Wilma Judith Berks, 86, of Kansas City, MO, passed away Monday, February 15, 2016, at the Gower Convalescent Center in Gower, MO under the care of NorthCare Hospice. Visitation will be 1-2pm on February 19,2016 at Vansant-Mills Funeral Home in Clinton, Missouri with the funeral following at 2pm. Burial will follow at Englewood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to Easter Seals. Fond memories and condolences can be left online at www.vansant-millsfuneralhome.com.

Wilma was born May 31, 1929, to William James and Helen Margaret (Goodbrake) Calvin in Clinton, MO.

She was raised in Clinton and graduated from Clinton High School in 1947. She did some exploring after high school, working in Kansas City and Washington, D.C. followed by some time in Columbia at the University of Missouri. Her father's poor health brought her back to Clinton where she met and married Raymond Bernard Berks on April 14, 1952. They lived on a farm in Montrose, MO until Ray's bad back forced him off the farm. Next, they moved to Clinton where Ray was a partner in a Skelly Gas Station. In 1959, they moved to Pleasant Hill, MO where they lived and raised their three girls until 1981. Wilma was a stay at home mother until 1967 when she went back to college at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, MO. She worked part-time as a substitute teacher until offered a permanent position in the reading program at the Pleasant Hill Schools. She got into cake decorating to the delight of her children and grandchildren and became so good at it, she did it as a business on the side for many years. She taught until 1981 when Ray was transferred to Arlington, TX. They moved to Mansfield, TX where they lived until Ray was retired on disability. While in Texas, she started a ceramics hobby and made many dolls, Christmas trees, and other family treasures. In 1987, they moved to Cassville, MO, where they lived until health problems forced them to move closer to their doctors in Kansas City. They moved to Rich Hill, MO in 1992 and then eventually to Kansas City in 2005.

At the time of her death, she was a member of the Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church in Kansas City and the Mary Sibley Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Harrisonville, MO.

She is survived by her three daughters: Judith LaRue Chadwick and husband, Morrow "Doc", of Climax Springs, MO; Polly Elizabeth Robinson and husband, Rod, of Newtown, MO; daughter, Jennifer Berks Blake and husband, Brian, of Kansas City, MO; five grandchildren, William Ray LaRue and wife, Gwen, of Prescott, AZ; Daniel Calvin Blake of Huntsville, AL; Adam Christopher Blake of Chincoteague Island, VA; Ashley Rae Robinson of Trenton, MO; Jaimie Renee Robinson of Newtown, MO; four LaRue great-grandchildren, Spencer William, Calvin August, Perry Ray Berks, and Hope Helena Ann; and a sister, Helen Elizabeth Grimes and husband, Robert W., of Prairie Village, KS. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents and three infant siblings, Christopher John, Christena Jane, and William James Jr.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Vansant-Mills Funeral Home of Clinton, Missouri.