Joyce Ann Suellentrop

Goals mattered to Joyce (Batman) Suellentrop, who set high ones for herself and often demanded yours so she could keep you on the right track.

She thought of herself as almost everyone’s life coach. Whether or not you thought your life needed coaching, it was probably wise to listen to her advice. Her experiences included farming in western Kansas, teaching high school and college students, collecting books, reading books, writing books, traveling and painting.

Joyce, 85, was born on June 6,1940 in Ingalls and died on Aug. 6, 2025, at her home in Prairie Village, Kansas. As a lifelong Kansan, she spent much of her life documenting the history of people and places in the state. She loved the small towns, museums, schools and stories of the Sunflower State.

No matter your goal, she considered hard work, common sense and high standards a necessity. She always prioritized education, whether through reading, writing, discussions or travel, to produce critical thinkers.

“She was always generous with her time and wisdom and always asked hard questions, which scared us at the time,” said Sheila Burke, her niece. “We should have paid better attention.”

Joyce grew up on an Ingalls farm without electricity until around age 8 and became the first female history major at St. Mary of the Plains College (class of 1962). She entered the teaching profession at a time when women needed to have a father’s signature to rent an apartment and made less money than male teachers.

She did not appreciate that atmosphere and those days shaped her feisty, confident attitude. She rarely backed down in talks about current events, faculty meetings or philosophical discussions. She sought out political discourse, usually favored Democrats, and regarded Donald Trump as an unserious buffoon unfit to hold office.

Of course, fun mattered, and she enjoyed chocolate, scotch and water, Johnny Mathis, Gregorian Chants and Angelo’s lasagna. In 2000, she joined her children for a Bruce Springsteen concert at Kemper Arena and rode in Cecil Koechner’s RV with a bunch of rowdy Benedictine graduates.

Her grandchildren took a birthday trip with Grandma and Aunt Patricia, visiting places such as Memphis, Boston, Nashville and South Dakota. Her great-grandchildren played with the Fisher Price castle, farm and airport she bought for

her children 55 years prior. The nieces and nephews called her “AJ” and visited her in Colorado, came to Wichita for trips to Joyland and the Zoo. She brought Pepsi, Pop Tarts and box cakes to the farm for the youngsters over objections of Uncle Marty.

In retirement, she painted frequently and created works that decorate the homes of her children and grandchildren. She particularly enjoyed collaborating with friends Jeanine Hathaway and Beth Golay on pieces that blended paint, fabric, texture and words.

Somewhat by default, Wichita State University basketball became a big part of her life. She started attending Shockers games in the 1960s with her husband, Bob. The season tickets stayed in the family for more than 40 years. She traveled to the MVC Tournament in St. Louis (and complained frequently about Creighton fans). In 2012, she took the family to Cancun to watch the Shockers and enjoyed watching her grandchildren get the most out of the all-inclusive resort.

She loved animals, especially cats. Occasionally, she would return to her farm roots by raising ducks and geese. She devoted much of her spare time to gardening. She collected rain in barrels and used the water to nourish flowers, blackberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, gourds and herbs.

Her Western Kansas family, and friends from Saint Mary of the Plains College, Andale and Colwich, Newman University and Wichita State remained important throughout her life.

Christmas was her favorite holiday. She made tree ornaments, baked cookies and built a Christmas Village. Each Christmas, the family sang the “12 Days of Christmas” with souvenir glasses from Burger King. If the family wasn’t together, she got the Burkes (on their farm near Levant) and Batmans (on their farm near Ingalls) on the phone.

One Christmas she brought an audio recorder (then a new technology) to Ingalls and recorded the nieces and nephews talking about Christmas. Another year she organized a puzzle competition with the three families.

“She was ornery and left one puzzle piece out of Denny's and our puzzles,” said Treva Brewster, her niece.

She hated hot Kansas summers, so she escaped to Colorado, where she could read, paint and prepare for the school year in cool weather.

