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.