Emogene “Jody” Wagner

Graveside inurnment services for Emogene “Jody” Wagner, 77, Lawrence, will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the Serenity Columbarium in Penwell-Gabel Cemetery in Topeka.Mrs. Wagner died Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007, at Pioneer Ridge Health Unit in Lawrence.She was born Feb. 11, 1930, in Vilonia, Ark., the daughter of William G. and Dora Short Morrison. She graduated from Havana High School in 1947 and later from Kansas City, Mo., Secretarial School. She lived in Lawrence from 1948 to 1949 before she moved to Topeka, where she lived for more than 50 years. She returned to Lawrence in 2005.Mrs. Wagner worked as a secretary for the Kansas Department of Revenue. She was a homemaker and was active in Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts of America, where she served as a leader and Girl Scout troop services director for several years. She worked with the Kansas Legislature in the 1980s and early 1990s and volunteered on voting days. She enjoyed cooking, traveling, antique-hunting and spending time with her children and grandchildren. She was an accomplished pianist. She married Merle Wagner on Aug. 8, 1948, in Caney. He survives, of the home.Other survivors include a son, Dean, Topeka; three daughters, Cheryl Wagner Nixon and husband John and Diane Bracciano and husband Tom, both of Lawrence, and Jayne Sullivan and husband John, Fort Worth, Texas; a foster son, Corey Valenta, Topeka; two sisters, Juanita Carter and Clara Goodloe, both of San Diego; seven grandchildren, Anna, Mark, Emily, Elizabeth, Sarah, Megan and Lauren; and two great-grandchildren, Jacob and Lindsay.She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother and two sisters. The family suggests memorials to the Alzheimer’s Association, 4125 SW Gage Center Drive, Topeka 66604, or Heart of America Hospice, 3715 SW 29th St., Topeka 66614.Newcomer Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.Online condolences may be sent at www.newcomerfamily.com.