Kathryn Jo Pierce Steffen

A visitation for Kathryn Jo Pierce Steffen, 82, Minneapolis, Minn., will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lawrence, with a memorial service at 3 p.m. Burial will follow at Stoney Point Cemetery, south of Lawrence.
She died Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011 in a residential memory care home in Leawood.
Mrs. Steffen was born April 2, 1928, in Minneapolis, the daughter of Esther and George Pierce.
She graduated from West High School in Minneapolis. She and her parents also lived in Brazil and in the Washington, D.C., area.
Mrs. Steffen was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma at DePauw University, where she graduated cum laude in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in child psychology and welfare. In 1982, she received a master’s degree in human and family resources from Northern Illinois University.
She married Norman Steffen in 1951. They enjoyed music and dancing together. Mrs. Steffen was a partner and helpmate to her husband as he pursued his ministry. Together, they served congregations in Bismarck, N.D., Davis, Calif., Lawrence, and DeKalb, Ill. She helped with part-time secretarial work at University Lutheran, Kansas University, and Northern Illinois University. She later worked at Family Service Agency in DeKalb.
Mrs. Steffen was preceded in death by her parents, a granddaughter, Leilah Steffen, and last September, by her husband.
She is survived by five children, Nancy and Fred Anderson, Las Cruces, N.M., David Steffen and Jill Kerr, Carrboro, N.C., Carolyn Steffen and Julie Burik, Shawnee, Suzanne Steffen and Bob Hyland, Kansas City, Mo., Janice Steffen and Jan Madlock, Bonner Springs; three sister-in-laws; 13 grandchildren, Avery and Stephanie Demby, Jaimee and Earnest Harris, Ivy and Max Erude, Emerald Anderson, Jessie, Georgia, Zoemma and Louisa Steffen, Natalie and Liam Hyland, Mercedes, Hailie and Keani Steffen Madlock; and seven great-grandchildren.
Online condolences may be sent at warrenmcelwain.com.