Irene Hillman

Irene Sara Hillman, 94, died Tuesday, September 8, 2015, at the Olathe Medical Center Hospice House in Olathe, Kansas after a short illness. Mrs. Hillman was born February 10, 1921 in Clifton, Kansas, the daughter of Albert and Rosalia Anna (Bouley) Forkner. She married Ernest Hillman on March 28, 1942 in Goodland, Kansas. She was waiting tables in a cafe there and he was working on a seismograph crew for Petty Oil Company. He kept asking her out but she wouldn’t go until the minister told her he was a good guy. He walked her home that night and they married a few months later. They moved around with his job in locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Louisiana before coming back to Kansas in 1951. He preceded her in death on February 5, 2001 after 59 years of marriage. She worked outside the home at St. Mary’s Convent in Concordia for a number of years. She finished her GED after she retired. She also took swimming lessons at the Motherhouse to prove she could because she was afraid of the water. She was actively involved in the VFW Auxiliary as well as Women of the Moose in Concordia before moving to Clay Center in 1998. She lived in her own home in Clay Center until this past September when she moved to the Presbyterian Manor. The first night she was there she called to tell that she knew quite a few of those old people! She also enjoyed the new friends she met there. In one of the Manor Musings, a newsletter for the residents by the residents, she wrote on how she would like to be remembered. “I want everyone to remember I wasn’t a mean lady for one thing! I love bingo and the K.C. Royals and I believe in God! I enjoy my kids and my grandkids. I’ve had a happy, good life!” She was also preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, Ernie and Ralph Forkner, a sister, Pauline Stephens, and daughter-in-law, Ruth Hillman. Survivors include Son: Michael Hillman of Fort Worth, TX Daughter: Cheryl Chaput of Gardner, KS Daughter: Linda Siebold and husband Tom of Clay Center, KS 10 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren Graveside service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, September 14 at Greenwood Cemetery Pastor Ryan Lynch officiating Visitation will be held Sunday from 2:00-5:00 p.m. at the Neill-Schwensen-Rook Funeral Home Memorials may be made to the Clay Center United Methodist Church in care of the funeral home.