1923
Eunice
2014
Eunice Mai
November 4, 1923 — February 15, 2014
Longtime Sharon Springs, Kansas resident Eunice Marie Mai, 90, died Saturday, February 15, 2014, at Prairie Village in Sharon Springs. Eunice Marie Lundberg, daughter of George E. & Hulda (Sandstedt) Lundberg, was born the November 4, 1923, on the family farm in Greeley County where she grew up. She attended rural schools in Wallace and Greeley Counties and graduated from Greeley County High School in 1941. She attended Bethany College and graduated from what is today the University of Northern Colorado in 1949. For several years, she taught all grades at the Ruby School in rural Greeley County before coming to Sharon Springs in 1949 to teach English at the Wallace County Community High School before becoming the superintendent of Wallace County Schools, serving until 1967.
Eunice was baptized on December 23, 1923, and confirmed on June 6, 1937, at Bethany Lutheran Church in the Stockholm Community south of Weskan and was active in the Lutheran Church her entire life. She joined the Sharon Lutheran Church when she moved to Sharon Springs where she served as a Sunday School teacher, Vacation Bible School teacher, choir member, and longtime church organist. She was also involved with the Ladies’ Aid Society which later became the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and she also served on the Church Council.
On 27 December 1956, she married Arthur R. Mai at the Sharon Lutheran Church, and they began a fifty-seven year journey together, farming in Wallace and Greeley Counties. Son Brent joined the family in 1964 followed by daughter Celia in 1966. They enjoyed traveling, especially by car, whether on trips that took six weeks or just a little ride around the county! Over the years, Art & Eunice visited all fifty states and most Canadian Provinces. They also visited Mexico, Panama, Switzerland, France, Austria, Norway, Belgium, and Denmark along with the homeland of Eunice’s ancestors in Sweden and Art’s ancestral home in Germany.
Eunice was also actively involved in community organizations including the local chapters of the National Federation of Music Clubs and the American Association of University Women. She also enjoyed the performances and speakers that were brought to the area by the Western Plains Arts Association.
Eunice is survived by her husband Art, son Brent of Beaverton, Oregon, daughter Celia and her fiancé Marshall Unruh of Sharon Springs, and grandchildren Torrey Elder of Kanopolis, Kansas; Caitlin Elder of Hays, Kansas; Maria Mai of Spokane, Washington; Tatum Elder of Colby, Kansas; Anna Mai of St. Louis, Missouri; and John Mai of Beaverton, Oregon. She is also survived by two cousins, Mildred Schemm of Wallace, Kansas, and Deloris Harwood of Claremont, California, 4 brothers-in-law and their wives, 1 sister-in-law and her husband, and a host of nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, aunts Selma Larson, Tracie Sandstedt, Hilma Gulbrandt, Nellie Olson, Emily Hultquist, Hulda Oline, and Hilma Setterberg, and uncles Herman, Simon, Edwin, and Enoch Sandstedt and Phillip and Reuben Lundberg.
Memorials may be made in Eunice’s name to Hospice Services, or High Plains Regional Dialysis, and may be left at, or sent to, Koons Funeral Home, 211 N. Main Ave., Goodland, Kansas 67735
Eunice was baptized on December 23, 1923, and confirmed on June 6, 1937, at Bethany Lutheran Church in the Stockholm Community south of Weskan and was active in the Lutheran Church her entire life. She joined the Sharon Lutheran Church when she moved to Sharon Springs where she served as a Sunday School teacher, Vacation Bible School teacher, choir member, and longtime church organist. She was also involved with the Ladies’ Aid Society which later became the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and she also served on the Church Council.
On 27 December 1956, she married Arthur R. Mai at the Sharon Lutheran Church, and they began a fifty-seven year journey together, farming in Wallace and Greeley Counties. Son Brent joined the family in 1964 followed by daughter Celia in 1966. They enjoyed traveling, especially by car, whether on trips that took six weeks or just a little ride around the county! Over the years, Art & Eunice visited all fifty states and most Canadian Provinces. They also visited Mexico, Panama, Switzerland, France, Austria, Norway, Belgium, and Denmark along with the homeland of Eunice’s ancestors in Sweden and Art’s ancestral home in Germany.
Eunice was also actively involved in community organizations including the local chapters of the National Federation of Music Clubs and the American Association of University Women. She also enjoyed the performances and speakers that were brought to the area by the Western Plains Arts Association.
Eunice is survived by her husband Art, son Brent of Beaverton, Oregon, daughter Celia and her fiancé Marshall Unruh of Sharon Springs, and grandchildren Torrey Elder of Kanopolis, Kansas; Caitlin Elder of Hays, Kansas; Maria Mai of Spokane, Washington; Tatum Elder of Colby, Kansas; Anna Mai of St. Louis, Missouri; and John Mai of Beaverton, Oregon. She is also survived by two cousins, Mildred Schemm of Wallace, Kansas, and Deloris Harwood of Claremont, California, 4 brothers-in-law and their wives, 1 sister-in-law and her husband, and a host of nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, aunts Selma Larson, Tracie Sandstedt, Hilma Gulbrandt, Nellie Olson, Emily Hultquist, Hulda Oline, and Hilma Setterberg, and uncles Herman, Simon, Edwin, and Enoch Sandstedt and Phillip and Reuben Lundberg.
Memorials may be made in Eunice’s name to Hospice Services, or High Plains Regional Dialysis, and may be left at, or sent to, Koons Funeral Home, 211 N. Main Ave., Goodland, Kansas 67735
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