Services for Coralee (Corky) Marshall Ramsay Caillouet will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 6, at First United Methodist Church 946 Vermont St. Lawrence, Kansas 66044. Burial will be in Johnson, Kansas, at a later date.
Corky Caillouet, 83, died on Monday, April 24, 2023. She was born on March 31, 1940, in Newton, Kansas, to John Edward and Edith (Walton) Marshall. She spent most of her childhood in Anthony, Kansas, graduating from Anthony High School in 1958. She graduated from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.
Corky married Curtis A. Ramsay on August 5, 1962, in Anthony, and they moved to their farm in Johnson, Kansas, where Corky for many years continued a life of service to her family, her church, her community, and the world at large. Curtis died in 1989.
Corky married Don R. Caillouet in 1997 and they moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where they lived until Don’s death in 2016 . During her time in Lawrence, Corky was very active at First United Methodist Church where she sang in the choir and participated in numerous other church groups and activities. She also sang in the Lawrence Women’s Chorale. She affected many people’s lives for the better through her work as a social worker at Brandon Woods, and she loved participating in her grandchildren’s lives.
Corky spent her life in kindness. For everyone with whom she interacted, from sales clerk to senator, she had a smile and a kind and encouraging word, making sure she was brightening the world one life at a time. Corky was active throughout her life in groups such as United Methodist Women and Kansas State Farm Bureau, and she accomplished many things in a wide variety of arenas. When Marylee and Keri were very young, Corky was instrumental in bringing Sesame Street to public television in western Kansas. She traveled to Africa as part of a group to promote the TARA (Trade Alternative Reform Action) Project through the United Methodist Church, and she served for many years on the board at United Methodist Youthville in Newton. She also testified before the U.S. Congress during the farm crisis in the 1980’s. In Johnson, Kansas, she served as a District Magistrate Judge pro tem, and she was chosen as the Farm Bureau Queen for the state of Kansas in 1970.
Surviving Corky are her children and step-children: Marylee Ramsay of Wichita, Kansas, Keri Griffin of Lawrence, Dawn (Randy) Smith, Donnie Caillouet, and JaQue (Stu) Singleton all of Olathe, and Brian (Heidi) Brown of Tucson, Arizona. Surviving grandchildren are Devon Griffin; Alicia Griffin; Marshall (Kayla) Griffin; Cora Griffin, Whitney Smith (Austin Roberts), Erica Smith, Samantha Brown, Balee Brown, Baylee Singleton and Jordyn Singleton. Also surviving Corky are her brother John (Ronda) Marshall of Iowa City, Iowa, and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and great-grandchildren.
A luncheon will follow the service at the church and friends may greet the family there.
Memorial donations may be made in Corky’s name to Heifer Project International or to any worthy cause.
