Darla Callendar

Darla Jo (Applegate) Callender, age 58, died on May 13th, 2021. 

Darla was born on October 4th, 1962, in Wellington Kansas, to parents Robert and Dorene (Cook) Applegate. She graduated from Wellington High School in 1980 and went on to attend Baker University for a year before transferring to Fort Hays State University, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education in 1985.

She began her lifelong career as an educator and spent the next 34 years teaching preschool in both Texas and Kansas. She taught for many years at Future’s Unlimited in Wellington, and eventually became the preschool teacher at the Wellington Christian Academy in 2006, where she was able to combine her love for teaching and Jesus. 

Darla was a brilliant, passionate, and beloved teacher who touched the lives of so many children over the years. She felt that teaching was God’s calling for her, and will be remembered for her kindness, patience, and loving spirit. She remembered every child she taught throughout the years and loved them all as if they were her own.

She married Nicholas Callender on July 1st, 1989 at the First Christian Church in Wellington. They shared 31 years of marriage. Darla’s greatest joys in life were her two daughters, Kristen and Karley, and her 4 grandchildren. She spent her weekends and summers with her grandbabies, and never missed out on a moment with them. She loved taking them to the park or pool, baking with them, and snuggling them up on her lap with a book. 

Darla was an active member of the First Christian Church in Wellington her entire life and enjoyed singing in the choir, teaching Sunday school, and helping with the youth group. She also enjoyed sewing and gardening and loved spending time visiting her siblings and another extended family. She was always up for a trip or adventure and truly enjoyed living every moment of her life to the fullest. 

Darla is survived by her husband Nick of Mayfield; her two daughters, Kristen (Chris) Keeler of Wichita, and Karley Callender of Wichita; her beloved grandchildren, Liam Snider, Kate and Ryan Keeler, and her newest grandbaby Luke Keller, all of Wichita, KS. Her mother, Dorene Applegate of Wellington; her siblings: David (Nadine) Applegate of Tulsa, OK; Dianne Dunn of Tulsa, OK; Deena Byers of Wellington, KS; and Dixie (Brian) Bohannon of Tulsa, OK., as well as numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. 

She is preceded in death by her father, Robert Applegate, and her mother-in-law, Sharon Callender. 

Memorial services for Darla will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, May 29, 2021, at the First Christian Church in Wellington, Kansas. 

A memorial fund has been established in her loving memory to the First Christian Church. Contributions may be mailed of left with the funeral home. To share a memory, leave condolences, or sign her tribute wall visit www.cornejofuneralhome.com.

Arrangements by Cornejo Funeral Home + Crematory, 1030 Mission Road, Wellington, Kansas 67152.