Joyce Jeanette Schild

No services for Joyce Jeanette Schild, 96, Lawrence are planned. Inurnment will take place at Pioneer Cemetery in Lawrence at a later date. She died Saturday, May 13, 2017, at Medicalodges Eudora, of natural causes.

Joyce lived a full life, with a marriage lasting over six decades. She was the mother of three daughters and was actively engaged with her children’s schools, and Scout activities. She loved to garden and travel. For years, the family spent vacations camping in national parks across the United States.

Joyce was proud of helping establish the Lawrence Art Guild and Art in the Park. In 2007, she received a Phoenix Award presented by the Lawrence Art Commission.

Joyce was born on April 14, 1921, in Sioux City, Iowa, one of seven children of Alwin Price and Elsie Minnie (Pfaff) McKercher.
She earned both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in art education, receiving her advanced degree at a time when that wasn’t a common accomplishment for women. She had careers as a teacher and artist, as well as a Mom and remained active as an artist her entire life.
Joyce was an art teacher and supervisor from 1943 to 1950, employed by Detroit Public Schools and in Waverly, Iowa, Iowa City, and at the University of Iowa.

She was an Honored Member of the University Women’s Club, a lifelong Democrat, and participated in several art groups with her friends. She was for many years an active member of the Lawrence Unitarian Fellowship. For over 25 years, as a member of the Wayside Garden Club, she silk-screened original covers for their membership directory, each year featuring a special flower or plant.

Joyce married Alvin H. Schild on April 14, 1949, in Norwood, MN. He was a KU professor, and they lived in Lawrence from the late 1940s until their deaths, including a home on Clinton Lake they helped build after Al’s retirement. He preceded her in death on January 14, 2013. Joyce and her daughter Darcy shared a home for the past four years.

Survivors include three daughters, Linda Kay Twitchell of Bellingham, WA; Darcy Elaine Schild, Lawrence; Crystal Dawn Schild-Carstens, and husband, Ken, Helotes, Texas; four grandchildren, Max Twitchell, Uma Carstens, Ellie Carstens, and Phoebe Carstens; sister Bonnie C. Adams and brother Tom McKercher; and many nieces and nephews.

The family suggests memorial contributions in her name to Lawrence Memorial Hospital-Oncology Unit, or the Wild Animal Sanctuary of Keenesburg, Colorado. They may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.