Delores Strope

Delores Ann Strope, 80, long-time Atchison resident and Wal-Mart greeter passed away on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015 at the Atchison Medicalodge. Funeral services will be 10:00 am on Friday, Feb. 27th, 2015 at the Becker-Dyer-Stanton Funeral Home with Rev. Dr. Rachel Dannar officiating. Burial will follow in the Sunset Memory Gardens, Atchison. The family will receive friends from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Thursday, Feb. 26th, 2015 at the funeral home. Memorial contributions are suggested to the Salvation Army and may be sent in care of the funeral home. Condolences and memories to the family may be left online at www.beckerdyer.com. Delores Ann O’Reilly was born on Oct. 22, 1934 in Atchison, Kansas, to parents Patrick and Sylvia (Sumner) O’Reilly. She attended schools in Atchison, graduating from Atchison High School in 1952. During her teenage years, she was active in the Salvation Army where she played trombone and bass in the corps band. Delores also worked as the secretary-bookkeeper of the church. In 1953, Delores attended the Salvation Army Training College in Chicago, IL. She served as a Lieutenant with appointments in Kansas City, Topeka, and Coffeyville, Kansas. Delores married Harold Strope in Miami, OK on Sept. 22, 1956. After their two daughters were born , the family moved to California, returning to the Atchison area in 1969. She and her husband were lessees of the Gulf Oil Station in Atchison where she worked as bookkeeper. Other places of employment were USD 409 as a paraprofessional, Atchison Leather Products, and Atchison Wal-Mart as a greeter. Delores cherished her family and enjoyed meeting new people. Delores had a smile for everyone she met and saw the good in all. Her interests included sewing, traveling, music, and the theater. She was a charter member of the Atchison Sweet Adeline’s. She participated in productions at Theatre Atchison and was chosen to be a paid extra in the television movie “Cross of Fire”. Delores was a member of the First Presbyterian Church where she served as a Sunday School Teacher, deacon, and elder and church choir member. In 1991, she was appointed as a board member of the local Selective Service System after completing training in Wichita, KS. Delores loved learning and took college courses in psychology, sociology, philosophy, and biology at local colleges. Delores is survived by her daughters, Linda (David) Ingels, Cummings, KS., Terri (Mark) Schlange, Bellevue, NE, four grandchildren , one great grandson and a great granddaughter on the way; two sisters, Gloria Harris, Atchison, and Dixie Wherry, Memphis, Tenn, and nieces and nephews. Her parents, husband Harold, step father, Ralph Pike, and sister, Donna Harris preceded her in death.