Lois Elaine "Fritz" Palenske, 62, of Salina, Kan., formerly of Marshall, died Monday, March 8, 2004, at Kenwood View Nursing Home in Salina.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 12, at Crable Funeral Chapel in Osage City, Kan. Rev. James Harrelson will officiate. The family will receive friends at 10 a.m. Friday at the funeral home. Burial will be in American Cemetery in Osage. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Salina Hospice or the American Cancer Society in care of Crable Funeral Chapel, 107 N. Sixth, Osage City, KN 66523.

Born Dec. 23, 1941, in Marshall, she was the daughter of the late Ralph Finis Nichols and Helen Louise Hinton Nichols-Lecus. On Feb. 1, 1969, in Ottawa, Kan., she married Merlin Leroy Pearson, whom she later divorced. On Nov. 14, 1987, in Lyndon, Kan., she married Thomas Eugene "Tom" Palenske, who survives of the home. She attended schools in Marshall, graduating from Marshall High School in 1959. From 1982 until 1990, she worked as a secretary for Hallmark Cards in Osage City. She was a member and served as pianist at Midway Baptist Church in Marshall.

Additional survivors include one son, Rodney Shane Pearson of Salina, Kan.; one daughter, Tina Reneé Plaice of Hope, Kan.; one stepdaughter, Sheri Lynn Cafer of Topeka, Kan.; two stepsons, Maj. Thomas Blair Palenske of England and Jacob Eugene Palenske of Sachse, Texas; one sister, Janet Patsy Green of Marshall; and 12 grandchildren.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by one sister, Shirley Sue Edison.