Marcene Herbel
Marcene Herbel
Marcene “LaVaughn” (Willhof) Herbel, better known as Aunt Dolly, passed away Dec. 6, 2009, in Topeka.
LaVaughn was born April 4, 1925, in Clay County near Oakhill, to Otto A. and H. Izora (Duck) Willhof. She married Francis S. Herbel on Aug. 29, 1952, at Durham Baptist Church.
Two sons were born to this union, Bradford Vaughn and Brian Francis. After completing high school at Green, she attended Kansas State College and was a rural schoolteacher. She also lived and worked in Wichita while she attended business school and later worked as a secretary at an airplane factory.
Aunt Dolly and Francis farmed in the Tampa and Marion County areas. She loved working side by side on the farm with Francis and the boys, raising livestock and crops. The family was involved with working with chickens and pigs, with the 4-H county fair as the highlight on many summers.
Francis was a baseball player and he and Aunt Dolly traveled to many places for games. She loved cheering on the team. The family was longtime members of Farm Bureau. She worked in the church and with 4-H members. She enjoyed going to and participating in the Kansas State Fair. Throughout her life, she also worked at a variety of miscellaneous jobs.
After Francis’ death, she moved to Topeka and worked at Sirloin Stockade for many years, especially on the salad bar. She was proud of her ability to work hard and to help others.
Aunt Dolly enjoyed visiting with people, working in her garden and yard, and always preparing and sharing goods from her kitchen. She was a longtime member of the Lincolnville United Methodist Church.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Francis; her son, Bradford Vaughn; parents; a sister, Frances (Pal) Robinson; and two brothers, Alvene (Jimmy) and Emery (Buddy).
She is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Brian and Lynn of Leawood; grandsons, Grant and Blake; a brother, Quinton (Duke) of Clay Center; nieces and nephew, Linda White of Grantville, Shirley Billings, Bobbie Robinson, and Sue Cox, of Topeka, and Janice Meisinger of Hillsboro; longtime friend, Sharron Schutte of Lehigh; many other family members; and a host of friends.
The family will receive friends 10 to 11 a.m. Friday at Penwell-Gabel Parker-Price Chapel, 245 NW Independence Ave., Topeka, and 2 to 3 p.m. Friday at Neill-Schwensen-Rook Funeral Home, 918 Seventh Street, Clay Center, where funeral services will be at 3 p.m. Friday.
Interment will be in Athelstane Cemetery, Longford.
Memorial contributions may be made to Lincolnville United Methodist Church c/o Mrs. Bob Bevan, 205 S. Berry, Lost Springs KS 66859.