Obituary of Mary Kay Erker

Mary Kay was born in Conway Springs, KS on Sept. 2, 1922 to Lawrence & Helen O’Connor. After graduating high school she went to St. Francis School of Nursing in Wichita, Ks which she graduated from in 1945. She worked in the hospitals in Wellington, Ks & Chicago, IL before getting married & moving to Cheyenne Wells, Co in 1948. She married Ferd Erker on March 29, 1948. They enjoyed 60 years of a loving marriage before he passed in 2008. They moved to Cheyenne Wells where Ferd would be a farmer & Mary Kay would dedicate her time to nursing. Shortly after moving to Cheyenne Wells she started at the St. Joseph Hospital as a RN. Which then turned into the RN on night shift & the surgical nurse by day. Don’t really know how many babies may have been born before the doctor arrived. She saw many Doctors come & go. But the most lasting one was our beloved Dr. Keefe. She was instrumental in getting both hospitals started & served on the hospital board for many years. She enjoyed caring for people in & out of the hospital. She also served on the Prairie View Health Resources board to help in recruiting doctors & getting new equipment. In the midst of all this she managed to have 5 children. Carol Brooks (Ken), Marian Schulte (Clyde), Steve Erker (Cindy), Harold Erker (Jan), Lana Pelton (Shane). Which from all these unions came 17 grandchildren & 34 great grandchildren with 1 more on the way. Over her many years she was involved with 4-H as a sewing instructor which she taught her daughters to sew. She also served on the hospital auxiliary, Sacred Heart Alter Society, Historical Society & Red Hatters. She loved to do baking at the holidays. She would bake while Dad cracked the nuts & eat a few! She loved to have soup & card parties with the bowling team & bridge couples. With all her sewing she kept the Nuns & her mother in beautiful clothes. She also made her 3 daughter’s wedding dresses & bridesmaid’s dresses. The only clothes her mother would wear was the ones Mary Kay made for her, I guess you’d say she was a little picky. She liked to do ceramics & showed several of her grand kids how to do them, most of us still have those precious gifts. When she had the grandkids you knew she was going to do some type of craft with them. However the most passionate thing she loved was to gamble. Especially with her kids & spouses. She even put the whole gang in a slot machine tournament in Las Vegas. We didn’t do so well but she forgave us anyway. As the grand kids got old enough she wanted to take them for the first time. The last tournament she was in 2012 in which she came in 2nd! With her daughters & younger sister by her side. She also loved just doing Powerball & scratch tickets. She & Ferd were active in the Cheyenne Wells Booster club & enjoyed all the sporting events. As grand kids came along they also went to watch a lot of their games & school programs. She finally retired from nursing in 1985 after a very fulfilling career. In her last year she resided at the Cheyenne Manor Nursing home which she really enjoyed. From there she went to her second home – Keefe Memorial Hospital then went to her final resting place on Dec. 3rd, 2015 at which time she was reunited with her loving husband Ferd & her grandsons Patrick Brooks, Cody Pelton & Kevin Erker. We’re sure that was a wonderful reunion. She is survived by her 5 children: Carol Brooks (Ken), Marian Schulte (Clyde), Steve Esker (Cindy), Harold Erker (Jan), Lana Pelton (Shane), 14 grandchildren & 34 great grandchildren and many friends & loved ones. She will be missed by all. Love you mom