Obituaries / LJWorld.com

Obituaries

Lisa “ Liese” Ridgeway Vanatta, 43, of Overland Park, KS passed away on August 31, 2012. She began waging a valiant battle versus cancer of an unknown origin in 2011 and Liese won in the end!!! Lisa was born on January 23, 1969, in Topeka, Kansas. Liese graduated from Topeka West High School in 1987. There, she was active in the theatre group, Topeka West Players, as well as National Honor’s Society and the student foreign exchange organization, AFS. She was currently working towards her bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from KU. In the meantime, she called many wonderful places home, including Topeka, KS; Lawrence, KS; Dallas, TX; Plantation, FL; Weston, FL; Overland Park, KS. She was active in these communities as well. Lisa married her buddy, Scott, in Danforth Chapel on the KU campus in 1997. She was a proud momma of Dylan, 11, and Emma, 9. She supported her beloved Kansas Jayhawks as well as the various teams on which her children played. Her career highlights included: The Bottleneck, Manager; Sprint, Senior Mission Control Associate; American Express, Office Technical Analyst; IBM, Executive Administrative Assistant; and Active member of the International Association of Administrative Assistants, Johnson County Chapter.
Survivors include husband, Scott and their awesome children, Dylan and Emma, Overland Park. Mother, Martha (and Steve) Preston, Salina; father, Roy (and Arceile) Ridgeway, Topeka; brother, Roy Douglas (and Regina) Ridgeway, Honolulu; stepsister, Lisa Ready, Topeka; stepbrother, Bill Hensen (and Jen), Topeka; stepbrother, Jeff (and Callie) Combs, Wichita; 9 nephews, 7 nieces and one grand-niece. Liese was also the proud godmother of Grady Lenihan, Griffin Lenihan and Jeffrey Alvarez.
Liese loved music, travel, yoga, and especially spending quality time with family and friends and simply enjoying the pleasures of life. A Celebration of her life will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at St. Michael’s and All Angels, 6630 Nall Avenue, Mission, KS 66202. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made in her name to Kansas University at KU Endowment, PO Box 928, Lawrence, KS 66044-0928
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