Nadine C. Larrick, 98, of Wellsville, Kansas passed away March 4, 2023 at the Wellsville
Retirement Community. Visitation will be held 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. Monday, March 13, 2023 at
the First Presbyterian Church, 138 E. Shawnee, Gardner, KS with the funeral service following
at 11:30 a.m. Burial follows at Edgerton Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the
Presbyterian Youth Group. Condolences may be left at www.brucefuneralhome.com

Nadine was born November 2, 1924 in rural Gardner, Kansas, near 207th Street. She was the
youngest child of nine children to Fred and Lola Sawyer. She attended Forest Hill rural school
near her home. She attended Gardner High School for three years and her senior year at
Edgerton Rural High School, graduating in 1942. She attended Baker University and Pittsburg
State during the summer to receive her provisional teaching certificate. Her first teaching job
was at Sunflower, a rural school, with five students. After two years, the school was closed and
she went to Carroll School where she met up with twenty plus students and taught there for four years. These students were like a family to Nadine.

She was united in marriage to Arthur Larrick on March 1, 1947 in Osawatomie, Kansas. They
shared almost sixty years of marriage. To this union, three children, Ray, Arleen and Rex, were
born. Ray passed away with cancer in 2001, which was a great loss to Nadine. 

Nadine was brought up in the Edgerton Presbyterian church until it merged with the Edgerton
Methodist Church. Later, she became a member of the First Presbyterian church in Gardner,
where she was active in the Women’s group and also served as an elder and deacon of the
church.

Nadine went back to Baker University to acquire her degree for Elementary Education and
graduated in 1969. She taught at the Gardner Elementary School for 20 years, retiring in 1989.
Teaching was the most enjoyable time of her life as she loved working with children. During
these years she had children and grandchildren of former students from Carroll School. In later
years she enjoyed watching her former students that attended the church raise their children.
Nadine was active in different organizations throughout her life. She was president of the
Edgerton PTA when Ray and Arleen attended Edgerton Grade School, president of the
Edgerton VFW Auxiliary. After moving to their farm north of Wellsville in 1965, she and Arthur
helped on fund raisers to establish the Palmyra Township Fire Department. She was president
of the Fit and Fun Group of Wellsville when the group took on the building of the Wellsville
Senior and Community Center. She enjoyed being a member of the Fit and Fun group that had
potluck meals and played cards every two weeks. She also served on the Edgerton Cemetery
Committee for many years.

After the death of her son Ray and the long illness of her husband, Nadine was busy working
around the farm keeping the farm looking nice, along with her flowers. She was always feeding
the birds and kept track of the winter birds, especially the red birds. After many years of hoping
some wrens would set up housekeeping in one of her wren boxes, it became a reality in 2006,
the same year for the bluebirds.

Nadine was noted for her pie making. She would make many pies for a fundraising bake sale
for the Relay for Life Cancer walk. Her coconut cream pies almost became her trade name.

Banty (Arthur) and Nadine enjoyed raising their children on the farm. So that the three children
would always have a piece of the farm, each was given 10 acres to make their home on the
farm. It was a joy watching them build and beautify their acreage. Nadine’s hope was to be the
longest owner of the farm. She accomplished this goal owning the farm for 57 years.

In December 2008, Nadine moved from her beloved farm to Gardner. She missed her view of
the country and the changing seasons. In town she could not enjoy the sunrise or sunsets. She
complained that all she could see was houses. She did enjoy her flowers at her little town
home. She loved participating in local activities, the library and her church.

She is preceded in death by her parents; son Ray in 2001; husband “Banty” in 2006; brothers
Otto, Floyd, Vernon, Harold, Dale, Lavern Sawyer and sister Lucille Knabe. Nadine is survived
by her daughter, Arleen Schuman of Wellsville, Kansas, son Rex and his wife Marjorie of
Olathe, Kansas and grandson Joshua Schuman, Raymore, Missouri, two great grandsons,
Jamie and Will Schuman, two step-grandchildren, Brien Schuman and Catasha Diaz, four
step-great grandchildren Ariana and Brielle Diaz and Terran and Haylie Schuman. She is also
survived by many nieces and nephews that were her second set of brothers and sisters. She
will be missed by her children, her host of nieces and nephews, her teacher friends and local friends.