Timili Gartner

Timili Ann (McCormick) Gartner, 59, of Topeka, Kansas, passed away April 12, 2011 at St. Luke's Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri due to complications of a brain aneurysm. Timili was born in Topeka, Kansas to William B. and Shirley (Westfall) McCormick on June 20, 1951. The family will receive friends from 2:00-3:30pm, Sunday, May 1, 2011 at The Woodward Inn, 1272 SW Fillmore Street, Topeka, Kansas. A Remembrance and Celebration of Life will follow. Memorial contributions may be made to TARC, Inc., 2701 SW Randolph Ave., Topeka, Kansas 66611 and Saint Luke's Hospital Foundation, Brain and Stroke Institute, 4225 Baltimore Ave., Kansas City, Missouri, 64111. Timili graduated from Topeka West High School and received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. She married and raised two children while living in Hays, Kansas and Salina, Kansas, until returning to Topeka. Timili worked in many fields while being a wife and mother, as well as being an active member of the PTA and various civic organizations. Although, she always had an underlying passion for cooking and food, undeniably inherited from her mother Shirley as well as her grandmother, Emma. Her initial foray into the culinary world was with a modest food stand at the Smokey Hill River Festival in Salina, Kansas that she named "Deli-icious". Shortly after, upon her family's move back to Topeka and her taking a position at the Governor's Mansion, Cedar Crest, Timili started "Catering by Timili", a regionally acclaimed catering business that grew to be so successful that she was able to take it on full time. As popularity of her amazing talents in the kitchen grew, a restaurant was the obvious next endeavor. "Timili's Cafe and Market" opened in Topeka, Kansas and truly brought the world of gourmet food and cooking to the Kansas Capital. Following her restaurant, Timili continued to work in the food service industry at the Hearthstone Assisted Living Community. Anyone who ever met Timili was immediately affected by her non-judgmental and unwavering desire to listen to, care for and help others. It is not surprising that she eventually left the food industry to work at TARC, Inc., where she assisted and advocated for people with developmental and related disabilities. Personally, Timili was a lover of the arts and a connoisseur of music, listening all day and frequenting local blues clubs and rock concerts. In addition, like her father, Timili was a deep thinker and lover of knowledge, and fully enjoyed the pursuit thereof, whether it be in a classroom setting or from her avid reading. Timili was preceded in death by both parents and a sister, Mary McCormick. She is dearly missed by former husband and friend James Gartner; daughter Megan Knoettgen of Topeka, KS; son William "Wes" Gartner and his fiance Jill Myers of Kansas City, MO; her three grandchildren, Katherine, Jay and Grace Knoettgen, all of Topeka, KS. She is further survived by three sisters, Lory Miller of Overland Park, KS, Jamie McCormick of Lawrence, KS, and Jennifer McCormick, of Topeka, KS; nieces Emily Miller and Emma Jarvis; nephew Andrew Miller. "The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of." - Blaise Pascal Timili A. Gartner