Odette S. Schulte

Odette Suzanne Georgette (Millot) Schulte, age 94, passed away on Saturday, September 9, 2017, in Wichita, Kansas, after struggling with dementia during the last decade of her life. A celebration of life service will be held at 6:30 P.M., Thursday, September 14, 2017, at Dengel & Son Mortuary, Ottawa, Kansas. A funeral mass will follow the next day at 10:00 A.M., Friday, September 15, 2017, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 408 S. Cedar Street, Ottawa. Burial at Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Ottawa. Odette was born in Paris, France on May 7, 1923 to Georges Marcel Millot and Suzanne (Navet) Millot. Odette’s father was a barber and hair stylist. Georges died of tuberculosis on May 4, 1937. Suzanne married Henri Bellefontaine soon after and Henri adopted Odette. Henri was serving in the French Army when the Nazis invaded France, and Odette and her mother evacuated to the south of France. They returned several weeks later after the Nazi victory, and Henri was demobilized and returned to Paris. Odette completed secondary school during this time. After the Allies liberated Paris, Odette worked as a typist and translator for the U.S. Army, where she met Lieutenant John W. Schulte while he served with the Vehicle Maintenance Company of the 3104th Ordnance Base Armament Battalion. John was discharged as a 1st Lieutenant on March 8, 1946. Odette followed John to the U.S. on April 30, 1946, and became a U.S. citizen the following year. Odette and John married in Bay City, Michigan on June 15th, 1946, and then moved to Kansas City, Missouri. Odette worked as a seamstress in the Wolf Brothers alterations department and in a tailor shop until welcoming their first child in 1953. John ran an office furniture business, and then worked as a bookkeeper. He earned a Certified Public Accountant certificate from Rockhurst College on July 27, 1956, and went to work for Sinderson, Henning, and Meuller Certified Public Accountants. The family moved to Prairie Village, Kansas on June 2, 1958, until John transferred to Sinderson, Henning, and Meuller’s Ottawa, Kansas office in 1962. Holden, Schulte, and Klein Certified Public Accountants was formed on October 1, 1968, and became Schulte, Klein, Gaeddert, and Agler Certified Public Accountants in 1970. John retired in 1981. Odette returned to work in 1974, first for the H.D. Lee Company, and then King Radio in 1976. She was active in the International Federation of Business and Professional Women. She retired in 1988. Odette moved to Lawrence, Kansas in 2008 with her daughter, Anne, and relocated to Wichita, Kansas in 2014 with her other daughter, Susan. Odette’s hobbies were sewing and knitting, walking and bicycling, having received her first bicycle at 5 years old. Odette also studied creative writing at the Ottawa Library, and recorded her memoirs, wrote poetry and short stories. She and John loved to travel and visit family, and Odette returned to France numerous times to visit family and friends. Odette and John attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ottawa. Odette is survived by four children, Steve Schulte and wife Jackie of Halstead, Susan Casper and husband Gary of Wichita, Anne Murdock of Lawrence, and Scott Schulte and wife Leslie of Merriam; ten grandchildren, Jennifer, Jackie, Kelly, and Samuel Schulte, Jason and Ryan Murdock, April and Nathan Casper, Megan Schulte, and David Terry; twenty-four great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; and husband, John Schulte. Her family would like to thank the staff of Reflection Living and the Phoenix Hospice team for taking such wonderful care of Odette in her final months. The family suggests memorial contributions to Alzheimer’s Association of Central and Western Kansas c/o Dengel & Son Mortuary, 235 S. Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas 66067. Family and friends are encouraged to post their condolences and memories on Odette’s Tribute Wall at www.dengelmortuary.com