Meta Marie McNeil Wendelken, age 92 of Wakefield, passed away December 18, 2024, in the home she has lived in for 65 years surrounded by her family.
She was born on July 26, 1932, on a farm near Miltonvale to Emery Paul Eklund and Cora Elizabeth Rothfuss Eklund. She walked to Mont View country school with her older brother Emery Ray and younger brother Darrel and helped on the farm milking cows, bringing in cattle, gathering eggs, cleaning chickens, and cooking and baking.
She graduated from Miltonvale High School in 1949 and then attended Palmer School in Manhattan and was employed in Concordia. She married Ralph “Vincent” McNeil on August 6, 1950, at her childhood home. Vincent and Meta began their life together in a small house in Miltonvale on College Hill. They had five children. Meta helped with music programs at Manchester School where her husband was a teacher and principal. They were active in the Methodist Church in Miltonvale. After Vincent’s sudden death in 1963, Meta continued to raise her children Patricia Marie, Myron Vincent, Melvin Lee, Peggy Jolene, and Penny Lynette in Miltonvale.
In 1964, Meta began her 30-year career at the ASCS federal agricultural office in Clay Center, where she met Vernon Wendelken. They married on May 4, 1967, at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Clay Center. They moved the family home from Miltonvale to Vernon’s farm near Wakefield in 1969. Vernon and Meta had a daughter Sandra Janel in 1970.
Along with her career and helping on the farm, Meta was involved in the local community. She was a member of the Jolly Neighbors Club and the Lutheran Church in Clay Center, as well as being active in the lives of her children and grandchildren and well known for her homemade ice cream.
After the sudden death of Vernon in 1993 and her retirement from the ASCS office in 1994, she became more active on the farm. She sprayed thistles, helped harvest wheat, cooked meals, and walked miles in her pastures cutting evergreen trees. In 2009, the County Conservation District awarded her the Grassland Award. At age 88, Meta was still mowing grass on her riding lawn mower.
During these years, Meta also traveled often to see family in Colorado and on other fun trips. She also became an active member of the United Methodist Church in Clay Center.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Emery Ray Eklund, her first husband Vincent McNeil, her second husband Vernon Wendelken, her granddaughter Rachel Stirn, her good friend Jack Blackwood, and many other friends and relatives.
She is survived by her six children, Patricia Jensen, Myron McNeil, Mel McNeil and wife Joan, Peggy Stirn and husband Craig, Penny Willard, and Sandra Stephenson and husband Pete; 15 grandchildren; 22 great grandchildren; 4 great-great grandchildren; and her brother Darrel Eklund. Meta lives on in our hearts forever.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30AM on Monday, December 23, 2024 at the Clay Center United Methodist Church in Clay Center, Kansas.
Visitation will be held from 2-5PM on Sunday, December 22, 2024 at the Neill-Schwensen-Rook Funeral Home in Clay Center, Kansas.
Interment will be in the Greenwood Cemetery in Clay Center, Kansas.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Clay Center United Methodist Church or to Meadowlark Hospice and can be sent in care of the funeral home.
