The Heroines

Lois Coon

is honored with a Brick from Colleen Kelly Johnston, Fern M. Van Gieson, Marge Zakoura Vaughan, and Peg Y. Vines.

 Lois  Coon
How to overview the life of this brilliant, clever, frugal, verbal woman with the self described "whim of iron"? A woman who proudly never had a car, could for years outwalk friends of any age and had, at every age, a voracious thirst for knowledge and an encyclopedic memory. She was immensely concerned about social issues at all levels and she worked hard to foster change. Her stated wish was that "instead of being known as a yellow dog Democrat I would like to be above all an egalitarian."

Lois Coon was born on August 23, 1902 on a farm near Columbus, Kansas. She died on September 22, 1999 in her own back garden. Lois learned to read at age three and then when old enough attended country school. To go to high school she had to "room and board" in town. Following graduation she taught all grades in rural Missouri where her family had moved in 1919. Having saved enough money she obtained her BS degree from Kansas State Teacher's College in Pittsburg, KS in 1930.

To quote Lois, "I have always been a feminist because I survived growing up with six brothers but mainly because of my gentle mother." Her father felt Lois "knew enough" when she completed three years of high school, but her mother stood behind her in her determination to go to college. After getting her degree she taught elementary school again in Missouri and then in Anthony, KS. Here in Wichita where she moved in the fall of 1938, Lois taught public school primary grades until she retired in 1967. Lois said that she had wanted to be a journalist but that when she saw the children's need and their eagerness, she was pleased to be where she was and had enjoyed her profession.

1940 was a banner year. By attending three summer sessions, Lois received her MA from Columbia University. She also helped found the Kappa Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, national educational fraternity, which she considered a pivotal organization in the struggle for women's rights. And she bought her home at 125 North Erie.

An excellent cook, meticulous housekeeper and expert gardener, she not only gloried in the care of her property but in the conservation of the environment; "walking lightly on the earth" was one of her goals. Lois loved to travel and learn about other cultures and she literally covered the globe. Many trips were on-site seminars and/or peace conferences. By the time Lois came to Wichita she was already deeply interested in national and international affairs.

As a teacher, she was not allowed to actively participate in politics but from the 1940s through the 1960s, she eagerly provided leadership to the Kansas Institute of International Relations sponsored in Wichita by the American Friends Service Committee, and the American Association for the United Nations of which she was a local founder. Lois said her peace activism was spurred by her mother's influence during World War I and, to quote, "the bombing of Hiroshima made an all time pacifist of me." Through that period she was also active in AAUW because of its strong support of women's issues and was a co-founder of the Wichita Chapter.

After her retirement, Lois became active in Democratic politics, in Common Cause, Kansas Women's Political Caucus and the Stop Wolf Creek anti-nuclear movement of the 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, she focused on Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, League of Women Voters and the Democratic Party. She was honored by the Democratic Party locally and the peace community, both locally and nationally.


All her life, Lois retained her fierce determination and independence and her strong sense of responsibility to the world. She asked that at death her body be given to the KU Medical School for study, that way she said, "I can go on teaching." Indeed an extraordinary woman!

September 3, 2000