Emily Warrender

Emily Warrender, 51, Registered Nurse, died Friday, December 23, 2022. Rosary will be at 9:30 am, Funeral Mass will be at 10:00 am, Saturday, December 31, 2022, at Church of the Resurrection Catholic Church.Preceded in death by her father, Michael McNeil. Survived by her husband, David Warrender; mother, Mary Jane McNeil; sisters, Janet McNeil, Kathleen (Alan) Wooderson, Meghan (Daryl) Ashcraft, Erin (Randy) Chambers; brother, Brian (Teresa) McNeil.A memorial has been established with: Midwest Transplant Network, 1900 W. 47th Pl., Ste. 400, Westwood, KS 66205.Services in care of Downing & Lahey East Mortuary.In Memory of Emily:Emily Warrender, 51, a loving wife, daughter, sister, aunt, Registered Nurse, and a friend to many, passed away Friday, December 23, 2022. Emily was the fourth of six children born to Mike and Mary Jane McNeil. She was the “baby” of the older set of four children and enjoyed that status for about 11 years until her sisters Meghan and Erin were born, the younger set of siblings and at that time she became the older sister of the younger group. She had the curliest blonde hair, chubby red cheeks and a smile that wouldn’t stop. She was a miniature version of her mom, and her dad was very proud to show her off to his friends. She was very intelligent and wasn’t afraid to try anything. As a child, before there were things called child car seats, she opened the family station wagon’s door not once, but twice and fell out of it while it was traveling down the road because she was curious on how the door handles worked. If she was hungry or needed a sibling problem resolved, she wasn’t afraid to call her dad on his business phone and leave a message describing to him her dire situation and of course, her daddy would come home and resolve the issue. Emily attended St. Patrick’s Catholic School in Wichita from 1st thru 8th grade. She went to Bishop Carroll High School for her freshman year then transferred out to Circle High School where she lived with the Turners for a year and rode the bus to school as her parents built a new house out in the country that year. Emily played sports growing up and played the saxophone in the band. She did well in school and only got in trouble when she decided to try something different. Who can’t forget her wearing a Toga to high school, her tower of hair, cutting a pair up jeans all the way up a leg then holding the two pieces together with safety pins or any of the other great flamboyant fashion styles she tried. She always claimed that she was from Venus to explain why she did some of the things she did, but we were never able to confirm that theory. Growing up Emily’s weekends were spent at Fall River Lake at the McNeil cabin where she met many of her lifelong friends swimming down at the dock or sitting by the campfires, she loved campfires. She would travel with the family every summer to attend the antique car shows which she used as an opportunity to learn about America and meet new friends. Her older sisters worked at the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch in New Mexico during her summers growing up. Emily completed two treks as an explorer scout hiking for two weeks up in the mountains at Philmont and decided that she wanted to work there like her sisters. Emily was bound and determined to work there, but only if she could be a Ranger, which was something extraordinary, since most Rangers were male. To become a Ranger, Emily worked in the cafeteria her first summer which allowed her to pick whatever job she wanted for the next summer. Her second summer working at the ranch she was a Ranger. As a Ranger she would lead the groups of Boy Scouts out on the mountain trails for their first few days on their treks. She would teach them how to pack their gear, set up camp, cook their meals and survive in the mountains. Emily met new friends and had many adventures in the back country of Philmont. She was a natural for this job and probably would have continued doing it, but there was something else calling her and it wasn’t the mountains. As a young child Emily saw her mother attend the St. Francis School of Nursing and become a nurse at St. Francis Hospital. Emily got to spend time around mom and her nurse friends, Sheryl Baker, Emily Frederick and Beverly Hamm and seemed to be drawn to the medical field. To spend more time in the hospital and to work around her mom and mom’s friends, Emily became a volunteer at St. Francis Hospital when she was 18. Volunteering at St. Francis Hospital is where Emily met David at the age of 18 and would spend most of the next 31 years with him until Emily passed. David worked at St. Francis Hospital on the maintenance crew and was immediately drawn to Emily’s smile and zest for life. Emily worked at St. Francis Hospital for 26 years in various roles starting with the volunteer position, then moving into admissions, then as a dispatcher for critical care in the Emergency Room. Emily wanted to become a Registered Nurse so she enrolled in the Butler County Community College nursing program where she got her degree. Once she had her nursing license she worked as a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Room and finally as the night Charge Nurse in the Emergency Room. Emily was very intelligent and a great nurse who had a calming effect when she was treating patients and the medical field was her calling. As the years passed, Emily and Dave would host great parties for their friends. They would go on houseboat trips, have weekends out at Fall River Lake, host campfire parties in their back yard or spend time at the casinos. All of this was done to celebrate life and to have a good time with their friends. In typical Emily fashion, her and David decided not to get married in a church, but in Las Vegas with only a couple of her close friends knowing about it. This wedding in Las Vegas accomplished many things that Emily enjoyed, spending time with great friends, surprising everyone and having a good time. Emily and Dave did not have any human babies of their own, but instead had a parade of animals that they loved like children, the most recent being a German shepherd puppy named Nika. Emily was beloved by everyone who ever met her. She had an exuberant personality, booming laughter that filled any room and a deep love for her family and friends. Her love of life was evident in the way she lived. Emily had a remarkable ability to connect with people, share herself and evoke that same spirit of love in every person she knew. There is so much more that should be said, but in the end, what she did was make our world brighter. We love and miss you Em.