Ethel May Hoke, 93, died June 20, 2012, at her home. She was born June 23, 1918, in Dighton, Kan., the daughter of Hiram Edward and Cecil Gray (Carl) Wristen.

She was a 1936 graduate of Garden City High School and a 1941 graduate of the University of Kansas. A longtime Prairie Village, Kansas resident, she moved to Hutchinson in 2004. She was a research economist with Ralston Purina Company, St. Louis, Mo.; a secretary at Colonial Church in Prairie Village, Kan.; and Director of Volunteers for the Pen Pal Program for People to People, Kansas City, Mo. Ethel became a Docent at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo. in 1990 and continued with that activity until she moved to Hutchinson in 2004. She was well known among family, friends and art circles as someone who had seen all 36 of the paintings by Johannes Vermeer, a Dutch artist, which included being invited to the personal residence of Baron and Countess Guy de Rothchild in Paris, France to see their Vermeer painting "The Astronomer." She traveled extensively with her husband in the United States, Europe and part of the South Pacific. She was a 52-year member of the Colonial Church (UCC) in Prairie Village, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Hutchinson since 2005.

On March 1, 1942, she married Ralph Edward Hoke in Wichita. He preceded her in death June 27, 2008.

Survivors include: daughter, Carolyn Patterson and her husband Mike of Hutchinson; son, Charles Hoke and his wife Carroll of Wichita; two grandsons, Noah Patterson of San Diego, Calif. and Evan Patterson of Tucson, Ariz.; two granddaughters, Leilani Burton and husband John of Tucson, Ariz., and Etienne Olson and husband Kevin of Magnolia, Texas; four great-grandchildren, Andrew, Graham and Emma Olson and Mahalia May Burton. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph Edward Hoke; brother, Carl Edward Wristen; and sister, Allabelle Wristen Stonehocker.

Memorial service will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, June 25, 2012, at Wesley Towers Conference Room, 700 Monterey Place, Hutchinson, with Reverend Amy Dame officiating. Family will receive friends following the service. Cremation is planned. Friends may sign the book from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today through Sunday at Elliott Mortuary, Hutchinson.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Wesley Towers Good Samaritan Fund, Hospice of Reno County or Colonial Church (UCC), Prairie Village, in care of Elliott Mortuary, 1219 N Main, Hutchinson, KS 67501.