She built a cabin near Creede in 1981 and spent many summers there. Dr. Phillip Thomas, a history professor at WSU, introduced her to Creede with a backpacking trip and sold her the land for her cabin. Joyce and her Creede friends rafted on the Rio Grande, gathered for pot-luck dinners, Scrabble games and hikes to pick rhubarb and mushrooms. Many friends and family visited her at the cabin.

She taught at Andale High School for her first job after college. The many friendships with fellow teachers and administrators provided an active social life with bridge and pitch parties, football and basketball games and get-togethers with families on Dale Street.

Widowed in 1978, she raised two children and earned Master’s degrees in history and English at Wichita State University. She worked as a professor at Newman University and later as archivist for the Adorers of the Blood of Christ until retiring in 2003. After retiring she traveled the state to give talks on local history with the Kansas Humanities Council Speakers Bureau. She wrote books on the history of Colwich, Newman and her family in Western Kansas.

Joyce’s work at Newman earned her a spot on the university’s Mentor Wall with 1996 graduate Dan Giroux, now a Wichita lawyer.

“For me, what separated her from other professors at Newman was her passion for history and her love for teaching students,” Giroux said. “For some reason, I felt like she particularly called on me more than others. Initially, I felt targeted, but as the weeks went on, she was trying to get the best out of me. She did the same thing to Pat Albers, who was my classmate. Perhaps that's why I signed up for her classes, as I rather enjoyed the challenge and being called out on assignments. (Joyce) was from a different era of teachers: strict, passionate, intellectual, all-business but always fair.”

Those experiences taught her a great love for education - specifically a small-college, Catholic, liberal arts education - and books. Trends in education that she felt coddled students with low expectations and safe spaces disappointed her.

She prodded her children to take Latin. Both attended Kapaun Mount Carmel Catholic High School and Benedictine College. She filled her house with bookshelves and subscribed to many magazines. She loved places such as Al’s Old

Book Store and Watermark. One of the biggest days of the year was the Wichita Art Museum’s annual used book sale. The family camped out hours early to get first in line. Hours later, they emerged with bags full of books.

Technology and screens concerned her. She used, sparingly, a flip phone until the end. She often warned her children and grandchildren that “If you spend too much time on a machine, you become one.”

Both of her children work in careers that spring from writing, books and history. Paul Suellentrop worked in newspapers for many years and is now with Strategic Communications at Wichita State. Tricia Suellentrop is Johnson County Librarian and leads a system with 14 buildings that annually serves more than 2 million customers. Tricia and Shaun Gregory became her caregivers in the final years of her life.

A celebration of life is scheduled for Oct. 11 in Wichita.

Joyce is preceded in death by her parents, Dennis Batman and Patricia (Byers) Batman, and husband Robert Suellentrop.

She is survived by children Paul (Cynthia Suellentrop) of Wichita and Tricia (Shaun Gregory) of Prairie Village; grandchildren Molly Stewart (Brendon) of Gladstone, Mo.; Ben Suellentrop (Hannah Suellentrop), Jacob Suellentrop and Monicah Namulindwa, all of Wichita. She is also survived by great-grandchildren Maggie and Sullivan Stewart and Nora Suellentrop.

Also surviving are brother Richard Batman (Sharon Batman) of Ingalls and sister Denny Burke of Kinsley. Brother-in-law Martin Burke preceded her in 2016.

Joyce’s love for history and education is demonstrated by scholarships at two institutions that played significant roles in her life and the lives of her children. Donations may be given to the Joyce Suellentrop Memorial for the Suellentrop Family Scholarship in History, c/o WSU Foundation, 1845 Fairmount, Campus Box 2, Wichita, KS 67260-0002, https://foundation.wichita.edu/memorials-honors/.

At Newman, memorials in her name can go to The Robert Suellentrop Memorial Scholarship (Newman University Attn: Joyce Suellentrop Memorial 3100 McCormick Ave, Wichita, KS 67213.).