Kathryn (Katie) Margaret Verthein Enyart

Kathryn (Katie) Margaret Enyart died peacefully on Saturday, October 27th, 2012 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Katie would have celebrated her 93rd birthday, December 4, 2012. Katie was the fourth child of the Gus and Elsie (Haar) Verthein family of eleven. She and her three brothers and seven sisters grew up in South Dakota and Minnesota. She graduated in 1938 from Caledonia High School in South Eastern Minnesota. She was married in 1941 to Leo Carlton Enyart and lived in La Crosse, Wisconsin. After Pearl Harbor and the national call up, they spent a few years during WW II at an Army Paratrooper Base, Camp Blanding, Florida. Katie’s husband Leo served on active duty while Katie worked for the US Army until her son Larry was born in 1943. After the war, they moved to Postville, Iowa near the Minnesota border not far from the Mississippi River, established a trucking business and lived there until 1968; their daughter Connie was born in 1946. In 1955 they purchased a large farm between Waukon and Decorah, Iowa and the entire family continued their hard work to improve the property until 1966. They moved to Mesa, AZ and lived there for several decades where Katie worked for Xerox and Jacques Cattell Press until 1980. Katie, with a great sense of humor, was an expert and amazingly competitive in the German card game called Euchre and loved to play with her family and friends. Katie, a great cook and talented musician, enjoyed playing the piano and played at one time for some of the band members of the famous Lawrence Welk band during their tours in eastern South Dakota. She always played piano at family holidays and gatherings until her passing and could play numerous songs from memory. Katie enjoyed being a devoted member of the First United Methodist Church, Mesa, AZ. Katie is survived by her son, Brig General Larry Enyart, USAF (Ret) and daughter Connie Enyart. She was a proud grandmother and great grandmother with granddaughter Lindsey, and grandsons Jeff, Chad, and Lance. Steady and encouraging companions to Katie during her later years include her daughter Connie, son Larry Enyart, and daughter in law, Beverly Enyart. Katie, devoted and caring matriarch of her family, is survived by sisters LuEtta, Donna, and Janice, several brothers in laws, sister in law, and numerous nephews and nieces. Funeral and Farewell Services for Kathryn (Katie) Margaret Enyart will be held Sunday, November 4, 2012 at 2:00 PM at Valley of the Sun Mortuary Chapel, 10940 E. Chandler Heights Road, Chandler, Arizona, 85248. Memorial Remembrance Bench contributions for Katie and Leo Enyart may be given in lieu of flowers.