Audrey Theresa (Koelzer) Mueting, 76, of Seneca, Kansas passed away surrounded by her children and grandchildren on Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca. For the past few weeks she had been hospitalized for pneumonia and complications of Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Audrey was born on February 17, 1943 to Aloysius and Irene (Hammes) Koelzer at the Axtell Hospital. As the tenth child of 11 children, she grew up on a farm five miles north of Baileyville. She attended Baileyville Grade School and Baileyville High School, graduating in 1961. After high school she worked less than a year in Topeka, but was home sick for the small-town life, and returned home and worked at Citizens State Bank. She married Thomas Joseph Mueting on November 9, 1963 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Baileyville, and they resided in Seneca the entirety of their 56 years of marriage.

Her primary profession was mother and home-maker for her six children. Before the two youngest boys entered school, she began working with her close friend Erma Robke, cooking meals and assisting at Erma’s Day Care. When Erma opened The Shoe Center, Audrey followed her there and thus began her long passion of shoe shopping. In 1988, Audrey opened a children’s clothing store, Kids and Company, with her long-time friend and golfing partner, LaVerne Henry. After this three-year venture, she returned to the Shoe Center and worked there until she joined the cooking staff at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Grade School, where she worked for thirteen years. While there she perfected her homemade cinnamon rolls, and all grandparents looked forward to attending Grandparents Day to enjoy her delicious treats. After she retired from the SPPS lunch room, she was asked by Father Mike Koller to fill in the shoes of her former mother-in-law, Marie Mueting, and run the funeral lunch ministry of SPPS Catholic Church. She loved this ministry and the women she worked with for the past nine years.

While raising her six children, Audrey was very active in their daily lives. She was the mom who attended cross country meets when no other parents were present. Known as a kind and gentle person, she still was a leader whether it was organizing summer camp for Girl Scouts, taking her turn as president of the Altar Society, and managing the school cafeteria lunch program. She enjoyed many past-time activities with her husband, family and close friends, including golf, playing cards, making cinnamon rolls, playing cards, pulling the handle at the casinos, playing cards, and walking daily with her husband. Audrey was always known for her kindness and generosity, and many families in Seneca were treated to her cinnamon rolls when they had births, sickness or deaths in their families.

She was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers, Richard Koelzer on May 6, 1947, Gilbert Koelzer on September 20, 2017 and Elmer Koelzer on July 1, 2011; and five sisters, Mildred Stallbaumer on August 31, 2006, Evelyn Heiman on December 22, 2001, Leona Bergman on July 12, 2015, Marceil Haverkamp on March 18, 1998 and Eileen Koelzer on July 2, 2016.

Survivors besides her husband Tom, include six children: Ronda (Daniel) Intfen of Prairie Village, KS, Roxane (Michael) Stec of Atchison, KS, Joseph (Amy) Mueting of McFarland, WI, Sherri (James) Muir of Overland Park, KS, Jason (Lorelle) Mueting of Gretna, NE, and Eric (Elizabeth) Mueting of Topeka, KS. She is survived by her siblings, Regis Koelzer of Axtell; LaVerne Uphaus of Topeka. Audrey and Tom have enjoyed 18 grandchildren, and were honored with their first great grandson on August 30.

Memorial contributions may be given to either Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School or Nemaha Valley Community Hospital.