Venita L. Church

Venita Dameron Church, 90, died Wednesday, April 27, 2011. Venita was born July 5, 1920 in a farm house at Milan, Kansas and moved to Derby when she was four years old. Her mother and step-father operated the first grocery store in Derby as she remained a life-long Derby resident. She was a member of the undefeated 1936-37 Derby High School Girls Basketball team. On March 24, 1940, she and Ted Church were married at the Wellington Baptist parsonage. She was a homemaker and helped on the family farm with her husband and children. She loved and enjoyed her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and everyone else in the family. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Derby. Venita is preceded in death by her parents, 1 sister, 2 brothers, and husband Ted. Survivors: Karlin Gould of Wichita, Gregg (Janice) Church of Louisville, TN, Coyd (Candy) Church of Derby, Kirk (Cindy) Church of Wichita; 10 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren. Viewing will be from 2-8pm on Sunday with the family greeting friends from 4-6pm at Smith Mortuary, 1415 N. Rock Rd., Derby. Services will also be held at Smith Mortuary on Monday, May 2, 2011 at 10am. Venita will be buried next to her husband in El Paso Cemetery, Derby. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, 313 S. Market, Wichita, KS 67202.