Jean Strawn Flowers
(Erma) Jean Strawn Flowers was born September 9, 1930 on a farm in Woods County Oklahoma to Vernon and Mable Strawn and died on February 12, 2022 at the age of 91 years, 5 months and 3 days in Wichita, Kansas following severe Covid infection. Jean was born the 5th of six children, 5 girls and 1 boy. Jean learned a lot about sharing and tolerance, and devised new styles with hand-me-downs. Being one of the younger sisters, she depended on her older sisters to cook and sew, and delighted in spending time outdoors with her daddy on the farm, and therefore, spent less time learning to cook and sew.

Jean could always entertain a room full of people with stories of life on the farm and living through the Great Depression and has shared the story of when food for animals was so scarce that the government came in and euthanized her family's horses and other livestock. She had many stories of times when the girls and boys from Hartner and Capron would get together for dances and all the boys would spend all evening in the gym shooting baskets.

Jean followed her sisters, and attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma. While in college, she was a two-sport athlete, playing both basketball and volleyball. The women's uniforms and the sport of basketball have changed tremendously since those days. When Jean played basketball, the player could dribble only one time before passing the ball. Jean earned her teaching certificate while at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. She spent 40 years teaching in the public school system, mostly in the Wichita School District. Jean had a knack of finding those children and families who needed a little bit more help; and for most of her career, she had secret families for which she purchased entire Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and she bought Christmas gifts for the whole family, year after year. Jean had a huge heart for people in need and always carried extra cash in her purse for anyone she thought could use a dollar. She was always happy when former students, all grown up, would stop by her home in south Wichita for a visit. Jean delighted in telling stories about her teaching years, and always found humor when reflecting on those years.

Jean was a beautiful young lady and caught the eye of a few gentlemen, but when her sister introduced her to Dwight Flowers, there was no turning back. She was attracted to his big smile, easy laugh, and she loved that he was a classy dresser. Dwight and Jean were united in marriage on January 5, 1952. Jean loved being married and enjoyed their time together as a couple. They moved a few times, but most of the family memories were made in their home on South Washington, across from the river and bike path. The best part of that block were the neighbors in every house who became best friends and got together for weekend breakfasts, ice cream on July 4th, and celebrated all important family events together.

Dwight had always wanted children and two children were born to their union, a daughter, Kimberly Kay and son Lance Dwight. Their days were filled with raising their family, participating in activities and taking several vacations in the pickup and camper to various parts of the country, usually to spend time with family. The family visited Hawaii, California, Carlsbad Caverns, Seattle, MIdland, Texas, Albuquerque, and also traveled to the North Carolina region to see where Dwight's family grew up.

While teaching full time and raising a family, Jean pursued her Master's degree in Education and spent many long nights writing and typing papers and lesson plans and working on her Master's thesis. These were hard times and Jean remembered many family sacrifices during this time. Jean retired from teaching in 1990. She first became a grandmother in 1990, but feeling much too young to be called "Grandma", she elected to be called JJ by her grandchildren. She spent retirement getting together with her sorority sisters, taking bus trips to Branson with Dwight, helping her children with projects while constructing their homes, attending church and Sunday school at First Church of the Nazarene, and spending time with her siblings, and with her grandchildren. She loved outings to the zoo, walks on the bike path to the railroad trestle, and taking the children to McDonald's play place. Jean loved to shop for bargains, even some which weren't worthy of being purchased. She loved to bake brownies and pumpkin cakes and gave many away to friends. Jean made the best baked mac and cheese and it became a request of many grandchildren on their birthdays. Jean loved clothes and was always dressed up, nails painted, and hair done, even on days when she had no plans. One of Jean's favorite adventures was attending the Reba McIntire concert at the new Intrust Bank Arena. One of Jean's most loved memories was her and Dwight's 50th Golden wedding anniversary when she donned a long gold gown at a Gala in their honor. Dwight and Jean were blessed with 62 happy years together.

Jean was preceded in death by her husband Dwight, her siblings, Vivian, Elaine, Vernon, and Mary. She is survived by her daughter Kimberly (Tony) Sacket of Wichita, son Lance (Keri) of Derby, and eight grandchildren: Austin, Dylan (Amy), Chase (Kaitlyn), Grant, and Gage Sacket, and Neil, Cole (Madison), and Brooke Flowers, her sister Dorothy of Texas, many nieces, nephews and friends. Additionally, Jean leaves behind her caregivers, Liani and Deanna.