Long-Time Library Leader LaDonna Justice Dies
The Callaway County branch administrator served the regional library system for 23 years before retiring in 1996.
By Layla Edwards ·
LaDonna Justice, a former administrative librarian who spent more than two decades leading a branch in Missouri, died on October 16, 2026. She was 86. Justice lived in the Lakeview Village senior community in Lenexa, Kansas, for the final decade of her life.
She earned a master’s degree in library science from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1968. That credential launched a 23-year career with the Daniel Boone Regional Library system, a three-county organization. From 1978 until her retirement in 1996, she managed the Callaway County branch as Administrative Librarian.
The Callaway County Chamber of Commerce recognized her work in 1992. The group gave her its first Women’s Community Service Award. Officials cited her determined leadership in physically enlarging the library and improving the range and currency of its services. Her prior experience included teaching elementary grades in Brentwood, Missouri, Hamden Plains, Connecticut, and Osage Beach, Missouri.
Justice viewed public institutions as essential guardians of individual liberty. She believed that public schools and public libraries would continue to secure freedom of thought, belief, and self-expression long after her death. This perspective guided her professional philosophy throughout her career.
Born Rolla Benton Henry on October 29, 1939, in Montgomery City, Missouri, she graduated from high school in 1957 and Central Methodist College in 1961. She met her husband, Gary Justice, in college. The couple married on June 9, 1962, at the United Methodist Church in Montgomery City. Their son, Jason Justice, was born on November 5, 1972.
The family resided in New Haven, Connecticut, and several Missouri communities including Osage Beach, Hallsville, Columbia, and Fulton. They later moved to Leawood and Lenexa in Kansas. Justice is survived by her husband Gary, son Jason and his wife Kirnberly, grandsons Christopher and Adam Justice, sister-in-law Della Henry, and seven nieces and nephews.
A committal service for her cremated remains will be held at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Reverend Doctor James Hoffman will officiate. Her parents, sister Betty Manuel, brother Robert Henry, and first husband Juan Manuel preceded her in death.
Source: Johnson County Post
