Constance Libbey Menninger

Constance Libbey Menninger, 76, died peacefully at home on Sunday, April 13, 2008. She was born November 20, 1931 in Newton, MA, daughter of Henry Alexander and Marian Prince Libbey. After early years in Pittsburg, TX, she grew up in Waban, MA, and graduated from The Winsor School in Boston. In 1953, she received a bachelor's degree in economics from Stanford University, where she was business manager of The Stanford Daily newspaper in her senior year.

Following her marriage to Wm. Walter Menninger in 1953, she worked four years with the National Broadcasting Company in New York while he attended medical school. She returned to Topeka with a family in 1958 and subsequently was a homemaker and community volunteer for much of her life. In later years, she returned to graduate school at Kansas University to earn a Masters in Historical Administration and Museum Studies in 1985. She was the initial project archivist for the Santa Fe Railway Records collection at the Kansas Center for Historical Research; later she served as the Menninger Foundation archivist.

In 2002, she was awarded the Romana Hood Award for Outstanding Service to the Community of Topeka for her years of volunteer activity. She is specially remembered for the wit and infectious energy she brought to her community work and the compassion that lay behind her zealous advocacy. She served on the boards of the Community Resources Council (president 1975-76), Topeka Civic Theater, National Council on Alcoholism Topeka chapter, Shawnee County Historical Society (president 1987), Kansas State Historical Society, Railroad Days of Topeka, and Overland Station Restoration Committee. She was deeply committed to public education, with election to the USD 501 Board of Education in 1969, and participation/leadership in the Community Pre-School, Junior Great Books Discussion program, the Headstart Program, and Parent-Teacher Organizations at Randolph Elementary, Boswell Junior High and Robinson Middle Schools. A member and elder of the First Presbyterian Church, Topeka, she served nearly 50 years as a member of the Chancel Choir.

Her service has included the Kansas Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (chairperson 1973-78), Morehouse School of Medicine board of overseers/trustees (1976-85), U.S. Department of Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (vice-chair 1981), Kansas Governor's Advisory Committee on Professional Negotiations (1981); Advisory Board for the Hall Center for the Humanities at Kansas University (since 1985); and Stanford University Associates.

Her family fondly recalls her extraordinary sewing and tailoring skills and the mitten-making project for needy children she initiated while on the USD 501 Board. Additionally they recall a number of her culinary specialties - rice pilaf, "Joe Frogger" ginger cookies, and Christmas fruitcakes - and her love for silver standard poodles.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her older brother John Prince Libbey, and an infant child, Claire Arnold Menninger. Surviving are her husband; six children: Frederick Prince Menninger, at home; John Alexander Menninger, Denver, CO; Eliza Wright Menninger (Johnson), Bedford, MA; Marian Stuart Menninger Adams, San Mateo, CA; William Libbey Menninger, Rolling Hills Estates, CA; David Henry Menninger, Berkeley, CA; and eight grandchildren.

Immediate services will be private and inurnment will be in Mount Hope Cemetery. A memorial service will be scheduled for a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to Midland Hospice Care, 200 SW Frazier Circle, Topeka, KS 66606-2800; the First Presbyterian Church, 817 SW Harrison Ave, Topeka, KS 66612-1607; the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library Foundation, 1515 SW 10th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66604-1374; or the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas, 900 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-7622.