Mavis Wiseman

Memorial service for Mavis Paterson Wiseman, 94, Lawrence will be held 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 6, 2012 at First Presbyterian Church, Lawrence.  Private family inurnment will take place at Pioneer Cemetery.   Mrs. Wiseman died April 1, 2012 at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor.

She was born March 7, 1918 in Kingsbury County, SD the daughter of William and Gertrude (Smith) Paterson. 

Mavis Paterson graduated from South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD in 1940.  Upon graduation, she went to work for the US Census bureau in Washington, DC. 

She married Gordon Gray Wiseman on April 5, 1942, and moved to Canton, MO and later to Lawrence, KS.

While in Lawrence, she worked at a number of Federal Civil Service jobs, including Haskell Institute, the US Navy Office at the University of Kansas, and the US Air Force Recruiting Office.  She was also active in a number of volunteer organizations in Lawrence.  In particular, she was one of the founders of “Small World”, a volunteer organization for teaching English and life skills to the spouses of foreign students.  She was active in the Presbyterian Church at the local state and national level.

Survivors include, husband, Gordon Wiseman, Lawrence; two sons, Bill Wiseman and wife, Kathleen, Ottawa, Alan Wiseman and wife, Marilyn, Milwaukee, WI; four grandchildren, Clinton, Lauren, Eleanor, and Wesley.   

Memorial contributions may be made in her name to First Presbyterian Church and may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.  
 

11 Condolences

  1. Bill Skubi on April 2, 2012 at 11:53 pm

    Mavis was my dear Aunt. We are the poorer for losing this dear woman. But how sweet to know the three lively Paterson sisters are now together again



  2. Jennifer Joie Webster on April 3, 2012 at 8:42 am

    What a wonderful tribute to a great lady. I am sure you are all very proud of her full life. She is still very remarkable in her compassion and ability to reach it out.



  3. Layne Bowen on April 3, 2012 at 11:11 am

    Sounds like a life very well lived. My condolences to the family for their loss of this beautiful lady.



  4. chris edmondson on April 3, 2012 at 1:49 pm

    Sorry to hear about your Mom. She was always one of my favorites.I always loved her bike.She was way ahead of the times.Give me a call& we’ll go have a beer & rehash our Hillcrest days.841-2078



  5. Peggy Price on April 3, 2012 at 2:13 pm

    I am sorry for the loss of Mavis in our world. She has been a delight to know these past years. She had a funny sense of humor,she was very articulate and truly one of God’s disciples. I remember talking to Mavis about her idea to write a history of the women of the bible. She will be missed greatly.



  6. Saunny Scott on April 4, 2012 at 8:39 am

    I have lots of wonderful memories from Small World and from visiting in her home.



  7. Sue and Nowhan Kwak on April 5, 2012 at 12:13 pm

    We are surprised to the news.
    She was a wonderful woman whom we have known.

    Our sincere condolence to the family.

    Sue and Nowhan Kwak



  8. Rosalind Deprair on April 6, 2012 at 11:22 am

    I loved listening to Mavis’s memories of South Dakota. She shared stories that I passed on to my students. For example, she knew Mary–the blind sister in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. What an accomplished and intelligent lady Mavis was!!



  9. Roberta Paterson on April 10, 2012 at 8:51 pm

    very sorry to hear of the passing of Mavis Paterson Wiseman. (She was my dad’s cousin, born a few months ahead of him in 1918, and apparently they had once been very competitive about their grades in school!) A very lovely and accomplished woman, I last saw her in 1976 at my grandmother Madeline’s 80th birthday party — Mavis had driven up to SD by herself from Kansas, and emerged from her car fresh as a daisy, and very charming. As a child, I knew her parents, Uncle Will & Auntie Gertrude, quite well. (They were so proud of their three beautiful,smart daughters.) My most sincere sympathy to her whole family, and network of friends.



  10. Edgar on April 13, 2012 at 8:48 pm

    Maybe your book is too controversial is a tiolpe way of saying these people have never heard of you, so your name and face are not going to sell this crappy book .



  11. Lore Olson Kebir on August 20, 2013 at 4:09 pm

    Mavis was a remarkable woman, ahead of her time. She went to Brookings High School and South Dakota State College and was a dear friend of my father, Ed Olson and our cousin Omar Otterness. She was on the Bobcat Staff, Broboca, Dramatic Club, Debate, Jr-Sr Play and the Forensic Club. She was very proud of her family and loved them dearly. She’s probably in heaven now debating with my father and Irwin Johnson.



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