Mary Cole Budde, 102, farm wife and homemaker, died on Tuesday (July 31, 2012) at Halstead Health and Rehabilitation. She was born on Dec. 25, 1909, to Harry and Nellie Cole on their farm in Florence. After jobs as a housekeeper and briefly as a Harvey Girl in Dodge City, she married farmer Fred Budde and resided in rural Peabody from the 1930s. After Fred’s death, she married his widowed brother Frank in 1982. Frank also predeceased her. She was an active member of Zion Lutheran Church in Newton and its women’s groups into her 90s. She lived independently until two days after her 100th birthday, and she was the longest lived of eight siblings.
She is survived by daughters, Mary Kathryn Esau of Newton and Janice (Gene) Sharp of Valley Center; sister-in-law, Ellen Cole of Coos Bay, Ore.; grandchildren, Irvin (Deneene) and Victor Esau of Newton, Diane (Dennis) Blaylock of Montrose, Colo., and Andrea and Glen Sharp of Valley Center; great-grandchildren, Toni (Jerry) Chastain and Bryan Esau of Newton; and a great-great-grandson, Zachary Chastain of Newton. She was preceded in death by sisters, Betty Whitcomb, Florence Schmidt, Inez Byler and Anne Walter; brothers, Bill, George and Victor Cole; and a son-in-law, Derrill Esau.
Friends may call from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 5, 2012) at Petersen’s Funeral Home in Newton. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Monday (Aug. 6, 2012) at Zion Lutheran Church, with pastors Jeff Duncan and Aaron Filipek officiating. Burial will follow at Walton Cemetery. Memorials may be given to Zion Lutheran Church or St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Wichita.