Lydia P. Potter, 97, of Seneca, Kansas, formerly of Vermillion, died early Friday morning, February 1, 2013 at Crestview Manor care home in Seneca.

Lydia Pearl Adams Potter was born on May 15, 1915 on a farm near Onaga, Kansas, to Henry and Myrtle Fisher Adams, one of nine children, five girls, and four boys.

Lydia married Marion “Lawrence” Potter on April 5, 1934 after a three-year courtship. The couple made their home on the Potter homestead near Vermillion. Besides farming, Lawrence worked at a rock quarry to supplement their income. In March 1937 because of drought, the couple moved to Sacramento, California to work for Del Monte and Libby’s canning operations.

After Lawrence contracted sleeping sickness, the couple moved back to live with Rachel and Charlie Adams, Lydia’s brother and wife, near Frankfort, Kansas in 1939. Shortly thereafter, the couple moved to a farm southwest of Centralia, Kansas. In 1941, their daughter Ethelyn Gail Potter was born. In 1944, they moved to the farm within the Swiss/French community Neuchatel on French Creek in the southwest corner of Nemaha County, Kansas, where they farmed for 39 years. In 1946, their daughter Mary Charlene Potter was born.

In 1973, the couple retired to a 22-acre farm near Vermilion, where they continued to pasture cattle.

In 2004, they moved to Seneca to be closer to family. In December of 2007 they became residents of Crestview Manor care home. In April 2011, they celebrated 77 years of marriage.

Lydia was a member of the United Methodist Church of Seneca. She enjoyed gardening, handwork, but most of all her family.

Survivors include two daughters, Mary Charlene Potter of Omaha, Nebraska and Ethelyn Gail Deckert of Glen Ellyn, Illinois; grandsons Bradford and Doug Deckert; great-grandson, Wyatt Murphy-Deckert; two sisters, Donice Barrett of Oneida and Mary Lindeen of Seneca; nephew Lowell Elder of Seneca, and several nieces and nephews and their families.

Besides her husband Lawrence, she was preceded in death by her brothers, Charles, Bud, Ken, and Raymond Adams; and sisters, Katherine McGlaughlin and Lela Elder.

There will be a visitation from 12 to 1:30 PM on Sunday, February 3, at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca. The funeral service will be held at 10:30 AM Monday, February 4, at the funeral home. Burial will be in Vermillion Cemetery.

Memorials may be given for the United Methodist Church in Seneca, and sent in care of the family.