Lorna Jean Powell

(Nee Wixom) Passed away from her two year battle with cancer. Jean as she was known by her friends and family was born in San Diego, California to Elijah Gregg and Kathern Lorna (Kemp) Wixom. As the oldest child to a Navy man, she moved around a lot ending up in New York where her father was from. Not wanting to be stuck at a desk job, Jean and a best friend enlisted in the Air Force for three years. After nine weeks of basic training, the Air Force found Jean a job as a medic and stationed her in Waco, Texas for a couple of years and then shipped her to Germany in 1957 thru 1958 were she met her husband, Leotus Powell. Married in Switzerland, the two finished their service and moved to her husband’s home town, Kokomo, Indiana where she had her three children in three years. After which they relocated to Bettendorf, Iowa for job reasons. Jean joined the work force in Iowa and worked as a hospital admissions supervisor. Many years later after her divorce she moved to Florida for a year and then to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to be close to her daughter, Denise. There Jean worked in home health care at a clerical position until she retired 15 years ago. After retirement Jean was able to spend winters divided in Phoenix with her son Carey and California with her son Kevin. Jean was a member of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies for 16 years. She had a friend in the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies which she decided to join too becoming the banner carrier when she discovered that she can’t dance. She marched in over 300 parades, her favorite being the downtown Milwaukee Christmas Parade. She also enjoyed cross-stitching. She liked that she would be hard at work, the television would be on but she didn’t hear the outside noise because her mind is working, either counting her stitches or other things. Over the years she has shared a lot of her beautiful work with her friends. As Jean grew older history began to mean more to her. It was upsetting when her grandmothers Revolutionary War era house was torn down. In October of 2019 she was able to complete her dream trip to Eastham, Massachusetts and the Cape Islands with her daughter and son-in-law. This is where her family originally landed as indentured servants in the 1630, later becoming one of the founding fathers. She was able to research her family history and visit the cemetery where her ancestors were buried. Jean, is survived by her three children Carey (Laurie) Powell in Phoenix, Arizona, Kevin Powell (Jess Hamilton) in San Diego, California and Denise (Frederick) Heitl in Greenleaf, Wisconsin, two grandchildren, Ashley (Nick) Rutkowski, Atlanta, Georgia, Robert (Samantha Nicholson) Coakley, Edwardsville, Illinois, great-granddaughter Charlotte Vivien Coakley, sister Sharon Mullin, Florida and brother Stephen Wixom, Milwaukee, WI.