Charlotte M. Belles

Charlotte May (Miller) Belles was born February 1, 1923 in Beloit, Kansas, the 4th and youngest child of Edith Beulah (Noah) Miller and Laverne Chandler Miller. Her life of 87 years ended on Sat. May 29, 2010 at the Mitchell County Hospital in Beloit, Ks. Growing up she was a "tomboy", played baseball and swung through the trees on ropes with the neighbor kids. One story she told was when she had a sled, she and her cousin Max Noah would hook on behind cars with a rope and let them pull the sled through the streets of town. All was great fun until one day her Dad took them for a ride. When he looked out the window of the car and saw the sled beside him he realized how dangerous what they were doing was. He took the sled to the sale and sold it. Charlotte went fishing with her Dad and helped her brother Keith check his trap lines.
Charlotte attended Rodger's Grade School in Beloit and graduated from Beloit High School class of 1941. After graduating she worked as the secretary for the Principal of the High School and then secretary for the Superintendent of schools and clerk of the Board of Education. From 1943 to 1946 she worked in the First National Bank of Beloit.
On June 2, 1946 Charlotte married Noel Lorraine Belles in a private ceremony in the Methodist Church parsonage in Beloit. After a honeymoon trip to Colorado Springs, Noel and Charlotte made their home on a farm south east of Beloit. There Charlotte had to learn how to cook and take care of a house, something she never had time for before. With a little help from her Mother-in-law, Edna Belles, she became a very good cook, making breads, cakes and pies from scratch. Her specialty was a bubble bread that she made for every holiday. She also learned to care for the cattle, sheep, hogs and chickens. Many times in the winter there would be a box of new born pigs behind the stove to keep warm and Charlotte would feed them with an eyedropper. She also always had a large garden. While Charlotte was learning to be a farm wife she also became a mother giving birth to four children; two girls, Delores Jean and Cynthia Kay, and two boys, Edwin Scott and Wayne Noel.
Charlotte was an active member of the United Methodist Church, Beloit; the Logan Learners H.D.U.; a neighborhood club, H.T.H., and the Solomon Valley Camera Club.
Noel and Charlotte loved to travel and every year they would load the kids and camping gear into the car and travel across the country. Over the years they visited almost every state and parts of Canada and Old Mexico. Their last trip was to Alaska where after touring most of the state in their pickup and 5th wheel camper, Noel suffered a fatal heart attack. They had been happily married for 41 years.
After Noel's death Charlotte moved to Beloit and let her son Wayne take over the farming. Until her health declined, Charlotte busied herself with volunteer work for meals on wheels and other activities for the Beloit 1st Christian Church, where she transferred her membership to, to be able to do more with friends.
Charlotte was preceded in death by both her parents, her step-mother, Freeda (Chandler) Tuttle Miller, 1 brother, John Keith Wesley Miller, 2 sisters, Cora Malinda Swihart and Dorothy Marie Rotman, her husband Noel and her son Wayne.
Left to mourn her death are her daughters Delores Jean White (husband Gary) of Omaha, NE, Cynthia Kay Efken (husband Melvin) of Tipton, KS, and son Edwin Scott Belles (wife Jacque) of Blair, NE, daughter-in-law, Cindy Belles, of Atchison, KS, 10 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren.