Flora Reser Wyatt died on Sept. 25 at Hospice of the Piedmont in Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband, Benji, her
daughter, Jami and twin sister, Lora at her bedside.
Flora Reser was born Oct. 19, 1934 in Urbana, Missouri, to Delsena Hobbs and Lynn Jonah Reser.
Flora graduated from Urbana High School, then earned her B.S. degree in education from Southwest Missouri State University.
She later received her M.S. degree from Central Missouri State University and attended the University of Kansas for advanced
degree work.
Flora began her teaching career in Torrington, Wyoming, teaching at the elementary level. She later taught in the Raytown,
Missouri, school district as an elementary teacher and was selected as a mentor for other elementary teachers. Flora served two
summers in the Teach Corps, conducting workshops for teachers in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
In 1968, Flora began teaching at The University of Kansas in Lawrence and married Benji Keaton Wyatt. During her long
career at the university, Flora taught undergraduate courses in reading, language arts and middle school curriculum and
instruction. At the graduate level, she taught classes in the supervision of student teachers and writing.
Flora assumed many leadership roles in the KU School of Education. She served as chair of the scholarship committee, chair of
the undergraduate field experience design committee and director of the Professional Development Schools Program. She also
published many articles on teaching language arts, gifted education and reading. She and two elementary librarians published a
resource book for teachers on authors of non-fiction books, for the integration of curriculum. As a member of Phi Delta Kappa,
an honorary organization for educators, she edited the publication “Tales From the One-Room Schoolhouse,” the sales of which
established a scholarship for KU education students. Flora also co-authored a reading program through a series of books with
her sister-in-law and colleague, Nita Wyatt Sundbye, and colleague Norma Dyck, to help struggling young readers.
“Professor Wyatt” retired from the university in 2005.
Flora had a deep commitment to underprivileged children. She served as consultant to Project Follow Through in the Kansas
City schools, part of the most extensive national educational experiment ever conducted, a 10-year longitudinal study to
determine the best way to teach at-risk children from kindergarten through third grade. Her work in the Professional
Development Schools Program also involved working with KU interns and classroom teachers in schools that serve
underprivileged students.