Elaine Carol Tustin was born February 14, 1937, on the family farm 1 mile west of Oakley, KS to Emma (Herdt) and Vernon Clark. She passed away on January 30, 2022, just 2 weeks from her 85th birthday.
She attended school at a country school just west of Oakley and graduated from Oakley High School with the class of 1955, the first class to graduate in Oakley’s new high school.
On October 28, 1956, Elaine was united in marriage to her high school sweetheart, Richard H. Tustin, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Oakley. They began their nearly 58 years of married life on the family farm 10 miles southeast of Gove, KS, which had been tended by the Tustin family since 1900. Elaine was very proud to have continued living on the farm until her final days.
Elaine was active for many years in the Modern Homemakers Club and the neighborhood Sew & So Club.
Elaine was a member of the Gove United Methodist Church and very active in the UMW, holding several offices throughout the years. She was very involved with the youth of the church as the leader of the Jr. Choir and enjoyed sharing flannel board bible stories at VBS and anything else she was called upon to do. She was the church organist for many years and passed on her musical talent to her daughters and also taught piano lessons. Elaine was very strong in her faith and always looked at the positive side of every situation. She was a very strong willed, determined, and independent lady until the very end, never wanting to be a burden to anyone.
Elaine was a very creative person and loved making items for the church bazaar for many years. She spent hours doing counted-cross stitch and crocheting, making an afghan for each of her grandkids.
In 1975, Elaine and Richard both took flying lessons to get their pilots licenses. She wanted to be able to land the plane if something happened to Richard and he needed her knowledge to pass the tests. He was thrilled when his test score was higher than hers.
Elaine and Richard loved spontaneous road trips to see the countryside and go to collectible shows, whether it was guns, cars, airplanes, or dishes. Richard’s main goal was to see how far they could travel by nightfall and see as many new sights as possible. They tried every summer to take a family vacation and their children have many fond memories of the states they traveled.
Elaine will be dearly missed by her family and friends. Survivors include her children; Jana and husband, Shawn Huse, Mankato, MN; Wayde Tustin and wife, Cindy, Gove, KS; Jill and husband, Mark Bosse, Grainfield, KS; Grandchildren; Kadie (Huse) and husband, Alex Taft, West Windsor, VT; Emily (Huse) and husband, Jared Wangen, Minneapolis, MN; Rebecca Huse, Mankato, MN; Taylor (Tustin) and husband, Wade Niermeier, Hoxie, KS; Evan Tustin, Manhattan, KS; Kyle Shaw, Grinnell, KS; Dayna (Shaw) and husband, Jonathan Alexander, Bird City, KS; great granddaughter, Brooklyn Alexander, Bird City, KS; sister, Betty Pinkston, Greeley, CO; sisters-in-law, Cherrie Clark, Oakley, KS; Carolyn Smith, Wichita, KS; and brother-in-law, Don Bland, McPherson, KS. She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard, in October of 2014; infant daughter, Jannine Elaine in 1959; her parents; brother, Robert Clark; sister-in-law, Berniece Bland; brothers-in-law, Kenneth Pinkston, Don Smith, and Conard Rose.
Funeral Service will be held at the United Methodist Church, Grainfield on Saturday, February 5, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. followed by burial in the Gove Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. Visitation will be held at Schmitt Funeral Home, Quinter on Friday, February 4, 2022, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Memorial Contributions may be given to the Elaine Tustin Memorial Fund.