May the healing peace and love be with all who are mourning the loss of this beautiful soul. Thanks for so many great childhood and growing up memories!. Rest in peace aunt Joan. Monya
Elizabeth Joan Navrat
August 19, 1934 ~ August 6, 2025
Elizabeth Joan Navrat, 90, of Wichita, Kansas, passed away August 6, 2025, at the Catholic Care Center in Bel Aire.
Born August 19, 1934, in Wichita, Joan grew up in the College Hill neighborhood of Wichita attending Blessed Sacrament grade school and graduating from Mount Carmel Academy in 1953. She attended Rosary College in Chicago, earning a degree in English, and married Leonard “Lon” Navrat in 1957. As newlyweds, Joan and Lon were high school teachers in Andale, KS. Joan taught English and Lon Physics. Joan told her children in later years, she couldn’t believe she was getting paid to do the thing she loved so much.
Within a year, Joan had her first child, John. Soon after, she and Lon moved to Chicago where Lon attended Dental school and they celebrated the birth of two more children, Julie and David. They then returned to Wichita where Lon practiced dentistry with Joan’s father, Dr. Harry Klenda and they welcomed two more children, Tom and Susan.
A lifelong lover of books, Joan cherished a good read at night, but kept busy during the day raising her family, volunteering in the community, and staying active with golf and her close tennis group at Crestview. In the 1980s, following her eldest son’s mental health diagnosis, she became a dedicated supporter with NAMI – the National Alliance on Mental Illness, speaking before state leaders, serving on the Kansas board, and advocating proudly for families across the state. In later life, Joan enjoyed Memorial Weekend family reunions at “The Farm” in Marion, traveling to Arizona with her sister and brother-in-law, and taking trips with her siblings and their spouses to Alaska, Nashville, Las Vegas, Canada, Colorado and the Georgia coast.
Joan’s Catholic faith was central to her life. She was dignified and sophisticated, and an excellent Bridge player with a wonderful sense of humor. She walked through life sharing kindness and respect with everyone she encountered. She will be remembered for her immense generosity, her unwavering support of her family, and signature Joan catchphrases like, “There on it.”
She was preceded in death by her husband, Leonard F. Navrat; her parents, Frances and Harry Klenda; siblings, Harry L. Klenda, Larry D. Klenda, and Shirley Heisler; her son, John Navrat; a great-granddaughter, Isabella Goforth; and son-in-law, Robert “Bob” Lingenfelter. Survivors include her sister, Kathleen (Jim) Kaiser; brother-in-law, Gene Heisler; children, Julie Lingenfelter, Dave (Nancy) Navrat, Tom Navrat, and Susan Stopford; 12 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
Funeral Mass will be held Saturday, August 16, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Andover, KS, with burial at Ascension Cemetery, Bel Aire, KS.
Memorials may be made to NAMI Wichita, P.O. Box 2435, Wichita, KS 67201; or St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 123 N. Andover Rd., Andover, KS 67002.
Services in care of Downing & Lahey East Mortuary.
Services
Funeral Mass: Saturday, August 16, 2025 10:30 am
St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church
123 N. Andover Rd.
Andover, KS 67002
316-733-1423
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2025-08-16 10:30:00
2025-08-16 10:30:00
ElizabethJoanNavratFuneral Mass
Funeral Mass
123 N. Andover Rd.,Andover, KS 67002
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The family greatly appreciates donations made to these charities in Elizabeth Joan Navrat 's name.
St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church
123 N. Andover Rd.
Andover,
KS
67002
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