Jean Ann (Lancaster) Reed, died peacefully in her sleep on September 26, 2024 after a year-long battle with cancer. Born on August 2, 1946, Jean lived her earthly life centered around her family and friends and now is in her eternal heavenly home, surrounded by her husband, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.
Jean was born in, and grew up in, Topeka, Kansas. She attended Topeka West High School where she met several lifelong friends and started playing tennis. She graduated in 1964, and then attended Kansas State University, where she was a member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority, and played guard on the first women’s basketball team at KSU. She graduated in 1968, with her Physical Education degree and went on to be an assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Kansas. She met many lifelong friends in her sorority and from her team. She met her husband, Dale Reed, at KSU, and they married on January 10, 1970, in Topeka, Kansas.
Jean and Dale had two children, Kristen Zimmerman and Keri Skinner (Teru), and very much enjoyed their grandchildren – Ruby Zimmerman (18) and Cole Zimmerman (15). Jean was a loving person and made everyone around her feel special, and took care of many people throughout her life – her children, her Mother, her Mother-in-law, and her husband. She loved her family, her church, and her many dear friends.
She loved K-State sports, and fried chicken, Elvis music, and holiday dinners with family. She was a proud American and proud Kansan, and proud of her family’s military service. You could count on her to listen, to take care of things, for a giggle about something silly, to organize family gatherings, to be considerate, to be on time (if not a little early), and to make little notes about everything from passwords to meal plans to inspirational quotes. One note in her box of things with her at the end of her life said, “Tears may come at night, but there is always joy in the morning.”
Her Christian faith is her foundation, and helped her through the ups and downs of life.
Her funeral service will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday, October 3, at Sunrise Presbyterian Church, Salina, Kansas, and her burial will take place in Spring 2025 at Balch Cemetery in Formoso, Kansas.
In leu of flowers memorials can be made to Sunrise Presbyterian Church, Salina, Kansas.