Joyce Eileen Scritchfield

Joyce Eileen Scritchfield, 89, rural St. George, passed on September 21 at Good Shepherd Hospice House in Manhattan, KS. She was born October 13, 1922, in Norfolk, Nebraska to Eli P. and Stella L. Pinet. As a young child she lived in Frankfort where she attended Frankfort Elementary School. Her family moved to a farm in Keats, KS where she completed high school. She married Clarence B. Scritchfield of Manhattan, KS in October 1938 at Junction City. They moved to Wichita where she became a homemaker and Clarence worked for Beech Aircraft. When Clarence served in the Navy during WW II, she and the children traveled to be with him when possible. Joyce, her husband and family returned to Manhattan in 1949 after purchasing a farm near St. George. They operated a Grade-A dairy farm. She worked for Kansas Farm Bureau for 30 years. Initially she worked as the Kansas Farm Bureau librarian, with additional editorial responsibilities for the daily Tablegram, an internal newsletter for employees and for the monthly Beeline, a newsletter sent to Farm Bureau county and field offices. In 1970 she became the executive secretary for the Systems and Procedures Manager, a position she held until retirement in 1980. She was a member of the St. George United Methodist Church, the Adult Sunday School Class and the Women’s Fellowship. She did volunteer work that included Hospice of Manhattan, teaching reading at the Adult Learning Center and volunteer work at St. George Elementary School. In her later years she enjoyed playing golf with her husband, planning trips with her sisters-in-laws and supporting grandchildren in their activities. Survivors include a daughter, Jo Ann Mayer of rural St. George; and two daughter-in-laws, Janice Winchell of Dallas, TX and Roberta Scritchfield of Leawood, KS; a niece, Karen Findling of Golden, CO: four grandchildren, Greg Mayer (Deborah) of Shawnee, KS, David Mayer of Manhattan, Jimmy Winchell of Dallas, TX and Sarah Alvidrez of Leawood, KS and three great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Clarence in 1997 and two sons, Jimmy Pinet Scritchfield in 1965 and Raymond Burton Scritchfield, in 1992. A grandson, Matthew Todd Mayer, died in 1965 and her only sister, Harriet Ward, died in 2007. A memorial service will be held at the St. George United Methodist Church on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. A visitation will precede the services at 9:30 a.m. in the church’s fellowship hall. Inurnment will be at Sunset Cemetery in Manhattan at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made to the Good Shepherd Hospice House or the St. George United Methodist Church and may be left in care of the Stewart Funeral Home, PO Box 48, Wamego, KS 66547.