Estella Golden

Estella A. Golden, 89, of Prairie Village, passed away Monday October 17, at the Somerset Health Center at Claridge Court in Prairie Village, KS. Mrs. Golden was a homemaker and retired elementary school teacher and principal. She will be dearly missed by all her family.

She was born January 26, 1916 on a farm in Monticello township in Johnson County, attending Shawnee Mission Rural High School. She received her teaching certificate from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia in 1934. She held positions in schools in Monticello, Shawnee, Desoto, and in Sunflower Elementary School. She was a principal and sixth grade teacher from 1943 to 1946 during the time her husband fought in World War II. She completed work for her bachelor of education degree at Washburn University in 1961, and completed a master's degree from Washburn in 1965.

On May 31, 1940 she married Arthur F. Golden. He preceded her in death on October 16, 1993. She temporarily retired from teaching following a policy whereby married women were not allowed to teach. The couple moved to Topeka in 1958, where she taught at Shaner(formerly Southwest Avondale) and Lundgren elementary schools, retiring in 1979.

In Topeka she was active, often in leadership roles, in the D.A.R. chapter, the Topeka Area Retired Teachers Association, Active Prime Timers, and the Knife and Fork Club. She was a member of the American Association of University Women, United Methodist Women and the Lowman United Methodist Church.

She is survived by two daughters, Artyce Hedrick and her husband Don, Manhattan, KS, and Fran Dillard and her husband Wayne, Prairie Village, KS; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Golden will lie in state after 5:00 pm Friday, October 21, 2005 at Penwell-Gabel Mid Town Chapel where the family will receive friends and relatives from 6:00 to 7:30 pm that evening. A funeral service will be held at 1:30 pm Saturday, October 22, 2005 at Lowman United Methodist Church. Burial will be at 4:00 pm Saturday, October 22 in Old Monticello Cemetery in Shawnee, KS.

Memorial contributions may be made to Lowman United Methodist Church, 4000 SW. Drury Lane, Topeka, KS., 66604, Good Shepherd Hospice, 7611 State Line Road, Suite 200, Kansas City, MO., 64114 or to Washburn University Endowment, 1700 College Ave, Topeka, Kansas 66621-0001.

The family wishes to extend it's deep gratitude to the Good Shepherd Hospice and to the Somerset Health Center at Claridge Court for their compassionate and expert care.

To leave a special message for the family online, please visit www.PenwellGabel.com.