Anita Marie Lusk
April 1, 2011
Lusk, Anita Marie, 94, retired Wichita High School West Business Teacher, died Friday, April 1, 2011. Memorial service 2:00 P.M. Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at East Heights United Methodist Church. Her grandfather, George Robbins, built the first house west of the Arkansas River now listed with the National Historic Register. She was born in Wichita and graduated from Wichita High School North and earned Bachelor of Science and Masters Degrees from Wichita University. Anita was preceded in death by her husband, William, Sr. and son, Jim. She is survived by her son, Bill, Jr (Nancy), and daughter, Janet (Dave) Murfin, both of Wichita; sister-in-law, Virginia Faires, of Wichita; grandchildren, Alison Leukefeld, Jessica Scheer, Melissa Mangan, Becca Marsh, and Will Murfin; five great-grandchildren. Memorials have been established with the Anita Lusk Business Scholarship c/o Wichita State University Foundation, 1845 Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260-0002, and Larksfield Place Foundation, 7373 East 29th Street North, Wichita, Kansas, 67226. Downing Lahey Mortuary East.
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Please accept our deepest condolences for your family’s loss.
Bill and Nancy: We were planning to call you as we had planned to be in Wichita on Monday, May 23 and wanted to go by and see Anita. Picked up the East Heights Tower just now and saw her death notice on April 1. We adored Anita and Bill and are so sorry we didn’t get to see her again. Our love and sympathy to all of you. Bill & Marilyn Siebert
I was sorry to hear of your mother/grandmother passing away. Although I never met her, she had a big impact on my college life. In the spring of 1976, I was a senior at West High. I was planning to major in Accounting and decided to attend WSU after I realize that I couldnt afford to go to Kansas Newman for even one year. In my family, if you wanted to attend college, you paid for it. It was a bit discouraging looking for scholarships and grants. Most scholarships were for students with high grades and high involvement or minorities of some type. I was a ‘B’ average, white-male, introverted student. Although my parents were not going to pay for my college, they made too much money for me to qualify for grants. Imagine my excitement when I read about the Anita Lusk Scholarship which was for West High students majoring in Business at WSU. I applied and this was the only scholarship I received during my college years. Each year I received the scholarship funds, I felt I should write a thank you note but I didnt know where to send it (your mom wasn’t in the phone book and the Internet wasn’t invented yet). In my senior year, just before graduation, I wrote a multi-page letter outlining the highlights of my college years. I mailed it to what I thought was the most likely address for Anita Lusk (Lusk Real Estate/Properties I think). I have no idea to this day if my letter ever made it to your mother/grandmother. When I saw the obituary, I knew I had to write and express my gratitude to the Lusk family for helping me though college. I graduated from WSU with a marketing degree and got involved with computers when PCs were just getting started. After college, I worked for NCR, Rent-A-Center and owned my own computer consulting business for 13 years. I merged my business with Professional Software four years ago and continue to write custom computer programs for businesses. I am happily married and have two beautiful, smart daughters who are attending WSU. I think your mothers/grandmothers investment in this average West High student paid off. I am very thankful for the scholarship which she provided that helped me get through college.
I was a student in 1964. My father wanted me to be able to earn a living so he insisted on all the secretarial training classes. Mrs. Lusk taught me to run a 10 key adding machine – we practiced by adding the telephone numbers in the telephone directory. Then we learned about bookkeeping and did a practice set with pretend invoices, checks and ledgers. Somehow, that created a spark. I went to college and dropped out to be a secretary, returned to college and finished with a Master\’s Degree in Accounting. I became a CPA and business consultant. When we look back over our lives, there are a few people who influenced us, made an impact, and affected our entire lives. Mrs. Lusk was one of those people for me.
To the family, I was a business student in 1964-65 and she was one of my most favorite teachers. She helped me get into the business program where I could work half days during my senior year. Getting into this business program headed me in a direction that changed my life forever. I will always remember her as a smiling, kind and caring dedicated teacher. I will be 64 this year and have never forgotten her.
Bill and Janet, So sorry to hear of your loss. I remember meeting your mother in the early 80’s when your Mom and Dad were at the real estate office on a regular basis. They always extended a warm welcome to me when I stopped by and they would take a few minutes to visit if they had the time.
Sorry to hear of your loss. Anita and Bill were great mentors for me,they taught me the quality of family time at the lake/home, that I have continued the tradition with my family. I still chuckle to this day when remembering when your family taught me how to slalom ski.Yes, they also taught me patience that day. Our condolences to your family, Milton Kellogg & Family
Bill and Janet, I’m so sorry to hear of your mother’s passing. She was the last of the Clinton Oil Co. exec. group. Your parents were always great friend of my parents, and I’m sure you will miss her terribly. May God comfort you in this difficult time.
Mrs. Lusk was one of my favorite teachers at West High. She was my inspiration for going on to college and majoring in business education. I hope I’ve been as much of an inspiration to my students as she was for me. She was a wonderful lady. I’m sorry for your loss. Karen Hazeltine Carlson, Class of ’65