Helen Matus

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Helen Matus, 81, Basehor, Kan., passed away Monday, March 30, 2009, at Shawnee Mission Medical Center.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, April 3, at Quisenberry Funeral Home, Tonganoxie, Kan. The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m., Thursday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Glenwood Cemetery, Basehor, Kan.

Helen was born Dec. 19, 1927, in Viola, Kan., the daughter of John and Ella Nighswonger Johnson. She was a U.S. Air Force Veteran of the Korean War. She was united in marriage to Frank Matus on Oct. 20, 1951, in Roslyn, Long Island, N.Y. He preceded her in death June 5, 1996. Helen worked as a secretary for the Department of Defense, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., until retiring in 1991. She was a member of the Basehor Baptist Church.

Survivors include two sons, David Matus, Overland Park, Kan., and Frank Matus II, Kansas City, Kan.; three daughters, Peggy McAfee, Troy, Ill., Karen Loomis, Kansas City, Kan., and Susan Matus, Basehor, Kan.; one brother, Gary Johnson, Pleasanton, Kan.; seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.