Rita Churchill

Services for Rita "Arlee" Churchill, 85, will be at 11:00 a.m. Friday at First United Methodist Church Celebration Center, Highways 40 and K-10, with Reverend Barb Clinger officiating. A graveside service will be held at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Memorial Park Cemetery, Chanute.

Mrs. Churchill died Monday, September 25, 2006, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

She was born April 27, 1921, in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of Marvin and Elfleeda Crumpley Weaver. She attended high school in Kansas City and Sapulpa, Oklahoma.

On February 24, 1940, she married Jack Avery Churchill in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1949 they moved to Chanute where they and Mr. Churchill's father founded Churchill Pumping Units, Inc. in 1954. Her husband preceded her in death on November 7, 1977. In 1995, she moved with her daughter and son-in-law to Lawrence.

Mrs. Churchill was a member of First Christian Church, charter member of the board of Chanute's Order of Rainbow for Girls, Mother Advisor for Rainbow Girls; Order of Eastern Star, Hulda Parker Chapter; Red Cross Volunteer, and Democrat Committee Chairwoman, all in Chanute. In Lawrence, her favorite pastimes were traveling and time spent with her family.

Survivors include a daughter and son-in-law, Jackie and Russell Hilton, Lawrence; two grandchildren and their spouses, Jill and Mark LaPoint , Lawrence, and Travis and Chelsea Hilton, Olathe; five great-grandchildren, Caitlin Arlee, Sophia Avery, and Dominic Russell LaPoint; Josephine Lynn and Jack Russell Hilton; two sisters, Joyce Ripple, Glenwood, Iowa; Donna Vest, Houston, Texas; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by a brother Dan Weaver and sister Georgia Pierce.

Her family will greet friends an hour prior to the service at the FUMC Celebration Center.

The family suggests memorials to Lawrence Audio Reader Network or The Salvation Army of Lawrence in care of Penwell Gabel Mid Town Chapel, Topeka.

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