Yost, Erma Martin (1913-2003)

Newton Kansan obituary: 2003 June 4 p. 2

Birth date: 1913 Oct 20

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2003 Jun 16 p. 8

text of obituary:

ERMA M. YOST

Erma M. Yost, 89, of Hesston, Kan., died June 3, 2003. She was born Oct. 20, 1913, to Ben E. and Ida Pearl (Kauffman) Martin in Garden City, Mo.

She was raised in Minot, N.D., and graduated from Surrey (N.D.) High School. She received her bachelor of arts degree from Goshen (Ind.) College and a master of English degree from Wichita State University.

She married Lyle E. Yost on July 31, 1938, in Minot.

She was a homemaker and a retired public school educator. She developed the first kindergarten in Hesston, was an avid reader (reading more than 1,000 books the last two years), authored Erma's Diary, wrote and edited the Yost Cookbook and edited As He Said. She was an avid golfer and freelance artist. She and her husband enjoyed traveling worldwide throughout their married life.

She was a member of Hesston Mennonite Church, a board member of the Arthritis Foundation's Kansas Chapter, a docent at the Wichita Art Museum and a board member of KPTS public television. She was past president of the Ladies Golf organization at Fox Ridge Golf Course in Newton, past president of the Kansas chapter of the Gideons, and past president and life member of the Hesston Civic Club. She promoted the community theater in Hesston and was a benefactor of the drama building at Goshen (Ind.) College.

Survivors include her husband, Lyle; three sons, Bryon of Castle Rock, Colo., Winston of Larkspur, Colo., and Cameron of Colorado Springs; a daughter, Susan Yost of Larkspur; and six grandchildren.

Services were held at Hesston Mennonite Church. Burial was in East Lawn Cemetery in Zimmerdale.