Susan D. Flickner
December 18, 1953 ~ December 16, 2023
Susan D. Flickner, 69, loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend to so many, died peacefully Saturday, December 16, 2023. We invite you to celebrate Susan’s life. Visitation will be from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm, Friday, January 5, 2024, at Downing & Lahey West Mortuary, Wichita. Memorial Service will be at 10:00 am, Saturday, January 6, 2024, at Pathway Church- Westlink Campus. Graveside service and burial will be later that day at 2:30 pm at Eden Mennonite Church west of Moundridge, Kansas. Susan told us that “to teach is to learn again.” Teaching was her passion, and she enjoyed both the challenges and enrichment she received from the many students she had the privilege of educating. Susan was always the last person to accept accolades, and she insisted that her work was always for the benefit of the Lord, her family, her community, and her friends. In her long career, she touched hundreds of lives, from the smallest preschool students to seasoned teaching professionals. Her lessons live on, with all who met her and knew her. She will be missed.  Susan’s long career as an educator began 40 years ago, after she graduated from Kansas State University. At that time, she taught Family and Consumer Science classes at Chapman High for nine years. It was in Chapman where she met her husband, Ray, who was also teaching there. Susan married Ray in 1978. Susan always believed in learning more when she could, and completed her Master’s degree in Adult and Occupational Education from K-State, plus many additional classes past her degree. She used that degree to take a slightly new direction and taught a Nutrition class for Cloud County Community College in the evenings. Although Susan would not have described herself as a pioneer, her family and friends know that she was willing and able to champion new ideas. Following the arrival of their first child in 1984, and a move to Manhattan, Susan decided to pursue some part-time adult education opportunities. For about a year, she taught cooking schools for a Manhattan appliance store when people wanted to learn ways to use a “new” invention - the microwave oven. The year 1985 brought more changes, and another move, this time to Wichita. There, Susan worked as a Nutrition Consultant for the Dairy Council providing workshops for teachers in south central Kansas. In 1986, she was hired as Nutrition Education Consultant for Wichita Public Schools and during the next eight years, she presented programs in preschool through high school classrooms in the district as well as provided in-service training for USD 259 staff.  In 1994, Susan began her own consulting business and provided staff training throughout the state for various clients including the Kansas State Department of Education and Kansas State University. She also began teaching Parenting with Love and Logic classes in the community. While attending a professional meeting in 1999, she was encouraged to take a long-term substitute position for a FACS teacher at Southeast High School who was going on sabbatical. She began that teaching job at Southeast and was soon asked to apply at East High for the FACS position for a teacher who was retiring at the end of the school year.  For the final 16 years of formal teaching, Susan taught Family Studies, Parenting/Child Development, World of Children and Early Childhood Education Foundations and Lab at East High School. Susan served as a team member for several Career and Technical Education projects including planning the new East High Child Development Center which opened in the fall of 2012. She also served on the USD 259 Human Growth and Development Committee for the last eight years. While teaching was Susan’s talent and chosen career, she never shone brighter than when she was with her family. She was never shy about showing her love for her children, or her deep pride in them. Spending weekends with her grandbabies was a source of great joy and, at times, hilarity - as times with two young boys can often be. She was truly the family’s North Star: she listened when it was needed, challenged when it was necessary, advised when it was wanted, and demonstrated her love every day. Preceded in death by parents, Gerald and Arbutus (Jones) Persinger. Survived by her husband, Ray Flickner of Wichita, KS; son, Ryan (Laura) Flickner of Manhattan, KS; daughter, Kelsey (Brandon) Spencer of Lawrence, KS; brother, Steven (Deb) Persinger of Norton, KS; grandchildren, Owen Flickner and Miles Flickner. In lieu of flowers, memorials have been established with: Pathway Church Westlink, 2001 North Maize Road, Wichita, KS 67212, Victory In The Valley, 3755 East Douglas Avenue, Wichita, KS 67218 and Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, 313 South Market Street, Wichita, KS 67202. Services in care of Downing & Lahey Mortuary - West Chapel.
View current weather.
Memories Timeline
Guestbook
Sign the Guestbook, Light a Candle
Ray, so sorry to hear of Susan’s passing. I know you two were a team and so sorry that you will not be able to experience that teamwork in your senior years. I’ll never forget the time you and Susan took to drive from to Bismarck from Fargo (I think) to visit us back in the early 1980’s. It was an enjoyable evening. Sincerest condolences to you and your family. Dan and Carol Marrs