Andrea Lynn Klaus passed away Sunday, November 16, 2025 at the Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Ellis, Kansas at the age of 72 after a several years battle with cancer.
She was born May 14, 1953 in Hays, Kansas the third child of Andrew and Alfreda (Stadelman) Klaus. She grew up in Plainville, Kansas and attended Sacred Heart Catholic Grade School and graduated in the Class of 1971 from Plainville Rural High School. She went on to attend Brown Mackie School of Business earning a degree in Fashion Merchandising.
She loved music boxes and had a huge collection of them. However, she learned early on that her real passion was cooking. She started cooking at the age of five, kneeling on a chair to be able to reach the stove. Consequently, this love began an extensive collection of cookbooks.
It was all the same to her whether she cooked for two or two hundred. She started working at the Rooks County Country Club at the age of 13 as a dishwasher and quickly moved up to being sous chef. After moving to Hill City in 1974, she started cooking at Buck’s Grill and eventually purchased the business which she ran for several years. When she decided it was time to get out of the restaurant business, she got into telecommunications working for CATV, Lewis Communications, Classic Cable, PCCS and Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech until 2013. Then she went to work for retirement due to illness in 2025.
She was a long-time member of Gamma Upsilon ESA baking many pies for the craft fairs that they sponsored every year. Family meant everything to her. She loved her nieces and nephews dearly. Any bad habits that they may have, you can be assured that they probably learned them from her. The thing that made her most proud was passing down her love for cooking to her niece, Jennifer.
Andrea was preceded in death by her parents, grandparents, and an infant brother, Terry. She is survived by her brother, Donald (Diana) Klaus of Topeka, her sister, Roxanna Klaus of Hill City, Nephew, Daniel (Sonsahara) Klaus of Garden City, Niece, Jennifer Klause of Topeka, Great-nephews, Christopher (Autumn) Hooks of Topeka and Isaac Klaus of Garden City and great-great nice, Gracelyn Hooks and great-great nephews, Beckham ( Bubba) and Tobias (Toby) Hooks all of Topeka, an uncle, Frank Stadelman of Ellis, and many cousins.
Memorials can be sent to Stinemetz Funeral Home, 110 North 10th Avenue, Hill City, Kansas 67642. Immaculate of Mary Catholic Church, 110 North 10th Avenue, Hill City, Kansas.