Delma was born April 17, 1934 at Beloit, Kansas to David Pace and Anna Moxter Meall. She was raised on the family farm on the Solomon River southeast of Cawker City, Kansas that had been homesteaded in 1871 by her great grandparents. After completing the elementary grades at Spring Creek country school, she attended Cawker City High School – graduating in 1952.
In the fall of 1952, Delma started college at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas. She graduated in 1957 with a degree in elementary education, including two years teaching on a “60-hour” teaching certificate. She was active in campus life and was honored as Miss Wesleyan her senior year. She graduated summa cum laude.
At Kansas Wesleyan, Delma met her husband Bert Hitchcock of Burlington, Colorado and made a circle of lifelong friends. Wesleyan events remained a focal point and the campus a gathering place for Bert and Delma and their college friends for the rest of their lives.
Delma married Albert E. “Bert” Hitchcock at Cawker City in 1956 and they shared fifty-six years of marriage until his death in 2012. They began their careers at Oakley, Kansas in 1957 and welcomed three children – Steve, Teri, and Jodi – during their time there. Delma taught second grade at Oakley until the arrival of her children and Bert was the junior high principal. The family moved to Ashland and then Russell, where the Hitchcock kids all graduated. At Russell, Delma was a reading specialist at Bickerdyke Elementary School for several years. The couple then moved to Ellsworth and Baldwin City where Bert served as superintendent in those districts and they retired in Baldwin City.
Delma was a lifelong active member of the United Methodist Church and served in various offices in the congregation and United Methodist Women. She was active in community groups in every community, most notably P.E.O., where she was a member for over 50 years. She also sewed over one hundred Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for children of family and friends over the years. In retirement, she researched and preserved family history and genealogy.
She is survived by her children; Steve Hitchcock, Baldwin City, Teri Tankel (Ron), Overland Park, and Jodi Hitchcock, Lawrence, and grandchildren Jordan Ibarra (Joe), Merriam, and Sam Tankel, Denver. She is also survived by her brother Bryan Meall (Dee), Minneapolis, Kansas, niece Dani Walters (Chris), Shawnee, Kansas, nephew David Meall, Brooklyn, New York and several nieces and nephews on the Hitchcock side of the family.
A memorial service will be held at First United Methodist Church of Baldwin City on Saturday July 13 at 11 a.m. with a visitation at 10 a.m. Inurnment will be at Prairie Grove Cemetery in Cawker City, Kansas on a later date.
The family would like to thank the Visiting Nurses and Delma’s friends, especially Katie Skinner and Dallas Merritt for their help and comfort these past few weeks.
Memorial contributions may be made to Kansas Wesleyan University, First United Methodist Church of Baldwin City, and Visiting Nurses of Douglas County and sent c/o Lamb-Roberts-Price Funeral Home, P.O. Box 64, Baldwin City, KS 66006. Condolences may be sent to the family through www.lamb-roberts.com.
