Jeanne Sturrock 's Obituary
Shirley Jeanne Branson was born April 10, 1935 in Pleasant Hill, MO. the oldest child to Gerald Edgar Branson and Muriel McBride Branson. She passed away April 4, 2019 at home in Longview, Texas with her family around her, after battling Parkinson's for several decades.
Shirley, as she was known in Missouri, started school in Pleasant Hill. Due to her father's work, the family moved around to Clinton, IA ; Paso Robles, Ca; and Abilene, Kansas where she attended school to the eleventh grade. They moved to Longview, Texas for her senior year and she decided to start going by her middle name, Jeanne. She graduated from Longview High School in 1953, and went on to attend Kilgore College. While at KJC she was a Rangerette and a member of Chi Sigma Delta.
After Kilgore College, she became the Assistant and Secretary to the County School Superintendent in Longview. While she was working there she joined Beta Sigma Phi.
In 1955 she went on a blind date with James Sturrock whom she married July 15, 1956 and they
had two children: Jeff and Emalyn. She continued work until Emalyn was born when she became a stay-at-home mother. She was an expert homemaker and seamstress, and went back to school where she earned a degree in fashion design from TWU. She had the ability to see an outfit on the TV, get up make a pattern, and go to her sewing machine and make the outfit to wear the next day. She later worked for a local company that made gowns for festivals and beauty pageants.
In 1960 she and Jim became involved in the Goldwater campaign. She was one of several women that started the Gregg County Republican Women’s organization, where she was the organizing VP and the following year the President. She was active in all three Reagan campaigns, rode in the limo with Reagan on four occasions and attended his first inauguration for President. She was a representative to several State Republican Conventions and to two National Republican Conventions. She served as the Gregg County Chairman for James Baker, and was involved with the Jack Kemp for President campaign.
She and her husband traveled around the US and Scotland for her interest in genealogy.
Afterwards she wrote the book “From Scotland to Texas, Descendants of William Sturrock and Ann Swann”. She loved to travel and some of her memorable trips were to Switzerland with NTSU; the Macy's Parade and Stanford, Ca with the Rangerettes Forever; Altea, Spain and Turkey with Dr. Potts from ETBU to visit the Seven Churches of Asia Minor.
Jeanne has been a devoted member of The First Methodist Church and Oakland Heights Baptist Church during her life in Longview.
She is preceded in death by her mother and father. She is survived by her husband Dr. Jim Sturrock; her children, Jeff Sturrock (Kathy), Emalyn Lovitt (Les); her Grandchildren Erin McClintick (Robert), Emily Sturrock, Dylan Lovitt, Reezin Lovitt; her Great Grandchildren Gabby, Charlie and Clay McClintick, and special friends John Davis and Alyssa Pettigrew; her sister Kay Christiansen (John); nephew Nelson Christiansen and many cousins and friends.
The family would like to thank Nancy Wilkerson, Denise Savage and Phyllis Brook for the special care that they gave to Jeanne throughout the years. And a very special thank you to Monica Davis for all of her loving care over the years.
In lieu of flowers, please make any donations in her memory to The Parkinson's Foundation or Heart's Way Hospice of Longview, Tx.
A service for Jeanne will be held at Oakland Heights Baptist Church on Saturday, April 13 at 2 pm with a visitation starting one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow at Harris Chapel Cemetery.
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