Veneta G. Guntert

Graveside services for Veneta G. Guntert, 84, Topeka, will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday in Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence. A memorial celebration of life will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church in Topeka. Mrs. Guntert died Monday, Aug. 18, 2008, at her home at Brewster Place after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. She was born Dec. 5, 1923, in Oberlin, the daughter of Harry Herman and Georgia Murrel Grindle Kump. She grew up in Oberlin and attended public schools there until moving to Lawrence in 1940. She graduated from Liberty Memorial High School in Lawrence in 1941. She was a longtime Lawrence resident.Mrs. Guntert was a homemaker. She and her husband were early advocates for people with disabilities through their involvement with TARC in the early 1960s. She was a dedicated volunteer for TARC Inc. and Sheltered Living before her health declined.She enjoyed tole and folk art painting with friends, her church circle, time with family and the travel club. She married Robert H. Guntert, of Lawrence, on Aug. 21, 1943, in Wichita Falls, Texas. He died in 1988.Mrs. Guntert was also preceded in death by a daughter, Margaret Ann Hearshman in 1995, and a sister, Donal Lou Kump Keim in 2005.Survivors include two sons, David R. Guntert and wife Teri, Lawrence, and John A. Guntert, Topeka; a son-in-law, Timothy Hearshman, Overland Park; four grandchildren, Ehren D., Tayler F., and Jordan S. Guntert, and Dan Hearshman; a great-granddaughter, Avery Hearshman; and a stepbrother, Don Gardner and wife Beverly, Lawrence. The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at Penwell-Gabel Mid-Town Chapel in Topeka.The family suggests memorials to TARC Inc. or Sheltered Living Inc., sent in care of the funeral home, 1321 SW 10th Ave., Topeka, KS 66604. Online condolences may be sent at penwellgabel.com.