TOPEKA — Velma Louise Wells, Scranton, died Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, at University of Kansas Health System, St. Francis, Topeka. She was 81.
She was born Aug. 28, 1940, in Bunker Hill, the daughter of Marvin F. and Ruth G. (Willson) Phillips. She graduated from Topeka High with the Class of 1958. Then she attended and graduated from St. Johns School of Beauty, Topeka, in 1959.
She was united in marriage to the love of her life, R. Larry Wells, Jan. 8, 1961, in Miami, Okla. They shared 41 years of marriage before R. Larry’s death in 2002.
Velma was a lifelong beautician. She worked out of her home or went to her customers’ homes from 1959 until July 2021. She loved her job and was always grateful that it allowed her to work and still be home to run the daily family operations.
She was a member of the Carbondale Church of Christian Fellowship and a former member of the Scranton United Methodist Church until it closed. During her years at the Methodist church, she was active in the United Methodist Women and the Scranton United Methodist Choir. She taught youth Sunday school at both churches, and was currently operating the Thank God It’s Wednesday youth group, which turned into Saturday Bible Church Group, out of her home. She was a Godly woman and ministered her entire life to everyone she met. She truly lived her life for Jesus, and was a student of the Bible her entire life. Proof of that is all the markings and inserts and how worn her Bible is. She had a talent for ministering to the youth of the community and took great pride and joy in introducing a second generation of many of her former youth members to her Savior Jesus Christ.
Velma was an amazing cook. Everyone in the community knew it was an honor to receive one of her pies or cookies. She was a devoted mother and grandmother, and because she worked from home, she was always watching and helping raise her family. She loved hosting family dinners, and had several tables over the years as her family grew. She was loved and will be missed. She always left you with a simple, “I love you more,” and that is something her loved ones will never forget.
She was preceded in death by her husband, R. Larry Wells; her parents; a sister, Rose Bramlett; a grandson, Nathaniel David Rajewski; a granddaughter, Kaitlyn Dyann Streeter; a great-grandson, Elyjah Wayne Streeter; and a great-granddaughter, Syenna Catherine Streeter.
Velma is survived by four children, Tammy Lylene Streeter (Jerry), Topeka, Tawny Lynn Barton (R. Allen), Carbondale, Thomas Larry Wells (Jennifer), Allen, and Trena Leann Simpson (Carl R.), Topeka; a sister, Jo Ann Boyd (Bob), Lee’s Summit, Mo.; a brother, Marvin Phillips (Beth), Henderson, Nev.; 15 grandchildren; three stepgrandchildren; and 30 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at the Carbondale Church of Christian Fellowship, Carbondale. Interment will follow at Scranton Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Carbondale Church of Christian Fellowship Youth Program, 430 Commercial St., Carbondale, KS 66414.
Condolences may be left at Lamb-Roberts.com.
