Lily Louise Claas, 87, of Seneca, Kansas, died on Mother’s Day, May 14, 2006 at Crestview Manor care home in Seneca.

She was born on August 4, 1918 in Humbolt, Nebraska, the daughter of John Frederick and Ruby E. Sypherd Luginbill. She was a twin and the fifth of nine children. She attended the rural Eagle Star School in the Bern, Kansas community.

Lily married John Louis Claas in Tracey, California. She was a civilian employee at Fort Riley, Kansas. She served as a nurse’s aide at St. Mary’s Hospital in Manhattan, Kansas and at the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca. She was an aide at the Nemaha County Convalescent Home southwest of Seneca and at Countryview Estates nursing home in Seneca. She was also a domestic care giver in her Seneca home for many years. Care giving was her life’s work and her affection for people, especially her family, was evident to all whose lives she touched.

She was preceded in death by her husband in 1991; a son, John, in 1962 due to a car accident; a daughter, Darlene, at birth; and her brothers William, Harold, Fritz, George, Allen and twin Lyle Luginbill.

Survivors include three cherished sons, Bill, Bob and his wife Pat, and Jerry and his wife Shirley, all of Seneca; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Rose Zella Boeding and Eva Krotzinger, both of Seneca.

She was a member of Sts. Peter & Paul Church, St Ann’s Altar Society, and the American Legion Auxiliary, all in Seneca. Her hobbies included gardening, playing cards, and putting together puzzles.

Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 AM Thursday, May 18, at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Rosaries will be recited at 2 & 7 PM Wednesday at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca.