Joyce Padfield Shaffer

Joyce Ann Padfield Shaffer, 87, passed away on Monday, September 16, 2024.

Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 am, Saturday, September 21, 2024, at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church, 5 S 8th Street, Louisburg, Kansas 66053. Family burial will be held at 3:00 pm, at Mount Hope Cemetery, Humboldt, Kansas.

Joyce was born in Hutchinson, Kansas, on July 14, 1937. She was the oldest of two children, born to Eva (Saving) and Joe C. Padfield. Joyce was very socially active in school growing up. Her toughest time was during WW II when her “Daddy” was drafted and taken away from home. When he returned home safely, he woke her up with a kiss on her forehead. Joyce graduated from Cherryvale High School (Fighting Cherries) in 1955. She felt very lucky to have grown up in a small town in the 1950’s and made many lifelong friends in high school.

After graduation, she attended Pittsburg State University, and was a member of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority. When she was faced with picking a major, she chose elementary education, even though she had no intention of teaching. Joyce graduated from Pitt State with a Bachelors in Elementary Education in 1959, and completed her Masters in 1961. Her goal was never to teach, but to be a mother and enjoy her future children. Joyce did teach in Pittsburg (1960-65) and Shawnee Mission until she had children.

Joyce cherished Pitt State and her time there, especially the football team and the trip to the National Championship game. While at Pitt, she met the future father of her children, Lee Shaffer. The couple was married for 36 years. Their 30+ years of marriage produced four sons, Brent, Kirk, Thad and Chad. The boys were the love of her life! Joyce felt very fortunate to be able to stay home with “her boys”. While she stayed home with the boys, she had a very successful career in home fashions with Beeline. The hi-light of her career was the trip she earned to her dream destination, Hawaii. Joyce always had a love of the ocean.

As “the twins” were finishing high school, Joyce went back to Pitt State to pursue a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology, which she completed in 1990. She was a member of the Psi Chi, the National Honor Society of Psychology. Joyce loved her time in this profession, working with and helping others with psychological needs from 1990-2000. She worked at the Kansas Institute, College Meadows Hospital and Menningers Crisis Intervention Unit at Providence Medical Center. Her career ended as psych hospitals closed or moved out of the area.

Joyce then took a position in special education at Rosedale Middle School (2001-2005). While teaching there, she completed another Masters Degree in Special Education from the University of Kansas.

After retiring in 2005, Joyce began her favorite job that required no further education! From 2005-2015 she worked as a greeter at WalMart in Stanley. This was her favorite job. If you knew Joyce, you knew that she was sincerely one of the nicest people the good lord ever created. She always enjoyed the interactions with customers and staff and was missed upon her leaving. Joyce just loved people, and enjoyed returning to the store and reconnecting with staff and old customers.

While she was “blessed” with four sons, who she “would not trade”, she was really excited to have granddaughters, and even more excited when great grandchildren arrived. Joyce was blessed with five granddaughters, and loved buying “girlie” clothes, dolls, etc. Joyce often had girl’s night out with her granddaughters, at her house when they were kids. They would stay up all night, watch movies, do crafts, etc. Her great grandchildren brought a new sense of love and awe to her life, she absolutely adored them! Joyce was the definition of UNCONDITIONAL love to her family, friends and pets, she loved them all “oodles, gobs, and a whole bunch.”

Joyce was devout in her Christian faith as a member of Christ our Savior Lutheran Church in Louisburg. She looked forward to Heaven and seeing “Mother and Daddy” and her “fur babies” again! Joyce always had a sense of hope about her. Her happiness and smile would light up a room. Joyce had a great imagination and loved Mary Poppins. She would have fit nicely into a Disney fairy tale. When reflecting, she would always say “I’ve had a GREAT life.”

Joyce is survived by her four sons, Brent (Teresa) Shaffer, of Warsaw, Missouri, Kirk (Stacie) Shaffer, of Louisburg, Kansas, Thad Shaffer, Louisburg, Kansas, and Chad Shaffer, of Kansas City, Missouri; five granddaughters, Maurissa (Tom) Glick, Alexis (Cameron) Gaisford, Idallis Shaffer, Paige Shaffer, and Peyton Shaffer; great grandchildren, Bradley, Wilder, Murphy Glick, and Baker Lee Gaisford; as well as a brother, Jerry Padfield, of Osawatomie, Kansas.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made payable to Prairie Paws Animal Shelter or Always and Furever Animal Sanctuary, c/o Dengel & Son Mortuary, P.O. Box 669, Louisburg, Kansas 66053.