Joanne Sunderman

JoAnne Sunderman, 76, of Colby, KS, passed away on March 11, 2018 at Colby Medical Center. JoAnne was born Nov. 21, 1941, at St. Luke’s Hospital, in Kansas City, MO, to Helen I. (Boatwright) Jenison and Preston S. Jenison. She was raised in Kansas City and attended J. C. Nichols Grade School and Southwest High School. She graduated from Kansas State University in 1963 with a degree in Education and concentration in literature. On June 16, 1962, she married Herbert Dean Sunderman at the Wornall Road Baptist Church in Kansas City. After she graduated from K-State, she taught school at Marlatt Elementary in Manhattan, KS, from 1963 until 1967. After Herb received his Master’s Degree at KSU in 1967, they moved to Lubbock, TX where they lived from 1967 until 1972 while Herb worked for the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center. In 1972, they moved to College Station, TX, where Herb completed his Ph.D. in Agronomy at Texas A & M University. They returned to Lubbock and lived there until 1975 when they moved to Colby and Herb went to work for the Kansas State University Experiment Station as a soil scientist. JoAnne began working at Pioneer Memorial Library in 1977 and was promoted to Assistant Director of the Library in 1978. In 1985 she became Director of the Library and continued in that capacity until her retirement in 2004. She received her Library Director from Emporia State University in 1992. JoAnne was a member of the Colby Presbyterian Church, PEO, Sorosis Club, Friends of the Library, Kansas Library Association, Kansas Humanities Council, and served on the boards of the Colby Housing Authority and the Thomas County Community Foundation. She also was an avid reader and a member of several local book clubs.

JoAnne was preceded in death by her parents, and her husband who died in 2004. She is survived by two children, Matt Sunderman, of Florida, and Tara Jo Vanderbilt, of Kansas; three grandsons, Spencer and Carson Vanderbilt and Oak Sunderman; sister Penny Jenison Rivin, of San Diego, CA, and two nieces, Alisa Yamasaki and Kristen Reed.

A private burial will be done at Beulah Cemetery. The memorial service will take place at 1:00 p.m. Monday, March 19, 2018, at the Colby United Methodist Church. Memorials are suggested for Pioneer Memorial Library and/or the Colby Presbyterian Church in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701. For condolences or information visit www.baalmannmortuary.com