma is survived by her six children and their spouses: twins Jerold Krause and
Hoa of Kansas City, Kansas, Joanne Myers and husband, Don of Austin, Texas,
Duane Krause and wife, Sharon of Britt, Iowa, Max Kruase and wife, Carolyn of
Kanawha, Iowa, Bette Hejlik and husband, Arnold of Rockwell, Iowa, Donald Krause
and wife, Carol of East Brunsick, New Jersey; 20 grandchildren; 32
great-grandchildren; 3 great great-grandsons; and extended family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Gerhart, infant twin
daughters, Marian and Martha, five brothers: Amos, John, Ralph, Kenneth and
Glenn, two sisters Myrna Tripp and Mary Harle; three grandchildren and a
daughter-in-law, Maryann Krause.