Wanda Irene Stalcup Morrison, 85, devoted wife, loving mother and grandmother, died May 31, 2019, at Hester Care Center of Wesley Towers, Hutchinson.  She was born April 14, 1934, in Stafford, Kansas, the daughter of Samuel Reed Stalcup and Minnie Marie Fritzemeier Stalcup.

She was active as a youth in 4-H, debate, student government, and music.  Wanda sang her first solo in church when she was three years old.  She was valedictorian and president of the Stafford High School class of 1952; attended Baylor University; graduated with honors from Kansas State University and the  Kansas University Department of Nursing; did graduate work with Teacher's College, Columbia University, New York; and was former pediatric staff nurse at the KU Medical Center.

A longtime Hutchinson resident, Wanda was a homemaker who dearly loved her family.  She was a registered nurse.  Wanda served eight years as an elected member of the Kansas State Board of Education, of which she was Vice-Chairman, and was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Boards of Education and a member of its Governmental Affairs Committee.  She served on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Foundation for Excellence in Education, on the Kansas Teacher of the Year Selection Committee, on the Kansas Goals 2000 Panel, and on the Joint Committee on Governance and the Committee for the Future of Postsecondary Education in Kansas.  Wanda represented the state of Kansas at the IMTEC, International Movement Toward Education Change, conference in Berlin, Germany, in 1993.

Wanda was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church, a lay member of the Annual Conference for 14 years, member of the Administrative Board, a member of the finance committee, a member of the Christian Education Committee, Chairman of the Staff-Parish Committee, President of United Methodist Women, vacation-church-school teacher, and a Sunday school teacher.  She was a devoted student of the Bible.

Wanda was president of her pledge class and honor initiate of Delta Delta Delta sorority at Kansas State University, where she was a homecoming queen candidate.  She was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi national scholastic science honorary and to the Mortar Board, Omicron Nu, and Chimes national service honoraries.  She was selected as outstanding junior in Home Economics, and awarded the Danforth Summer Fellowship.

Wanda was designated by the faculty as outstanding graduate of her KU nursing class, where she served as President and Treasurer of the Kansas Student Nurse's Association and went as a charter member delegate to the Student Division of the International Congress of Nurses in Rome, Italy, in 1957.  She studied in Europe comparing health care systems in seven European countries.

Wanda was a past member of the Board of Directors of the Kansas State University Alumni Association and a life member of the KSU and KU alumni associations.

Wanda served the local community as Professional Division Chairman of United Way, Cub Scout leader, member of the board of directors of the YMCA, President of Gracette Hospital Auxiliary at the time of the hospital's merger, President of the Reno County Dental Auxiliary, member of the Hutchinson Hospital Building Committee, member of the Board of Directors of Friends of the Hutchinson Library, member of the Board of Trustees of Hutchinson Community College, member of the Board of Trustees of Wesley Towers, President of the Prairie Dunes Ladies' Golf Association, member and president of Chapter CM of PEO, and president of Morgan School PTA steering committee and the Reno County Gifted & Talented Education and Hutchinson High School parents advisory committees.

Wanda was elected to the Board of Directors of the Kansas Day Club, Topeka, in 1993, and was co-chairman in 1998.  She was the recipient of the Huck Boyd 'Volunteer-of-the-Year' Award in 2004.

In 1998, Wanda was elected Secretary of the Republican Party of Kansas.  She served on the state Republican executive committee for 16 years and as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Reno County Republican Party and Vice-Chairman of 4th District Republicans; she was elected a Kansas delegate to five national Republican conventions, serving on the Rules Committee in 1984 in Dallas.  She was Reno County Chairman and District Co-Chairman for Senators Bob Dole and Jim Pearson, Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, and Governor Mike Hayden.  She served on Governor Hayden's Inaugural Committee.  She was on Senator Pat Robert's state finance committee and Reno County co-chair and Kansas vice-chair for President George W. Bush.  She is listed in Who's Who in American Politics.

She did volunteer work for the Red Cross Bloodmobile, Hutchinson Hospital, and the Kansas Cosmosphere.  Kansas history, traveling, and music were her avocations.  She had the female lead in Hutchinson Theater Guild's 'On a Clear Day' and wrote and sang in local musical skits and parodies.

She married the love of her life, Dr. Robert T. Morrison, in Kansas City, MO, on April 7, 1958, and is survived by: her husband: three sons, Robert Torrence, Asheville, NC, Reed Thomas, San Pedro, CA, Richard Thane and wife Rebecca, Arlington, VA; three grandsons, Robert Simon Morrison, Asheville, N.C., Maximilian Casimir Morrison and Leopold Reza Morrison, Arlington, VA; a sister, Donna Stalcup Whitehouse, Stafford; five nieces; three nephews; and brother-in-law, Ron Morrison and wife Louise, Florence, Ala.  She brought joy to her family, who mourn her passing.

Celebration of Life will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, June 15, 2019, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1602 N. Main, Hutchinson, with the Reverend Dr. Kim Biery officiating.  Private family burial will take place in Memorial Park Cemetery, Hutchinson.  Friends may call from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Thursday, June 13, 2019, and Friday, June 14, 2019, at Elliott Mortuary, with the family present from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Friday, June 14.  Memorials may be made to Trinity United Methodist Church, in care of Elliott Mortuary, 1219 N. Main, Hutchinson, KS  67501.