Velma C. Dawson

Velma C. Dawson, 83, passed away Saturday, October 29, 2011, at her home in Merriam, Kansas, after a long battle with cancer.

Velma was born September 14, 1928, to Joseph and Anna Rahija in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas. A graduate of Wyandotte High School, class of 1946, she married Alva R. "Chick" Dawson on May 20, 1947. Velma retired from Southwestern Bell in 1983 to be a full-time grandmother. She enjoyed crocheting and needlework, was an avid puzzle-solver and played Bingo as "therapy".

Al and Velma enjoyed traveling to Yellowstone National Park every autumn to fish and spend time with friends. Mrs. Dawson was also a lover of the arts, frequenting the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and many local theater productions. Velma was looking forward to the birth of her first great-grandchild in January to Ross and Liz and the marriage of her granddaughter, Erin, to Tim Ryan of Osterville, Massachusetts in April. She was preceded in death by her husband and parents.

Velma is survived by her daughter, Teri Waters, Merriam, Kansas; granddaughters, Sara Goodman, Merriam, Kansas and Erin Waters, Union, Kentucky; grandsons and their spouses, Ross Waters and Liz, Overland Park, Kansas and Kyle Waters and Lea Ann, Merriam, Kansas; and her brother and his spouse, Joseph Rahija and Dolores, Kansas, City, Kansas.

Visitation will be 6:00-8:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 2, 2011, at the Amos Family Chapel of Shawnee. A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, November 3, 2011, at the chapel, followed by burial next to her husband at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, Kansas City, Kansas.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Shawnee United Methodist Church, 10700 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, Kansas 66203.