Wanda LaJoyce (Bryant) Campbell, age 100, of Lenexa, Kansas, passed away Sunday, August 21, 2022. Funeral services will be held Friday, August 26 at Porter Funeral Home, 8535 Monrovia, Lenexa, KS at 1:00. There will be no visitation prior to the service.
Wanda was born in Waring, Pennsylvania to Charles F and Chessie (Kirk) Bryant. The family moved to Okmulgee, Oklahoma when she was a baby. Her brother Bud was born a couple years later. Wanda graduated from Okmulgee High School and briefly attended the local junior college before she secretly eloped with her boyfriend and future husband Jack Campbell. After a brief time in Virginia while Jack served in the Coast Guard they returned to Okmulgee. In 1949 the family moved to Kansas City and raised their son Victor and daughter Cheryl there. When her husband passed in 1990 Wanda moved to Lakeview Village where she lived until she passed.
Wanda was a stay-at-home mom until her children were in high school. She then applied her ample secretarial skills and began working for the Internal Revenue Service and later HUD where she was secretary to the Area Director for 20 years. She retired in 1982.
Her friends and co-workers describe Wanda as humble and never speaking an unkind word about anyone. She enjoyed a good laugh and a good Whiskey Sour on special occasions. Wanda was a quilter, a bridge player, a reader of good books and a lover of Clark Gable movies. Her husband and children loved her homemade divinity during the holidays, her endless cakes and pies (Jack had a sweet tooth), and of course, the wonderful Sunday fried chicken dinners.
Wanda is survived by her daughter Cheryl Jeter (Joseph) of Hays, KS, two granddaughters: Evan
Fauerbach (Tyler) of Denver, CO and Emily Valdez (Eric) of Centennial, CO and 5 great grand-
children: Lilly, Owen, Liesel, Margot and Beatrice. She was preceded in death by her husband Jack, her son Victor and her parents Charles and Chessie Bryant.
Wanda was a true lady, always very proper in speech and appearance. She loved nice things, especially clothes, shoes and antiques. Although small in stature, she was a giant when it came to loving and caring for her family.
All I am, or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother -- Abraham Lincoln
May she rest in peace.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in her name may be made to Lakeview Village, Lenexa, KS.