Jarda A. Fitzwater
June 27, 1953 - April 22, 2021
Jarda Ann (Sexton) Fitzwater, 67, a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend, lost her long courageous battle with lupus, surrounded by her family and friends on April 29, 2021.
Jarda was born June 27, 1953 in Abilene, Kansas to Mervin and Cecelia (Zey) Sexton. She attended St. Andrews Catholic School 1st through 8th grade and graduated from Abilene High School in 1971 where she met the love of her life Bruce Gene Fitzwater.
After graduation she played softball and attended Kansas State University where she began attending football games in 1968. She transferred to Marymount college in Salina, Kansas where she started nursing school and completed her degree at St. Joseph School of Nursing in 1973. Then began her lifelong career as one of Kansas' first advanced nurse practitioners in the Emergency Department at Via Christi St. Joseph in Wichita, Kansas, where she provided love and compassionate care to anyone who crossed her path as if they were family until 2009 when she was forced to retire due to her health.
Jarda and Bruce were united in marriage on July 12, 1974 at St. Andrews Catholic Church in Abilene, Kansas and were blessed with two children, Rachelle Fitzwater of Wichita, Kansas and Levi Fitzwater of Derby, Kansas. She was the grandmother to Damarian, Ayden, Kodiak, Presley and Ryan. She is survived by her mother Cecelia Sexton of Manhattan, Kansas, brother Mark Sexton (Nikki) of Manhattan, and sister Christine Graham of Topeka, Kansas. She is preceded in death by her father Mervin Sexton, sisters Amy Hodges and Jill Ross, niece Deanna and nephews Miles and Joshua.
Her legacy will live on in the hearts of all who knew her. She devoted over 40 years to living out the mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph. She was vibrant, kind, extremely intelligent, and the strongest woman anyone ever met with a devout love for God, her family, and friends. We will forever miss this tenacious woman who was a role model for so many.
Mass of the Christian Burial will be May 13, 2021, 10:30 a.m. at St. Andrews Catholic Church, 311 S. Buckeye Ave. Abilene, KS with Father Randall Weber as celebrant. The rosary will be held at the funeral home at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Her final resting place will be Mt. St. Joseph Cemetery near Abilene.
In lieu of flowers the family requests contributions be given to the Sisters of St. Joseph, Good Neighbor Ministries, or the Mother Mary Ann Clinic and may be sent in care of the Martin-Becker-Carlson Funeral Home, 414 NW 3rd, Abilene, Kansas 67410.