Lois Kae (Friesen) Huber, 75, who served God and her community in ministries of music and education, died Nov. 14, 2025, in Hutchinson, Kan.
She was born on Oct. 14, 1950, in Fowler, Kan., to Isaac (Ike) L. and Kathryn M. Friesen, and grew up on a dairy and wheat farm and attended church in Meade, Kan. She was preceded in death by older brothers Lloyd and Clyde who both died in infancy. Her father died in 1951, two weeks after her first birthday, and she and her mother formed an inseparable bond as they faced life together.
Lois was baptized at Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Meade, where already in junior high she began accompanying congregational singing and performing special music on organ and piano. She would share these God-given talents in spaces sacred and secular for the rest of her life, from modest Kansas churches to the pipe organ in Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles. Her prayers to be able to play by ear were never answered, but she could sight-read flawlessly and the world was a better place for it.
She enrolled at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan., in 1970, where she met her partner in music and life, Jay Huber. This was the beginning of a commitment to never turning down a request to provide music for marriages, funerals and other keystone moments. Their duet crescendoed when they were married Aug. 19, 1973, in Meade.
After graduating from Tabor with degrees in music and education in 1974, she began her education career teaching at schools in western Reno County, Kan. The couple moved to South Hutchinson in 1978, and Lois made positive impacts on generations of young lives for decades in both the classroom and the church.
Lois taught 1,004 children including her sons in her kindergarten classroom anchoring the southern end of South Hutchinson Elementary School. Mrs. Huber introduced students to letters, numbers, Stone Soup, teddy bear picnics, churned butter on Kansas Day, basic concepts in treating others as you would like to be treated and Christmas programs she produced that she directed and accompanied on piano at the same time. She retired after three decades but couldn’t stop teaching, graduating finally to junior high as a paraeducator assisting in math and English classrooms.
She was just as dependable at South Hutchinson Mennonite Church, now known as Journey Mennonite Church, where she could be found at the organ and piano for four decades. Lois accompanied hymns and choirs, shared polished preludes and special music, and planned worship services and Christmas programs.
She was preceded in death by her brothers and parents, and is survived by her husband Jay, sons Tim (Heidi) in Newton and Jonathan (Jessica) in Wichita, and grandchildren Gustav, Hazel and Astrid Huber.
A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. Dec. 13 at Journey Mennonite Church in South Hutchinson. Family will hold a time of sharing memories at 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at Journey Mennonite Church. Memorials can be made to Alpha-1 Foundation or in support of music scholarships at Tabor College.