Imogene Frances Salter

Imogene Frances Salter
1925-2010
Imogene Frances Salter began the rest of her eternal life on February 19, 2010 following a short hospitalization at the Olathe Medical Center in Olathe, Kansas. She was 84 years of age. She had lived in Kansas City, Missouri from 1960 until she moved to Stilwell, Kansas in 1996 and later to Olathe, Kansas. She was a resident at Good Samaritan Nursing Center, Olathe, Kansas at the time of her death.
Imogene was born in Comanche, Oklahoma in 1925 to Doris Clinton and Bertie Mae Crocker. She was the third of four children. Her parents were active members of the Comanche Nazarene Church where they sang duets and often hosted evangelists for revival services. Imogene worked hard in the cotton fields every summer picking cotton, trying to help their family's limited finances. After Imogene's father died of cancer when she was a teenager, Imogene and her mother moved to Dallas, Texas to live with her married sister Judy and her husband Louis Casey. Following high school graduation from Dallas, Texas, she enrolled in a business course to prepare to enter the work force as a secretary.
Imogene met Marlow Salter on a blind date when the young Navy ensign was in flight training at the Naval base in Dallas. They married on October 12, 1946 at Central Church of the Nazarene in Dallas, Texas. In October of 1949, their first daughter, Deborah Marlene, was born followed by another daughter, Dianne Annette, fourteen months later.
Imogene and "Salty," as he was nicknamed in the Navy, moved to Houston, Texas in 1951 when Salty received a promotion from the Prudential Insurance Company where he was employed. It was during those years that God called this young couple into pastoral ministry. In 1954 Marlow and Imogene accepted the assignment to start a church in the growing Bellaire community of Houston where they pastored for six years. For most of that time, Rev. Salter was bi-vocational, continuing his work at Prudential Insurance while Imogene worked out of a makeshift office at home, serving as secretary to the newly elected District Superintendent, Dr. V. H. Lewis. Their son, James Marlow was born in 1959.
In 1960 the Salters, family of five, said good-bye to the Bellaire congregation and moved to Kansas City, Missouri where both Imogene and Salty began careers that spanned the next thirty years. Imogene began part-time work in the Department of Church Schools of the Denominational Headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri in April of 1960. She transferred to the Evangelism Department from May to July of 1960. On July 5, 1960 she accepted a position in the General Superintendent's office from which she retired on August 31, 1991.
Imogene was an avid quilter. She made a quilt for each of her children, grandchildren, 2 of her three great grandchildren, as well as many others. Besides quilting she was known for her Mexican family feasts, birthday spreads with all the favorite foods, the fruit cakes and pecan pies she gave as gifts at Christmas. She also enjoyed accompanying her husband on many of his business trips when he represented the Nazarene Publishing House around the United States and Canada. They were able to see Hawaii, many national parks, and Canada. During many of those road trips, Imogene quilted.




While not known as a sports enthusiast, everyone was surprised at her quick learning and agility when she took ski lessons on a trip to Colorado and became a first-time skier at the age of 60.
After her beloved husband of 49 years died suddenly, she moved to Stilwell, Kansas where she lived with her son. When she was diagnosed with Parkinson's, she moved into Cedar Lake Village, Olathe, Kansas, in 2007 followed by a year and a half living in Olathe, Kansas with daughter and son-in-law Dianne and Roy Pittman. After surgery for a broken hip in June, 2009 she moved to the Good Samaritan Nursing Center where she enjoyed loving care from a committed staff.
She is survived by one brother, D.C. Crocker, of Klamouth Falls, Oregon, daughter Debbie Goodwin (Mark) of Beaverton, Oregon, daughter Dianne Pittman (Roy) of Olathe, Kansas, son Jim Salter of Stilwell, Kansas; three grandchildren Keary Mossman, Lisa Goodwin, Kyle Pittman, and three great grandchildren. Her life of faith and love is the legacy she leaves for all who knew her.