Jean L. Sexton's Obituary
Jean L. Sexton
Jean Sexton passed from this life Thursday morning, May 19, 2005, at her home in Longview, Texas to enter the presence of her loving Savior and Lord.
Mrs. Sexton was born Jenny Elizabeth Williamson on September 13, 1910 in Brooklyn, New York. After the death of her parents, she was placed in an orphanage with her siblings and at the age of three, put on an orphan train with several dozen children, who then headed west in hopes of finding a new home. She was adopted from the Orphan Train in Neosho, Missouri by Walter and Margaret Landreth. Unlike many orphan train children, she enjoyed a good Christian childhood and was raised with an adopted sister, Mary.
She was reunited with her brothers and sister when she was in high school. They had been adopted from the Orphan Train in Nebraska and Colorado. She moved to Tulsa to enter Business College after graduating high school in 1929.
It was during the depression years that she met and married Harold L. Glenn Sexton. With the skills she learned in Business College, she worked all of her life in secretarial and stenographer work. She retired from Skelly Oil Co. in Tulsa in 1972.
Mrs. Sexton was a charter member of the ?Orphan Train Heritage Society of America? and served as one of their spokesman for many years. She had a great desire to educate people about the orphan Trains which ran from 1854 to 1929. She grew up in a time when being an orphan had a stigma to it and it just wasn?t talked about. In spite of so many trials and burdens in life, she?s kept many people laughing with her wonderful sense of humor. Before moving to Longview, she was an active member of the Seniors Four Sunday School Class at Tulsa First Baptist Church.
She has written many poems. A number of which have been printed in a book entitled, ?Poems of Inspiration and Common Sense?. She has also written an article for a book? ?Orphan Train Stories? by Gateway Press.
Preceding her in death are her husband, Glenn, in 1966, her son, Harold, in 1988, and her adopted sister Mary, in 2004. She is survived by her son, Clark and his wife, Marilyn of Longview, Texas; She is also survived by her loving grandchildren: Meredith Rowell and her husband, Tim, of Williamsburg, Virginia; Scott Sexton and his wife Brenda, of Longview, Texas; Brian Sexton and his wife Jenny of Lewisville, Texas; Lora Briley and her husband Dale, of San Jose, Costa Rica. Eleven great-grandchildren; Alex and Caroline Rowell, Jared and Skylar Sexton, Hannah and Patrick Sexton, Cara, John, Seth, David, and Emily Briley. With assistance of Rader Funeral Home, Funeral services are under the direction of Moore?s Southlawn Chapel in Tulsa at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday May 24, 2005. Interment will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery.
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