Hester Lee Crist

Hester Lee Crist, 82, of Gardner, Kan., passed away Friday, Aug. 2, 2013, in Olathe, Kan. She was born Dec. 22, 1930, in Asher, Ark., the daughter of Franklin Eugene and Ola Pearl Smith Wood. She attended First Baptist Church in Gardner, Kan., retired from Shawnee Mission Medical Center in Shawnee; loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and friend. She became a Christian at the age of 5 and her greatest desire was that her family know the Lord; loved gospel music, taught Bible school, taught Sunday school and den mother. Preceded in death by her first husband, Kenneth Sams. Survivors include her husband, Clifford Crist of the home, to whom she married April 20, 1992; her children, Gary L. Sams and wife, Cheryl, of Basehor, Kan., Ray A. Sams of Shawnee, Kan., Melvin Sams and wife, Jeannine, of Van Buren, Ark., Pamela Mann and husband, Richard, of Shawnee, Kan., and Shelia McCalmon and husband, Robert, of Shawnee, Kan.; stepchildren, Raymond Crist and wife, Dee, of Baldwin City, Kan., Melody Calvert and husband, Ed, of Wellsville, Kan., and Vicky Crist of Wellsville, Kan.; one brother, Mark Wood and wife, Marilyn, of Berryville, Ark.; six sisters, Ethel McKee of Prairie Grove, Ark., Lou Sanders and husband, Oran, of Prairie Grove, Bertha Faye Emrick of Fayetteville, Ark., Marilyn Sluder and husband, Jack, of Fayetteville, Ark., Loretta Devore and husband, Dale, of Fayetteville and Sharon Broom of Magnolia, Ark.; 11 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; 12 step-grandchildren; and 12 step-great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013, at Beard's Funeral Chapel, with Pastor Kenneth Porter officiating. Burial will be in Walnut Grove Cemetery in Crosses. Visitation will be Tuesday from 5-7 p.m. at the funeral home. A memorial service will be 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013, at First Baptist Church, 324 E. Shawnee St., Gardner, KS 66030.