WALTER, Neva Lee (Van Royen) - b. June 20, 1947 - d. November 18, 2024

[patyrn]

Neva Lee Walter, age 77, of Howard, Kansas, passed away November 18, 2024 at the Kansas Heart Hospital in Wichita, Kansas.  She was born June 20, 1947 in Eureka, Kansas to Ernest and Laura (Ferry) Van Royen.

Neva grew up alongside three brothers and two sisters and graduated from Howard High School with the Class of 1965.  After graduating high school, she attended college in Emporia, Kansas.  Over the years, she wore many hats, working at the Twilight Manor Nursing Home in Howard, the Howard Library where she served on the Board for many years, as a clerk for her husband Gene's auctioneer company, and as the Register of Deeds for Elk County, Kansas for 28 years.  She was very proud of the fact that she was elected by the people to work for them, which meant the world to her.  She also was known to babysit lots of the kids around Howard, and most of them remember her showing them how to use the old time wringer washing machine she had.

As a young woman, Neva married but later divorced.  To this marriage, she had two sons, Robert Carey and Curtis Carey.  On July 3, 1982, she married Gene Walter.  They have been married 42 years, and together, they had a son, Matthew Walter.

In her spare time, Neva loved listening to country music, watching old westerns, reading western books and novels, crocheting sweaters and scarves, and collecting antiques that she would find at auctions she was working. 

Neva is survived by her husband, Gene Walter; her sons, Curtis (Sheri) Carey, Robert (Karen) Carey, and Matthew (Megan) Carey; grandchildren, Austin Carey, Dalton Glass, Chaz Carey, and Levi Carey; two great-grandchildren; her brother, Russell Van Royen; and her sister, Rita Lee.  She was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, James Van Royen and Kenny Van Royen; and her sister, Lola Davis.

Funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, November 25, 2024 at Countryside Funeral Home in Howard, Kansas.  The family will receive friends at visitation from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. prior to the service.  Burial will follow in Grace Lawn Cemetery in Howard, Kansas.  Memorial contributions are suggested to the Elk County Community Foundation for the Howard Library and can be mailed to or left with the funeral home.  Services have been entrusted to Countryside Funeral Home, 206 E. Washington, Howard, Kansas 67349.

(taken from the Countryside Funeral Home website)