Dulcie Mae Kite

Dulcie Mae Kite, 89, of Junction City, Kansas, died Monday, January 18, 2016 at Valley View Senior Life in Junction City. She was born on March 5, 1926, the daughter of Arlie and Iva Danielson in McDonald, Kansas.
At the age of 5 in 1931, three highly significant events took place in Dulcie's life. Her father Arlie died; her family moved to St. Francis, Kansas, the town she would call home until the age of 77, and she would meet a youngster by the name of Wendell Kite. This young fellow would become her first and, for all practical purposes, her only boyfriend—ever. Dulcie's mother Iva ("Mimi" to her grandchildren) raised Dulcie and her four siblings by herself through the years of the Great Depression. Big brother Keith was the oldest followed by older sisters Gay and Doris. Jim was her younger brother. There, the Danielson kids attended St. Francis schools and were all excellent students. Dulcie was always rightfully proud of her academic achievements, but none more than the fact that she was Salutatorian of the Class of 1944 at St. Francis Community High School. In high school, Dulcie was involved in various clubs and activities. She played the piano and, therefore, served as an accompanist for other music students and their performances. Dulcie was active in Girl Reserves and was also Drum Majorette for the marching band.
Before high school was over, Dulcie's boyfriend Wendell enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was shipped out for training. She was taken by her future mother and father-in-law to Rapid City, South Dakota for a visit and a farewell just before Wendell flew off to England to serve as a ball turret gunner on a B-17 during World War II. By the time Wendell was discharged from military service, Dulcie had graduated from high school and was already a co-ed at Kansas State University. Her reunion there with Wendell is the stuff of legend. Dulcie became a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority and graduated from K-State in 1948 with a degree from the College of Arts and Sciences in Biology. Prior to graduating, the forever sweethearts Dulcie and Wendell were married on December 28, 1946 in St. Francis.
With the Great Depression and World War II in the past, Dulcie and Wendell returned to their hometown with their first son, Thomas Lee, born in 1949, to begin the lives that they had promised to spend together. Their second son, Timothy J., was born in 1952, and the exclamation point of the terrific trio, Edward Kim, was born in 1954. Though Dulcie and Wendell had grown up as "town kids," they determined that they would begin farming for a living and moved southeast of St. Francis in 1955. Dulcie and Wendell were an excellent team when it came to raising their boys and teaching them true family values. All three would tell you that a more perfect upbringing is inconceivable. Once the boys were older, Dulcie began taking college classes to earn a Library Science degree from Fort Hays State University, and she eventually became the high school librarian at St. Francis Community High School, a position she held from 1968 until 1973. Dulcie played golf, but she especially enjoyed going with Wendell on fishing trips to Texas with friends as well as on other trips. They were fortunate enough to have traveled together throughout the United States, first in a motorhome and later in a fifth-wheel. Trips out of the country were to Spain, Hawaii, Canada and England.
Dulcie was a member of the United Methodist Church in St. Francis and a member of P.E.O. Dulcie and Wendell retired from farming and moved to St. Francis in 1989. In 2003, they moved to Junction City so that they could be closer to their sons and their families. Dulcie was preceded in death by Wendell, her loving husband of sixty-two years, her brother Keith, her sister Doris, and her brother Jim. Survivors include sister Gay Zaiser of Pennsylvania, three sons, three daughters-in-law, four grandchildren, and six great grandchildren: son Tom and his wife Shelley of Junction City, Kansas; their daughter Kelley of Fort Collins, Colorado; and their son Kyle and his wife Kelli and their five children Brigette, Broderick, Beckett, Booker, and Brielle of Idalia, Colorado; son Tim and his wife Cindy of Onaga, Kansas; their daughter Ashlyn and her husband Cody Hartwich and their children Wren and a sibling due in March, also of Onaga, Kansas; and son Ed and his wife Joanne and their son Andy of Baldwin City, Kansas.
Dulcie's ashes will join Wendell's along with their markers in the St. Francis cemetery. A memorial service will be held at The United Methodist Church in St. Francis on April 3 at 2 p.m. Memorials are suggested to the Alzheimer's Association.