Kathryn I. Chase

Kathryn Isabel Chase, 91 of Wichita, Kansas passed away on Tuesday, April 6, 2021. She was born September 13, 1929 in Wichita, Kansas, the daughter of Edward and Ruth (Turpen) Chase and the great-great, granddaughter of Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. She grew up on the family ranch in rural Kansas just a few miles from Potwin. She attended rural country school, Eldorado High School, then attended Nursing School at Susan B. Allen, graduating with a degree, and becoming a Registered Nurse. In her career in nursing, she worked many roles in hospitals and emergency rooms. At the end of her nursing career, she was the Director of Nursing for a nursing home in Osceola, Iowa. She led and trained new nursing students in the art and skills of nursing, something she loved doing. After leaving the nursing profession, Kathryn went to work in sales and marketing, traveling many states in the US helping to put together community calendars and community directories. She was a natural at sales and loved working with all the new people she would meet.

Kathryn was an adventurer. She spent time in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Australia training people. With her work and travels she visited 48 of the 50 states. When she turned 65, she volunteered with the Peace Corps and spent two years in Hungary. In Hungary she used her sales and marketing skills and experience to train new business leaders starting up new businesses after the fall of socialism. When she returned from the Peace Corps, she volunteered with AmeriCorps Vista and began working with Community in Schools programs in Amarillo, TX and Wichita, KS.

Raising her five children was a great love for Kathryn. She would always have them involved in something new. Finding creative ways to keep them learning and busy. She would say, “If I don’t keep them busy, they will keep me busy.” The activities would include creating Christmas ornaments, Easter eggs and displays, music lessons, and trips to learn about new places. Kathryn loved to cook, and she would often get her children and grandchildren involved in many practical experiences like making cookies, Christmas candy and massive amounts of canned fruits and jellies. There were always numerous summer adventures to be had in picking apples, peaches, strawberries, sand plums, and any number of wild fruits.

Kathryn had a creative streak that ran wide and deep. She was always very skilled at sewing and made clothes for her children in the early years. When hats were in fashion, she had a passion for creating hats for women to wear. In her later years she became an avid, very proficient, and award-winning quilter. Making dozens of quilts for her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She also loved to make quilts for the quilt shows and fairs. Her creative streak would drive her to create the best quilt she could each time, always looking for the exact right fabric and pattern combination. She was an active member of the Prairie Quilt Guild. She worked with Quilts of Valor, helping to make quilts and organize the presentation for all the veterans at the complex where she lived. Her legacy for quilt making lives on in her daughters and granddaughters.

Kathryn loved to help people and share her love with them through gifts made from her creative passions. She loved teaching people new things or sharing a new adventure with them. No matter what season of her life, she was always excited to learn and share new things. She nurtured her children and grandchildren with many lessons that gave them a foundation of good character, appreciation for learning, and enthusiasm for life. She would often say, “If you’re not having fun, you are doing it wrong”.

Kathryn was preceded in death by her parents Edward E. and Ruth Chase, siblings Richard Chase, Margaret Chase Timmerman, and Edward M. Chase. She is survived by her children Calvin (Toni) Held, Audrey (Lynn) Jones, Matthew (Sandie) Held, Emily (John) Schulte, and Brian Held. Other survivors include 17 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren, and 5 great-great grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Good Shepherd Hospice 7829 E. Rockhill St. Suite 403, Wichita, KS 67206 and Prairie Quilt Guild P.O. Box 48813, Wichita, KS 67201.

Visitation with the family will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 402 N. Topeka, Wichita, Ks., Saturday, April 24, 2021 from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. Funeral Services will follow at St. John’s Episcopal Church at 2:00pm. (Note: parking and entrance to the church is on the east side of the Church. (Masks and social distancing will be required). Services will be live streamed on the Facebook page for St John’s Episcopal Church/Iglesia Episcopal de San Juan Wichita Kansas. https:\\m.facebook.com\stjohnswichita

The Family would like to thank the staffs of Good Shepherd Hospice and Park West for taking good care of Mom, especially when we could not be there due to Covid restrictions.