Arthur Ray Varella

Arthur Ray "Art" Varella, 56, of Topeka, died Monday, June 6, 2016, after extended illnesses. He was born May 28, 1960, on the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan to Arthur Contreras and Mary Lou (Delk) Varella. Art enjoyed being a Boy Scout – especially the camping trips, where he learned to cook elaborate meals over a fire. He graduated from Topeka High School in 1978.

Art married Juanita Muñoz on May 3, 1980. Together they had two children, Arthur Montez and Lyndsey Ann Varella. He later married Renée Lynn Anderson on March 29, 2003.

Art is survived by his wife, Renée; children, Arthur Varella (Colleen) and Lyndsey Varella; grandchildren Logan (14), Jordyn (12) and Isaiah (7); his mother, Mary Lou Varella; three sisters, Mary Alice Varella, Frances Fay Varella and Eleanor Catherine (Varella) Miles; brother-in-law, Frank Miles and half-sister, Tonia Varella. He was preceded in death by his father and by Beth Smith, Alice's partner and Kelly Rafferty, who Fran loved dearly for six years.

Art was passionate about cooking, history, WWII aircraft and weaponry, science fiction, classic rock and helping his family and friends. He was an avid reader of Popular Science magazine and loved to engineer things. He was voracious learner and everyone wanted Art on their team for Trivial Pursuit. He was famous for his grilled chicken, "burger dirt", queso, guacamole, spaghetti and cheesy egg ramen. He loved cooking for people and seeing people enjoy his food.

Art had an incredible work ethic. He started working when he was 11 years old raking leaves, mowing lawns and shoveling snow. He worked as a salesman with great integrity and was always looking for way to take care of the customer. He worked for Combined Insurance and Prudential, quickly rising to the level of Sales Manager, where he was training other sales people. He also worked at Smith Audio-Visual and at Southwestern Bell/AT&T. His favorite jobs were working in the furniture repair shop at Discovery Furniture and working for a metal fabrication company, where he designed and built a specialty trailer for an ultra light airplane.

Art was incredibly funny and known for his great sense of humor and his unique "Artisms." The great love of his life was his wife, Renée, "The Babe." Their favorite vacations included camping together in the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming and driving out to the Grand Canyon. Together, they have studied Bowen Family Systems Theory and have worked on their relationship with a coach as a couple and individually for more than 14 years. Renee and Art loved their dog Boo who was such a comfort and delight to them during this challenging season of illness. He was so proud of his two children, Art and Lyndsey and three grandchildren, Logan, Jordyn and Isaiah.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm., Friday, June 10, 2016, at Mount Hope Cemetery & Funeral Chapel, 4700 SW 17th Street in Topeka. A visitation will be held for friends and family following the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Helping Hands Humane Society, 5720 SW 21st Street, Topeka, KS 66604 or the Topeka Rescue Mission, P.O. Box 8350, Topeka, Kansas 66608.

To leave a special message for the family, please click on the "Share Memories" button at the top of this page.