WONSETLER, ERNEST L., JR.

Ernie Wonsetler, 74, of Hutchinson, died Dec. 24, 1998, at Hutchinson Hospital.

He was born Jan. 20, 1924, at Larned, the son of Ernest L. and Letha May Lewis Wonsetler. He graduated from Larned High School. A Hutchinson resident since 1968, moving from Garden City, he was employed as the executive director of retail grocery operations at Dillons, retiring in 1982.

He belonged to Holy Cross Catholic Church and the American Legion Lysle Rishel Post No. 68, both at Hutchinson. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and the Korean conflict, earning a Purple Heart.

On Feb. 6, 1949, he married Bo Boschulte at Liberal. She survives.

Other survivors include: two sons, Tony, Hutchinson, and Bernie, Wichita; two daughters, Barbara Haflich, Denton, Texas, and Sarah Kowitz, Hutchinson; and nine grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister.

Parish rosary will be at 7 p.m. Sunday at Elliott Mortuary Chapel, Hutchinson. Funeral mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Hutchinson, with Father Brian J. Egan presiding. The casket will remain closed and friends may sign the register book from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today and Sunday at the mortuary. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery, Hutchinson.

Memorials may be sent to Hospice of Reno County or the Boys and Girls Club of Hutchinson, both in care of the mortuary.