Lavada Jean (Nichols) Yost || Obituary

Lavada Jean (Nichols) Yost was born to Franklin and Lela (Nightingale) Nichols, February 9, 1936, at Greensburg, Kansas.  She peacefully passed to her reward on July 19, 2024, after a brief illness at Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.

A happy childhood was spent on the family farm south of Greensburg, her sisters being her best friends.  She attended Lone Star Country School through the eighth grade followed by two years at Greensburg High.
After a beautiful, yet simple conversion experience, she was baptized into the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite on April 21, 1950, by Uncle Lincoln Jantz.

On October 4, 1953, Lavada married Carl E. Yost, who was her loving companion for over 70 years.  Shortly after marrying they went to serve for two years in a 1-W Unit in Topeka, Kansas, at a hospital where Carl was a cook and
Lavada enjoyed mothering the newborns in the nursery. They returned to the family farm laboring together raising cattle and tilling the soil.  God blessed this union with three children: Jerry, Cynthia and Kenneth.  In 1980 they joined their children in the new congregational settlement at Detroit, Texas.

She faithfully filled her place as a deacon’s wife, using her God-given talent of thoughtfulness of others.
Lavada was able to use her painting ability in expressing her appreciation of God’s creation.  She often completed the meaning of her scenes with scripture. She was not a stranger to adversity and loss.  Their son, Jerry, was taken suddenly in an accident in 1985, and a grandson, Steven, in 1998.  Lavada graciously accepted the losses, her deep faith in God was not shaken.

We as a family fondly remember her warm hospitality, the tender care for flowers, and the birds she loved to watch. She knew the value of saving and making do with what she had.  She had no fear of dying and longed for heaven.  Even in her last days she expressed this desire along with her care and concern for leaving her husband, children and grandchildren.  We know her as always thinking of others and putting them first before her own comfort.

Cherishing many golden memories are her loving husband, Carl; daughter, Cynthia and Wayne Schrock; son, Kenneth and Bonnie, all from Detroit.  Daughter-in-law, Sondra and husband Wade Holdeman of Ft. Sumner, New Mexico; 12 grandchildren and 33 great grandchildren; sister, Wanda Litwiller, Ithaca, Michigan; brother, Galen Nichols and wife Shirley, Greensburg, Kansas; sister, Shirley Nichols, Gentry, Arkansas; sister-in-law, Glenda Nichols, Greensburg, Kansas; sister-in-law, Carrol Dirks, Rich Hill, Missouri. She was preceded in death by her parents, Franklin and Lela Nichols; Harvey and Elizabeth Yost; two brothers-in-law, Richard Litwiller and Raymond Wadel; sister, Neoma Wadel; brother, Ron Nichols; son, Jerry and grandson, Steven.