Dateline: Hoisington, Kansas

Evelyn V. Hammmerschmidt, 71, died February 26, 2017, at Wesley Medical Center, Wichita. She was born Janaury 3, 1946, in Hoisington, Kansas, the daughter of Adolph and Mary (Demel) Gerritzen. Evelyn graduated from Hoisington High School in 1964.

A lifetime Hoisington resident, Evelyn worked for Fuller Brush for 39 years retiring in 2012. She was a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church and the Altar Society.

On October 22, 1982, she married Elwyn Dean Hammerschmidt in Great Bend, Kansas. He preceded her in death on May 11, 2011.

Survivors include; daughter, Angela Oberle and husband James of Pawnee Rock; son, Michael Spainhoward of Great Bend; grandson, Michael Oberle of Goodland; and two great grandsons, Zane and Liam; stepdaughter, Sheila Barnett and husband Tim of Goodland; brother, Robert Gerritzen and wife Erma of Hoisington; sister, Theresa Gerritzen of Hays; sister-in-law, Joyce Gerritzen of Marietta, Ohio; nieces, Rose Mary Saunders and husband Steve of Wichita, Patricia Droste of Hutchinson, Wendy Carpenter and husband Craig of Marietta, Ohio; and a nephew, Matthew Gerritzen of Hoisington.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband; two sisters, Mary Kaiser and JoAnn Brown; brother, Jerome Gerritzen; and two nephews, Scott Gerritzen and William Gerritzen.

Friends may call 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday, with family to receive friends from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the funeral home. Vigil with rosary led by the Altar Society will be 7 p.m. Thursday at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Hoisington. Mass of Christian Burial will be 2 p.m. Friday at the church, celebrated by Father Anselm Eke. Burial will follow in St. John Catholic Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Hoisington Ambulance or Golden Belt Humane Society in care of Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home, PO Box 146, Hoisington, KS 67544.