Alma Fern Kuhns

Alma Fern (Miller) Kuhns was born on May 15, 1929, to Billie and Ada (Yoder) Miller in Hesston, Kansas. She went to be with her Lord on December 12, 2021. She spent many of her younger years on a farm near Protection, KS where the family grew a large garden, raised animals for family use, were involved in the nearby one-room school where Billie taught, were active participants in the rural Protection Mennonite Church, and spent many fun-filled hours at Bluff Creek which ran through the farm. She had one older sibling, Chester, and three younger ones, Billie Junior (B.J.), LaVera, and Galen.

In 1947, while attending Hesston College, she met Verlin V. Kuhns, an event that set a course for her life. They were married on December 10, 1948, and were best friends for the rest of their 52 years together. During their marriage, they lived in Shickley, NE, the farm at Protection, KS, and La Junta, CO. Alma mainly worked at their home through the years, but she did have many other part time jobs as well: cooked at a local elementary school; owned and managed a Bible bookstore; and helped to start and co-manage the Crossroads Gift and Thrift store. She also took enough credits from Otero Jr. College in La Junta to be able to graduate from Hesston College finally in 1982 at the age of 53!

Verlin and Alma had two children, Julie Diane and Bruce Jan. They were raised in their early years on the farm in Kansas and moved for their middle and high school years to La Junta. The children count their parents as two of the best they could ever have had. Alma cooked yummy home-cooked food, sewed beautiful handmade clothes, took them on fun-filled vacations, gave them wonderful family connections (Millers and Yoders), provided incredible support as they started families of their own, and prayed continuously for them. Julie and Bruce were nurtured in a home filled with love, and they were shown how to open their lives to the unfathomable love that God, through Jesus, has for them.

After Verlin’s sudden death in 2000, Alma carried on for 21 years without her sweetheart but missed him deeply. She lived at Casa del Sol, a retirement community in La Junta, for the next 12 years, continuing many of the activities she was previously involved in like participation at Emmanuel Mennonite Church and volunteering at the Crossroads Gift and Thrift store. In 2013, she moved into a retirement community in Colorado Springs to be closer to Bruce and his wife, Paula. She lived there until 2018 when she moved into a retirement community in Cedar Falls, Iowa to be closer to Julie, and for the last 8 months of her life, she lived in Conroe, TX with Julie, who was her full-time caregiver. We give God gratitude and praise for sharing Alma with us these 92 years.

Alma leaves behind her family: Julie (Conroe, TX); Julie’s daughter Joni Jones, husband Eric, and children Coleton, Keegan, Haylie and Kylie (Oak Ridge, MO); Julie’s daughter Shelby Ogoli, and children Maleki, Tehya, Jayden, and Isaiah (Conroe, TX); Bruce and wife Paula Brunk (Portland, OR), son Marcos Wright-Kuhns, his wife Bethany, and their children Jamie and Gabe (Portland, OR). Alma also leaves behind siblings B.J. Miller (Goshen, IN), LaVera Ressler (Goshen, IN), and Galen Miller and wife Joan Carroll (Madison, WV). Many nieces, nephews, cousins, and dear friends will also miss her.

Alma was preceded in death by her husband Verlin Victor Kuhns, parents Billie and Ada Miller, her brother Chester Miller and his wife Nell, her sister-in-law Carolyn Miller (BJ’s wife), and her brother-in-law Don Ressler (LaVera’s husband).

The family will have a service to celebrate Alma’s life Friday, July 22, 2022 at Beth-El Mennonite Church in Colorado Spring, CO, at 10:00 in the morning.

Memorial gifts can be given to:
Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp
709 County Road 62
Divide, CO 80814
rmmc.org