Marie Walston Elledge, 93, of Kansas City, Kansas, passed away June 1, 2018 at home. Funeral services will be 11:00am, Monday, June 4th at Judson Baptist Church, 8300 State Ave., Kansas City, KS 66112, with visitation from 10:00-11:00am preceding the service. Interment will follow the service in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens. Memorial contributions may be made to Judson Baptist Memorial Fund or the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Overland Park, Kansas.
Marie was born March 19, 1925 to George and Elsie Williams near Clarksville, Arkansas. The first of seven children, the family moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1936. In 1943, Marie married Joseph Walston, a soldier stationed at Fort Chaffee, near Fort Smith.
Joe spent two years in Europe. When the war ended the couple lived in Virginia for a short time, then went to school in Chicago. They moved to Kansas City, Kansas in 1953. There, Linda, Kenneth and Michael were added to their happy marriage.
A stay-at-home mom, Marie felt a calling to spread the Word of God through the written word. A leader in Baptist work, she wrote 23 adult Bible study quarterlies for Southern Baptist and another denomination. During that time, she authored 5 books and many articles and stories that were published by religious and secular publications, including the Kansas City Star. Two of her books are in “The Arkansas Permanent Collection” at Little Rock.
Marie was past President of The Kansas City Branch of The National League of American Pen Women and a leader in a number of other organizations.
Joseph Walston, a leader also in Baptist work, died in 1985. Soon after his death, Marie went to Argentina as a volunteer missionary. In 1987, she married Reverend Paul Elledge, a retired missionary and the founding pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Overland Park, Kansas.
Marie lost her daughter Linda in 2006, her husband Paul in 2012, and her son Kenneth, in 2016. She is survived by her son Michael Walston; stepsons Marshall Walston, Dr. William Elledge and Paul Elledge; her brother, Doyle Williams; sisters, Fern Leible and Ann Slavens, as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Arr: Chapel Hill-Butler, 913-334-3366.
