1915
Margaret
2007
Margaret Souder
October 20, 1915 — November 23, 2007
Margaret (?Peggy?) Wheeler Souder, age 92, of Prairie Village, KS passed away on Friday, November 23, 2007. Memorial services will be held at 4:00 P.M., Saturday, January 26, 2008 at the Colonial Church in Prairie Village, 7039 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 66208. Private burial will be in Forest Hill Cemetery, Kansas City, MO. Memorial contributions may be made to the Colonial Church in Prairie Village.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Byron Norvin Souder and by her brother, Benjamin Frederick Wheeler. She is survived by daughter, Janet Souder Newkirk, son-in-law David Newkirk, and grandchildren, Edward Souder Newkirk and Alice Lindsay Newkirk, all of Charlottesville, Virginia; and by her son, James Norvin Souder, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
Peggy was born on October 20, 1915 in Lawrence, KS. She was the daughter of Sophia Harms & John Jefferson Wheeler. Her brother Fred was two years older, and she continued to be very close to him until his death in 1997. Her father taught mathematics at Kansas University. By her own account, as a child she liked to draw and she had a soft spot for stray cats. She grew up to study architecture at KU, where she belonged to the Chi Omega sorority, edited the Kansas Engineer, and graduated first in her architecture class in 1937. For 15 years she worked as an architect with Edward W. Tanner Associates, the firm which (among other things) helped the J C Nichols Company to design & build the Country Club Plaza and many suburban areas on the south side of Kansas City. In 1951 she married Norvin Souder, a civil engineer with Black & Veatch whom she had known at KU where he had been a contributor to the Kansas Engineer. Daughter Janet was born in 1952, followed by son Jim in 1954. For the next 20 years she concentrated on raising her children and on active membership in Colonial Church. She served as Brownie leader, Cub Scout leader, room mother, church rummage sale co-ordinator, and President of Colonial Ladies. She organized memorable birthday parties for her children, often featuring extensive doggerel clues for treasure hunts around the neighborhood. And, of course, she was ?mother? to Butchie, the family?s beloved cat. Sadly, Norvin died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1961, and she lost both her parents soon afterwards. As a result her church community became even more important to her, and continued to be so for the rest of her life. As her children left home, she began a decade of clerical work at the Johnson County National Bank, where she enjoyed being in the workplace every day without having to take on worrisome responsibilities or a troublesome commute. Meanwhile, she gradually developed a travel itch. When she finally retired, she exercised her passport relentlessly for many years: Switzerland, England, Kenya, China (twice), Hong Kong, the Siberian Railway, and New Zealand, to mention a few favorite trips. In 1995, the year she turned 80, sixty people came to her birthday party at the Ritz Carlton on the Plaza, and we took the accompanying photograph. That same summer, she moved into Claridge Court where she lived contentedly for the rest of her life with characteristic dignity and never-failing graciousness.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Byron Norvin Souder and by her brother, Benjamin Frederick Wheeler. She is survived by daughter, Janet Souder Newkirk, son-in-law David Newkirk, and grandchildren, Edward Souder Newkirk and Alice Lindsay Newkirk, all of Charlottesville, Virginia; and by her son, James Norvin Souder, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
Peggy was born on October 20, 1915 in Lawrence, KS. She was the daughter of Sophia Harms & John Jefferson Wheeler. Her brother Fred was two years older, and she continued to be very close to him until his death in 1997. Her father taught mathematics at Kansas University. By her own account, as a child she liked to draw and she had a soft spot for stray cats. She grew up to study architecture at KU, where she belonged to the Chi Omega sorority, edited the Kansas Engineer, and graduated first in her architecture class in 1937. For 15 years she worked as an architect with Edward W. Tanner Associates, the firm which (among other things) helped the J C Nichols Company to design & build the Country Club Plaza and many suburban areas on the south side of Kansas City. In 1951 she married Norvin Souder, a civil engineer with Black & Veatch whom she had known at KU where he had been a contributor to the Kansas Engineer. Daughter Janet was born in 1952, followed by son Jim in 1954. For the next 20 years she concentrated on raising her children and on active membership in Colonial Church. She served as Brownie leader, Cub Scout leader, room mother, church rummage sale co-ordinator, and President of Colonial Ladies. She organized memorable birthday parties for her children, often featuring extensive doggerel clues for treasure hunts around the neighborhood. And, of course, she was ?mother? to Butchie, the family?s beloved cat. Sadly, Norvin died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1961, and she lost both her parents soon afterwards. As a result her church community became even more important to her, and continued to be so for the rest of her life. As her children left home, she began a decade of clerical work at the Johnson County National Bank, where she enjoyed being in the workplace every day without having to take on worrisome responsibilities or a troublesome commute. Meanwhile, she gradually developed a travel itch. When she finally retired, she exercised her passport relentlessly for many years: Switzerland, England, Kenya, China (twice), Hong Kong, the Siberian Railway, and New Zealand, to mention a few favorite trips. In 1995, the year she turned 80, sixty people came to her birthday party at the Ritz Carlton on the Plaza, and we took the accompanying photograph. That same summer, she moved into Claridge Court where she lived contentedly for the rest of her life with characteristic dignity and never-failing graciousness.
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