Matilda “Tillie” (Honas) Leiker, 90, Hays, died Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, at HaysMed.
She was born on April 13, 1933, on a farm near Ellis to William and Mary (Weber) Honas. On May 3, 1952, she married Milton J. Leiker from Antonino, and he preceded her in death on Aug. 30, 2016. Together they had five children: Arthur, Lorraine, Duane, Mark and Warren.
She worked as a librarian at Sangley Point Naval Station in the Philippines, a telephone clerk for Continental Telephone Co. in Virginia and then moved to Hays with her husband when he retired from Federal Civil Service. She was the secretary/receptionist for Alaniz and Sons and then for Hays Mailing Services until she retired in 1999. Tillie was a member of St. Nicholas of Myra Catholic Church and a former member of the Catharine Altar Society Christian Mothers and the Daughters of Isabella Circle No. 254 of Hays.
Survivors include her five children, Arthur and wife Barbara, Lorraine “Laura," Duane and wife Anne, Mark and wife Marla, and Warren and fiancé Karen, three siblings, Dorothy Dechant, Henry Honas and wife Joyce, and William Honas and wife Brenda, eight grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband Milton, her parents, and two brothers, Alfred and Adolph Honas.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 19 at St. Nicholas of Myra Catholic Church with Fr. Damian Richards officiating. Burial will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6 until 8 p.m. on Thursday and from 9 until 9:45 a.m. on Friday, all at Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home. A vigil service and Rosary will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested to A Different Mindset Association, which is a local group offering support for those with Dementia and Alzheimer’s and their caregivers. Condolences and memories of Tillie may be left for her family at www.haysmemorial.com.