Clytice Zieber was born Aug. 23, 1926, the daughter of George and Anna Zieber, who lived on a farm near Pawnee Rock, seven miles southeast of Larned, Kan. They lived by the Arkansas River and grew crops like wheat and kaffir corn and raised cows, horses and rabbits. Clytice was the youngest of four siblings, with brothers Melvin, Kenneth and Walter (Bud). But her doting father never let the boys take unfair advantage. As a junior and senior in high school, she cared for her grandmother. She was named Basketball Queen as a high school senior. She attended one year at Emporia State Teachers College, taking additional courses to achieve her teacher's degree. She taught 10 students in a one-room elementary school south of Great Bend, Kan.
Clytice and her mother visited Anna’s half-sister and Calvary member Ellen Wieden in Denver. That planted the seed for Clytice to move west. Ellen’s oldest daughter Lonnie (Leanora) and son Haysler convinced Clytice to remain in Denver. She was successfully employed as secretary and bookkeeper at Gates Rubber Company. Later her folks moved to Denver, and her dad worked at Gates in the Hose Inventory Department. Her parents purchased a house on one acre of land in Lakewood, off Kipling and 9th Ave.
She found a home in a youth group at Calvary Baptist Church, at that time located at 16th and Downing streets in Denver. One of her church school friends (Al Dyck) nicknamed Clytice “Kit” and it stuck! She met Dean Troyer at Calvary; they married in 1947. They lived in an apartment across from the church and later moved to 646 Marion, welcoming daughter Jackie into the world in 1948.
Kit and Dean then purchased a house at 2121 Poplar St., and church friends Jay and Wilma Groom moved in next door the same day. Later their oldest son, David Groom, became friends with Dean and Kit’s second daughter Bev. The four Troyers moved to 1650 Pontiac, where third daughter Donna joined the family. Kit stayed busy with such homemaking tasks as canning, sewing and family caregiving.
In the 1960s, Kit started working outside the home. She was secretary for Dr. Gasser, foreign studies, at Colorado Women’s College. She took accounting courses while working at CWC and used those skills working as a full-time bookkeeper at Dale’s TV. Later, she worked at Aurora Autoparts with Dave Hedley and Dennis Ryder, who encouraged her to work with him at Petromax Oil and Gas.
Kit remained active at Calvary Baptist Church, where she served as the Children’s Chairman and then Church Hostess for 17 years. Other duties included church school teacher and superintendent, bereavement chairman and seniors ministry, women’s circle. She volunteered at Koebel library and was active in her civic association.
With her fabulous fiery red hair, Kit’s personality brightened all who encountered her. She was an avid reader and even in her later years continued to play games like bridge, Mexican train dominoes and pinochle.
Kit peacefully left this life in the early morning of Sept. 10. She leaves behind her daughters Jackie, Bev and Donna, grandchildren Kimber Chafin and Kari Stark, son-in-law Craig Chafin, and five great grandchildren—Callan, Rylan, Kyler, Jaylee and Fayth.
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