Anna Marie Banks, 96, of Atchison, Kansas died peacefully on August 20, 2023 at Atchison Senior Village surrounded by her family.

Anna's life will be celebrated on Thursday, August 24, 2023, at at the Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home with a visitation at 10 am followed by a rosary and funeral service at 11 am with Fr. Jeremy Heppler, OSB as celebrant. Interment will follow in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. A lunch will be served at St. Joseph Church following the burial. Memorials may be left for Mass Intentions, Mt. Calvary Cemetery or NEK Hospice in care of the funeral home.

Anna Marie Strathman was born in Seneca, Kansas on May 11, 1927, the daughter of John and Barbara (Weber) Strathman. She was a mother and housewife for twenty-six years before accepting employment at Atchison High School in the cafeteria in 1978. She worked 13.5 years before retiring in 1992.

She was a member of St. Benedict Parish, Atchison, Kansas. Anna enjoyed baking, sewing, gardening and especially enjoyed going for rides to the river and area lakes with her husband, seeking out wildlife, visiting with friends and sunshine and blue skies, but most of all, she loved to be warm, cozy and quiet. Her 9 children were her world. She was always anxious to tell anyone who would listen about them.

Anna married Donald I. Banks on February 26, 1952 at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Fidelity, Kansas with Father Vincent Kongs officiating their wedding. They were blessed with 71 years of marriage spending each and every day together. They began their married life in Sabetha, Kansas then later moved to the Cummings, Kansas area and finally to Atchison.

Anna is survived by her husband, Donald, 9 children, Lynn (Evelyn) Banks, St. Joseph, MO; Gerald (Terri)Banks; Galen (Donna) Banks, Lyle (Lindra) Banks, Linda (Gary) Lee; Cathy (the late Kenneth Scholz; Arthur (Brenda) Banks and Lisa (John) Foster, all of Atchison; Donna (Johnny) Martin, Effingham, KS; twenty-one grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her parents, John and Barbara Strathman; three brothers, Leonard, Carl and Ben Strathman; three sisters, Henrietta Carpenter; Rosalia Becker and Rita Rettele; son-in-law, Kenneth Scholz; great grandson, Max Banks and great granddaughter, Presley Lee.

The family would like to thank Atchison Senior Village; NEK Hospice and Amberwell Atchison for their loving care of Anna.