Viola Klassen Jost to celebrate 100th birthday years ago
Friends and family are invited to help Viola (Klassen) Jost celebrate her 100th birthday at 3 p.m. May 18. The event will be held in the fellowship hall of Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church, Hillsboro.
Viola has led a full and interesting life.
A resident of Hillsboro for 78 years, she has been an active member of Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church, Sunday school teacher, youth group leader, and member of the Mary Circle of WMS.
A leader of local and county 4-H club activities, YWCA and GR clubs, Viola became a member of the Mentor Study Club in 1924. She and other members gathered books and opened the first Hillsboro city library in 1926.
For many years she was a Republican precinct committeeman for Hillsboro. A strong patron of Tabor College, Viola is an avid supporter of higher education. She holds three degrees in education, all of which she attained as an adult during her busy lifetime.
She was a teacher in rural schools of Marion County and was elected and served as county superintendent of Marion County schools from 1956 to 1969.
She was a member and officer of Kansas and National Teachers' Associations and the American Association of School Administrators. Viola also was a charter member of Alpha Omega Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma.
Viola and her husband George Klassen were foster parents of 12 children and she was named an Honorary Kansas Merit Mother of the Year in 1967. George died in 1955.
When Viola married P.G. Jost in 1962, she gained nine stepchildren. She was an outstanding homemaker and enjoyed baking and decorating wedding cakes as a hobby.
Born in the Flint Hills near Latham, she put her memoirs in print in 1992 with the publishing of a book entitled, "Legacy of a Flintstone."
Those unable to attend the celebration may send her a card at Parkside Homes, B-23, 200 Willow Road, Hillsboro.
