Kathleen Lukens Mellor

is honored with a Brick from Molly Nespor and Betsy Mellor.

Kathleen Lukens Mellor is as precious a person as they come! As adults, we have realized how lucky we have been! We didn’t listen as well as we should have when Mom was trying to teach us something or telling us (for the 10th time) to get a chore done, we didn’t completely realize our luck.

Our mother, Kathleen Lukens Mellor, has always been the best role model we could have. Mom was a teacher, a cheerleader and a positive force in our lives.

Because she is a certified teacher, her perpetual desire to expose us to the art of writing, literature and linguistics was unappreciated by us as teenagers. Her passion of instruction allowed her to teach English at Washington University, several community colleges and Wichita State University. Even on summer breaks, when friends were allowed to do whatever they wanted, our mom had educational and/or cultural projects for us to do. Now that we’re grown, we realize that this act helped create two life long learners. It also has come in handy when we need proofreaders or facts about linguistics (that nobody else cares about)! Mom went on to work for Wichita Public Schools as the ESOL/Foreign Language coordinator and Leader of Secondary School Campus Support Teachers before she retired in 2001.

Kathleen is a realist and a pragmatist. She is very supportive but doesn’t sugarcoat the realities of life. If we were upset about how a teacher treated us; she didn’t automatically take our side. She wanted to know what we had done. At the time we thought this very unfair but now we realize how lucky we are to have learned to acknowledge any misdoings and learn from them. She taught us that we don’t have to be perfect! When we were treated unfairly, she was completely in our corner teaching us to advocate for ourselves. She shows us how proud she is and how loved we are!

We learned how to see multiple sides of every situation from her. Mom is not a complainer and tries to point out the positives of issues and situations. This isn’t easy to do and wasn’t easy to hear but taught us to have global views and listen to people. She taught us that feedback is not a personal attack but just more for us to think about and reflect on.

Mom continues to show us how to contribute to society and lead a fulfilling life. She’s an active volunteer with the Assistance League of Wichita and a docent for the Wichita Art Museum. She belongs to several book studies and bridge groups. Mom stays active by walking with her friend, Viv, and by biking to restaurants. She, our father, and their St. Bernard "Bud" have very active summers at their summer home in the mountains of Colorado.

For these reasons (and many more) we cherish Kathleen Lukens Mellor and feel very lucky to call her our mom!

Molly Nespor and Betsy Mellor