March 28, 2024

May H. Carlisle

Creston

May Huss Carlisle, 106, of Creston, passed away peacefully Thursday, May 25, 2023, at Creston Specialty Care. Services will be 2 p.m., Thursday, June 1 at Trinity Lutheran Church. Pastor John Rutz will officiate. Open visitation will be 3 – 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 31 at Pearson Family Funeral Service & Cremation Center in Creston. The family will receive friends prior to the service from 12:45 – 1:45 p.m. at the church. May will be laid to rest in the Graceland Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the Trinity Lutheran Church or Care Initiatives Hospice. Memories and condolences can be shared online at www.pearsonfuneralhomes.com.

May Kessler Huss Carlisle was born Jan. 5, 1917, to Olga Voss Kessler and Frank Kessler who lived on a farm at Shannon City. May had seven siblings: Harold, Warren, Ruth, Mary, Helen, Edna and Pearl. She attended school in the country at Grant Township kindergarten through eighth grade.

She married William (Bill) Huss. They were parents of a daughter, Marjorie Marilyn Huss Scott. May and her husband Bill, lived on farms when Bill was a hired man and then had their own farm. One year, May helped Bill pick corn by hand to earn money to buy Christmas presents. When they bought their own farm, she helped milk cows by hand morning and night. She also cleaned houses for neighborhood women’s homes and babysat for some families.

May had a huge garden including a big patch of strawberries, tomatoes and other vegetables. She helped her mom and sister Pearl cook for threshers. She raised chickens and sold eggs and dressed chickens for families and sold some dressed chickens to friends. Her grandkids all liked grandma to cook, bake cookies and cook her delicious meatballs. They liked to play Aggravation and pitch with her.

After her husband Bill passed away, May moved to Creston. She cooked at Creston High School and Creston Hospital and became a dietitian at the hospital until she retired. She mowed her own yard until she broke her hip at age 96. May was a poll worker at many city elections. Some believe she might be the oldest registered voter in Union County. She liked to play pitch with a card group at the Depot.

May remarried later in life to Dar Carlisle, and they traveled a lot. She also went on bus trips with her friend Dorothy. May was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and a member of the first Meals on Wheels board. She lived in her own home until 2021 when health issues made her have to reside at Creston Specialty Care. She liked to do word searches and read library books. May always liked to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes and Chicago Cubs on TV. Her grandson also took her to see the Kansas City Royals in Kansas City several summers.

Survivors include daughter, Marjorie Huss (Darwin) Scott; grandchildren: Curtis (Tricia) Scott and Clint (Jana) Scott; great-grandchildren: Makaela, Andrew and Craig Scott; stepdaughter, Donna Pritchard; stepson, Clifford Carlisle; many stepgrandchildren and stepgreat-grandchildren.

May was preceded in death by her seven siblings; her two husbands Bill Huss and Dar Carlisle and stepson, Bob Carlisle.