February 13, 1925 – March 13, 2025
Janice Patterson, age 100, a resident of Ft. Scott, Kansas, died peacefully at the Medicalodge on Thursday, March 13, 2025. Jan was born February 13, 1925, in Mapleton, Kansas, to Willis Francis Patterson and Mabel Evelyn Cooper Patterson. Her family lived on a farm south of Mapleton. She attended school in Mapleton for her early years and graduated as Valedictorian from Fulton High School in 1943. In the fall of that year, Jan enrolled as a freshman at Ft. Scott Junior Co lege. The 1944 school yearbook pictured her as a Student Council Member and part of the annual staff. The next year, she went to Kansas City to work for Pratt and Whitney, a defense contractor during World War II. By 1950, she was working for Skelley Oil in Kansas City. By the early 1970’s, she was transferred to Tulsa, Oklahoma where her career ended with Chevron Oil. In the early 1980’s, she retired and returned to Ft. Scott. She was very active in the First Christian Church where she eventually became a deacon. Jan also played bridge, attended FCE meetings and belonged to different social groups.
Jan was preceded in death by her parents Willis and Mabel Patterson as we l as her brothers, Elgin Patterson, John Patterson, Byron Patterson and sister-in-law, Erma Essicks Patterson, a sister, Doris Underwood and brother-in-law, Jake Underwood, and a niece, Ruth Ann Underwood Burleson. Jan is survived by two nieces, Susan Underwood Karleskint of Uniontown,
Kansas and Mary Underwood Gregory and husband, Brad, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri. In addition, there are six great nieces and nephews and seven great-great-nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 A.M. Saturday, March 29th at the Cheney Witt Chapel. Burial will follow in the Mapleton Cemetery. The family will receive friends on Saturday from 10:00 A.M. until service time at the funeral home. Memorials are suggested to the First United Methodist Church and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, P.O. Box 347,
Ft. Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.
