Elda Marie Wenzel

Elda Marie Wenzel, 92, of Bella Vista, Ark., died Jan. 2, 2017, at Circle of Life Hospice Legacy Village in Bentonville, Ark. She was born Aug. 5, 1924, in Webber, Kan., to Raymond and Naomi Meador Ballard.

She graduated from Republic (Kan.) High School and taught country school (grades 1-8) in Republic County. She then attended Wichita Business College. She worked as a secretary in Los Angeles, Calif., Omaha, Neb., and Kansas City before retiring as executive secretary for Litwin Engineers in Wichita, Kan., in 1986.

She married Robert “Bob” Wenzel in 1979 and moved to Bella Vista in 1992. Her passion was making children’s quilts. She organized the Friendly Stitchers in Bella Vista that made quilts for Granny’s Quilts of Love, which have given more than 23,000 quilts to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock. She sewed more than 4,000 quilts and made hundreds of crocheted caps and arm pillows for cancer patients.

She was preceded in death by her son, Steven Phipps; a stepson, Terry Wenzel; and a brother, Leonard Ballard.

Survivors include her husband, Bob Wenzel; two daughters, Lois and husband James Howell, and Susan Phipps; two stepchildren, Vicki and husband Frank Baker and Rick and wife Carmen Wenzel, all of Wichita; a sister, Alice Driggs of Bentonville; 10 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, at Bella Vista Lutheran Church.

Memorials may be made to Bella Vista Lutheran Church Scholarship Fund, 1990 Forest Hills Blvd., Bella Vista, AR 72715 or Circle of Life Hospice, 901 N.E. Legacy Parkway, Bentonville, AR 72712.

Arrangements are by Bella Vista Funeral Home and Crematory.

Online condolences may be made at wwwfuneralmation.com.