Obituary -- Frances Louise McCalla 1926-2018

Frances Louise McCalla, was born December 10th, 1926 to Roy and Maude Marler in Grant City, Missouri and passed away on January 4th, 2018 at her home in Andover, Kansas.

She grew up in Grant City, trained as a teacher and began teaching school at the young age of 17, teaching in a one room schoolhouse in Blockton, Iowa.   Frances then met  her future husband, Eugene McCalla, and they married in Grant City's Baptist Church on June 17th, 1947. On June 17th, 2017 they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

They lived on the family farm in Blockton, where they raised their three daughters: Loucinda, Kathleen and Lou Gene.  In 1962 the family moved to Mesa, Arizona for four years. Moving again to Andover, Kansas in 1965.  Frances earned her BA from Wichita State University and started her career as an elementary school librarian.  She was especially proud of earning her Masters Degree in Library Science from WSU in 1974.  She worked as a librarian in the Wichita school system until retiring in 1989.

An avid reader, she also enjoyed music and opera, embroidery and sewing, fashioning many dresses for her girls and grandchildren.

She was preceeded in death by her parents, Roy and Maude Marler, her sister Ferne Marler, brother Bill Marler and half-brothers Glen Marler and Russel Rinehart.

She is survived by: her husband Eugene McCalla; daughters:  Loucinda McCalla (Andover, Kansas); Kathleen McCalla Augustini (Treviso, Italy); and Lou Gene McCalla (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma);  grandchildren: Jeremiah and Jennifer Unruh and Aaron and Kyle De Haven and great-granddaughter Riley De Haven, sister: Jean Willey and brother Jerry Marler, (both, Mt. Ayr, Iowa).

Funeral services will be 1:00 P.M. Monday, January 8, 2018 at Prugh-Dunfee Funeral Home in Grant City, Missouri. Interment will be Rose Hill Cemetery in Blockton, Iowa.