Lela M. Schooler, 83, of Seneca, Kansas died on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca.

She was born October 11, 1928, on a farm north of Vliets, Kansas, the daughter of Leonard and Cora Kjellberg Grable. She attended Marshall County District 13 School and Vermillion Grade School. She attended Marysville High School for two years, and finished her junior and senior years at Centralia, graduating in 1946. She worked in the Marx Store in Centralia and for Dr. Butler as a dental assistant.

On August 1, 1948 she married Harold D. Schooler in Centralia. They lived in Topeka for 45 years and moved to Seneca in 1993. Lela was employed in various positions at Kansas Power & Light in Topeka and Marysville for 11 years. She began working as a secretary for the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) in 1959. For 10 years she served as secretary to the executive director at KSHSAA. She retired from KSHSAA in January of 1989 after 30 years of service.

In retirement, she and her husband Harold traveled to a great many places in their RV and spent 13 winters in Arizona.

She was a member of Salem Lutheran Church in Axtell and the Martha Circle. She was a charter member of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Topeka.

Survivors include her husband of almost 64 years, Harold, of the home; brothers, Don (Mary Lou) Grable of Maitland, Florida and Dennis (Claudanne) Grable of Hattiesburg, Mississippi; a sister-in-law, Mary Grable of Osage Beach, Missouri; 13 nieces and nephews; an aunt, Gladys Kjellberg Pollman of Centralia; and many great-nieces and nephews.

The funeral service will be held at 2 PM Monday, July 23, at Salem Lutheran Church, south of Axtell. Family will meet with friends for one hour prior to the service. Burial will be at Centralia City Cemetery.

Memorials may be given in Lela’s memory for C.O.I.N.S. for a Cause (a Nemaha County cancer group), or Salem Lutheran Church.