Heide Kelso

Heide Schultheiss Kelso of Clifton, Texas, died on March 28 in Waco. 

A Funeral Mass will take place Thursday, March 30, at Holy Angels Catholic Church in Clifton, with Fr. Mariya James officiating. Burial to follow at St. Olaf Cemetery in the Norse District of Cranfills Gap.

Pallbearers are Paul Kelso, Scott Edson, Donald Plattner, Kirk Winemiller, Todd Edson, and Kenneth Michie.

Heide Irmgard Schultheiss was born June 18, 1943, in Offenbach am Main, Germany, the daughter of Friedrich (Fritz) Schultheiss and Paula Reisacher Schultheiss.

After graduating from the School of St. Mary of the Ursulines in Offenbach in 1961, Mrs. Kelso traveled to the United States to visit her older sister, Gertraud (Traudi) Plattner, who lived in Grand Prairie, Texas. She worked at a local cafeteria to learn English and soon met her husband-to-be.

She married Dr. Elmer Lee Kelso on April 22, 1962, at First Christian Church in Arlington, Texas. They had two children and celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2022.

After her children were grown, Mrs. Kelso realized her ambition to become a flight attendant—a yearning she had nurtured from her teens. She flew for American Airlines regularly to Frankfurt.

In 1994, Heide and her husband built a home in Cranfills Gap, Texas, where they lived for nearly 25 years. She was a gourmet cook, an avid reader, and a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend. Her needlepoint compositions are works of art.

Mrs. Kelso, who twice survived cancer, was a long-time parishioner of Holy Angels Catholic Church in Clifton.

Mrs. Kelso was preceded in death by her parents; husband; brother-in-law Dr. Donald Plattner; brothers- and sisters-in-law, Dr. Paul Kelso (Dorothy), John Kelso (Elizabeth), and Dr. George Kelso (Carolyn); niece, Karen Sue Kelso; and great-nephew, Scott Paul Westin.

Survivors include her children, Anita Edson (Scott); Paul Kelso (Jennifer); granddaughter Rachel Christine Kelso; sister Traudi Plattner; brother Peter Schultheiss (Dagmar); and nieces and nephews: Coleen Kelso; Keith, Kenneth, and Benny Kelso (Vangie); Dr. Mark Kelso (Julie); Drs. Leslie Winemiller (Kirk); Paula Michie (Ken); and Donald Plattner (Danielle). Many great- and great-great nieces and nephews also survive her.

Funeral arrangements are being managed by Lawson Funeral Home in Meridian.

Mrs. Kelso’s family would like to thank the compassionate EMT/ambulance and emergency room teams at Goodall Witcher Hospital in Clifton, the ICU team at Ascension Providence Hospital in Waco, and Community Healthcare of Texas’ Providence Hospice Space in Waco for their dedicated service and compassionate care of Mrs. Kelso in her final days.

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