Dixie L. Van Lerberg

Dixie Lee (Pratt) Van Lerberg, 78, of Shawnee, Kansas, born August 24, 1934, in Trenton, Missouri, left to be with the Lord, Jesus Christ on February 10, 2013.

Dixie struggled over ten years with Parkinson’s disease and later with Alzheimer’s disease. Before her illness, she was a lady of many talents — there was nothing she could not do, when she put her mind to it. She started early as a ballroom dance instructor; she was a cosmologist for years; she sold real-estate; owned a convenience store; and worked in banking. One of her greatest talents was loving her children, family, friends, and even strangers, she was generous and so very gracious.

Preceding her in death was her first husband, Joseph R. Pratt and her mother Marguerite Eastwood.

Dixie is survived by her dad, Frank Eastwood; husband Dick Van Lerberg; children, Michael Pratt and his wife Kim, Casie Foster, Kevin Pratt and his wife Kelli, and Darcy Pratt and her wife Reda Carr; grandchildren, Kimberlee Volm, Jessica Greene, Amie Barker, April Foster, Austin Sailors, Jared Pratt, Daniel Foster, Matthew Foster, Justin Pratt, Kara Down, Larry Bray, Kyle Feltham and Kelsy Feltham. Their spouses and significant others as well as their children will deeply miss their grandmother, who always had encouragement and love for them no matter what the circumstances.

Her Van Lerberg children are Vicke, Barbara, Kathy, (Ricky, who preceded her in death), Mark, Mike, Cheryl, Karen and Toni, plus numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren that will miss her smile and warm hugs.

Please, come and join us as we remember the beauty and love that lived in her heart and now lives in her spirit in paradise, with the Lord.

God bless you all and may love, joy, peace and healing, rain down upon you!

A visitation will be 9:30-11:00 a.m., Saturday, February 16, 2013, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Shawnee. Mass will follow at 11:00 a.m., with burial in St. Joseph Cemetery, Shawnee, Kansas. There will be a lunch served after the service.

Memorial contributions may be made to either the Alzhiemer’s Association or the Parkinson’s Foundation.