Marguerite P. Wilkins Jones

Marguerite P. Wilkins Jones, 95, of Chetopa and a longtime Columbus, Kansas resident, passed away at 8:08 p.m., Friday, January 5, 2018 at Chetopa Manor.

She was born June 7, 1922 at rural Chetopa, Kansas to Charles Jacob Wagner and Ella Marguerite (Madewell) Wagner.  She grew up and attended Cook country school and graduated from Chetopa High School in 1940.

She was first married to Leonard Wilkins, Sr. on September 21, 1939.  He died during World War II in the Philippine Islands on June 20, 1945. She later married Harold Jones. They later divorced.

During World War II, she worked at the Kansas Ordnance Plant in Parsons. Following the war, she worked as a telephone operator at Bartlett, Kansas for a time.  For over 40 years, she worked as a dental assistant for Dr. F. J. Faulkner and Dr. Lloyd Kitterman in Oswego, Kansas.

She was an avid seamstress, enjoyed making quilts, and had crocheted for many years. Over the past ten years, she crocheted lap blankets for many people in nursing homes.

For many years, she had attended the Calvary Baptist Church in Columbus and had been active in the Extension Home Unit in the past.

Survivors include one son, Leonard Wilkins, Jr. and his wife, Ann, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma; two grandchildren, Jason Wilkins and Lori Howard and her husband, David; two great-grandsons, C.J. Howard and his wife, Jessica, and Jack Howard and his wife, Autumn; one great-great-grandson, Connor Howard; one sister, Ella Mae Krider of Chetopa.

In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by three brothers, Eugene, Carl and Merwin Wagner.

Graveside funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, January 10, 2018 at the Oswego Cemetery with Rev. Clarence Newman officiating.  Friends may call at the Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home of Chetopa after 10:00 a.m., Tuesday.

Memorials are suggested to the First Baptist Church of Chetopa. These may be left at or mailed to the Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home, P.O. Box 346, Chetopa, KS 67336.

Online condolences may be left at www.forbeshoffman.com.