Martha E. Mcatee

Martha E. McAtee, 99, longtime former Parsons resident, passed away at 9:00 a.m., Friday, December 20, 2019, at the home of her daughter in Conway, Arkansas.

Martha Elizabeth Brewer was born on July 26, 1920 to I.E. "Ike" and Mary Maude (McCool) Brewer in Muskogee, Oklahoma. As a young girl, she grew up and attended school in Independence. She graduated from Parsons High School and earned an associate's degree from Parsons Junior College.

She worked as a telephone operator for Southwestern Bell until she and her husband started a family. A devoted wife and mother, Martha was an excellent homemaker. Her greatest joy came from taking care of her five children. She was an excellent pie and cookie baker and at Christmas time always had a pan of fudge cooling.

Besides always attending her grandchildren's school and sports activities, Martha kept busy bowling, playing canasta with her card club and being a top-notch left-handed golfer. Martha was a member of the First Baptist Church and the American Legion Auxiliary.

On February 2, 1947, she and Eugene "Buck" McAtee were united in marriage at the St. Patrick's rectory. He preceded her in death on October 10, 2011.

Survivors Include:

Two Sons – Bob McAtee and his wife, Karen, of Kansas City, Missouri

Jim McAtee and his wife, Diane, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Three Daughters – Anne Sullivan of Conway, Arkansas

Marty Lafontaine and her husband, Charlie, of Berthoud, Colorado

Mary Kay McAtee of Parsons, Kansas

Thirteen Grandchildren – Brian Williams, Jessica Keal, Jay McAtee, Tenille McAtee, Matthieu Lafontaine, Lauren Harford, Tammy Padgett, Belinda Cornell, Teresa Zabokrtsky, Brad Sullivan, David Ozburn, JoAnn Anderson and Paul Ozburn

Thirteen Great-Grandchildren

One Sister – Ruth Hurd of Davis, California

She was preceded in death by her husband, Eugene "Buck" McAtee, on October 10, 2011; one great-grandson, Chris Cornell; four brothers, Joe Brewer, Jack Brewer, Bob Brewer and Bill Brewer; and three sisters, Mary Coad, Maggie Reynolds and Donna Lero.

There will be a Celebration of Life at 10:00 a.m., Monday, December 30, 2019, at Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home. The family will receive friends from 9:30 a.m. until the service begins. Following the Celebration of Life, burial will take place at Oakwood Cemetery.

Memorials are suggested to the Good Samaritan Garden Project. These may be left at or mailed to Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home, P.O. Box 374, Parsons, KS 67357. Other suggestions are donating blood in memory of Martha and her brother, Bob Brewer or helping elderly people in the community in her memory.