Jean Lawanna Sammons, 98, of Mt. Pleasant, died Wednesday, November 6, 2024 at Legacy Point in Iowa City.
Jean was born April 7, 1926 in Chicago, IL. She was the daughter of George and Marie (Schenk) Johnson. The family moved to northern Iowa during the Great Depression and then settled in her mother’s hometown of Winfield, IA. Jean attended Elementary School in Winfield and Crawford School near Swedesburg . She then attended Olds High School and graduated as one of the two Valedictorians of the Class of 1944 from Pleasant Lawn High School.
After high school, Jean worked as a Nurses Aide at the Mt. Pleasant Memorial Hospital (now HCHC).
On July 30, 1944, Jean was united in marriage to Merritt Keith Wandling. To this union a son, Charlie, was born. Mr. Wandling was killed in a stock car racing accident on September 20, 1948. After his death, Jean accepted a position as the bookkeeper and pump attendant at the former Sinclair Service Station in Mt. Pleasant. It was there she met and began to date the fuel delivery driver. On October 30, 1950, Jean was united in marriage to William Patrick Sammons. To this union, 4 children were born, Robert, Gary, Susan and Jane. Mr. Sammons died February 22, 1981.
Jean was a longtime homemaker devoted to raising her children. After her children left home, Jean worked at Fashion First Fabric, and later was the cashier at the former Iowa State Liquor Store in Mt. Pleasant.
A product of the depression, Jean was very skillful at stretching a dollar, and employed many of those traits until her final days. She was an excellent seamstress, and made many of her children’s clothes. Her skills with fabric also allowed her to be a gifted quilt maker. She was known as the family barber, cutting the family’s hair and even cutting her own.
Jean loved to be outdoors. She loved to garden. But, her most fond love was mowing the lawn. She enthusiastically hopped on the mower often, and was particular in how she cut the grass. Even after fracturing her ankle and was in a cast, she continued to mow while keeping her leg high in the air. During Old Threshers, she park cars in her yard, and was fastidious about how the cars were to be parked.
In her later years, Jean loved to go dancing with her friends at the Moose Lodge in Burlington. She won ribbons in Speedwalking at the Senior Olympics. Her family was amazed at her incredible memory, and how she could recall the details of her early life. Jean developed an immense love and admiration for the country of her father’s birth, Sweden. She visited Sweden six times, and was very pleased to meet and spend time with the relatives of her father’s family.
Those thankful for sharing in Jean’s life include 3 children – Charlie Wandling and his wife Shirley of Mt. Pleasant; Susan Hill and her husband Tom of Iowa City, and Jane Sammons and her husband Jay Speckeen of Iowa City; her daughter-in-law, Judy Sammons of West Branch, IA; 7 grandchildren – Nick Hill, Ryan (Mary Kay) Hill, Scott (Rebecca) Sammons, Julie (Chad) Jedlicka, Matthew (Mary) Millard, Benjamin (Shannon) Millard and Dallas Kyle, and 9 great grandchildren – William, Harrison, Josephine, Jack, Boden, Samuel, Emry, Marek and Jensen. Jean is also survived by her brother Ralph’s children and their families.
Jean’s parents, husbands, a son – Gary Sammons, a son in infancy, Robert Sammons, and her brother, Ralph Johnson, precede Jean in death.
A funeral service for Jean will be held at 3 PM on Sunday, November 10, at the Kimzey Funeral Home, 213 North Main Street, Mount Pleasant. A private family burial will be on Tuesday at the Forest Home Cemetery in Mt. Pleasant. The family will be present to greet friends from 1-3 PM on Sunday at the Funeral Home.
Jean’s family would like to thank her friends and neighbors, especially Lynn and Maxine Bender, the Legacy Point Staff and St. Croix Hospice for the way they all looked after and cared for Jean.
Those considering an expression of sympathy may direct memorials to the family for a fund to be established for the care of various Henry County rural cemeteries.
Online condolences may be directed to www.kimzeyfh.com.