Jean Ann (Shoop) Hixson was born in Sterling, Kansas, to Homer Albert Shoop and
Helen Ethel (Heter) Shoop. Raised on the family farm outside of St.
John, Kansas, Jean was the oldest of Homer and Helen’s four children.
Jean’s childhood was filled with family, 4-H, and church activities.
Shoop family reunions, which began in Colorado in 1950, were always an
important part of Jean’s life, creating special memories and stories
with cousins that continued to bring lifelong joy. As a teenager, Jean
was busy showing award-winning steers and lambs at the fair and was
equally talented behind a sewing machine, creating stunning pieces of
clothing she modeled with flair at the 4-H style reviews. After
graduating from St. John High School in 1961, she headed to K-State
where she lived in Smurthwaite Scholarship Hall and later Gamma Phi Beta
sorority, making life-long friends.
During her freshman year, a young man offered to drive her to church
and that’s the beginning of a beautiful love story. With tremendous
faith and love, she flew across the Atlantic to marry Larry Hixson in
Giessen, Germany, on August 1, 1964, in a fairy tale wedding that was
retold throughout their 57 years of marriage. Graduating from K-State in
1965 with a Bachelor of Science in home economics, Jean and Larry
headed to WaKeeney to begin a farming career and raise their family.
Jean quickly made WaKeeney home, working on the farm with Larry and
raising a family. She taught Home Economics and Combined Cooperative
Vocational Education Program (CCVEP) at Trego Community High School.
During the 1980s she sold Leiters Designer Fabrics across western
Kansas, bringing people together through beautiful fabrics. She served
on the boards of the Trego County Lemke Memorial Hospital, the Northwest
Kansas Regional Library, the Kansas Hospital Association, and the
Kansas Ag Rural Leadership program. For many years, Jean served as
director of the Trego Hospital Endowment Foundation and enjoyed her
volunteer work for the Kansas Wheat Commission as a “Wheatheart,”
demonstrating bread making techniques across Kansas. She was awarded the
Wheat Woman of the Year in 1997 for her outstanding efforts in the
promotion of wheat products.
Above all, Jean loved caring for her family. Attending her
children’s events brought her much joy; from music and dance recitals,
volleyball, basketball (really her favorite), and football games, tennis
matches, 4-H events (a close second), she was her children’s biggest
fan. She was an active member of Presbyterian Women, the local Extension
Homemaker Unit (EHU), two bridge clubs, the Red Hat Society and served
as a past office holder of Chapter CT of the PEO Sisterhood.
Jean and Larry loved to travel, visiting their children and
grandchildren often, and were blessed to be able to enjoy adventures to
Europe, South Africa, and Asia as well as Hawaii, Alaska, and most of
the fifty states. In her well-deserved retirement, Jean and Larry spent
summers in Westcliffe, Colorado, taking in the mountain air, blue grass
festivals, quilting, bunco, rodeos, and mountain-top picnics.
Jean passed away peacefully in Hays Medical Center after bravely battling Parkinson’s for 17 years.
Jean was preceded in death by her parents, Homer and Helen Shoop and
her sister, Becky (Shoop) Hunley. Jean is survived by her husband,
Larry Hixson (WaKeeney); sister, Karen Nelson (Larry), McCall, Idaho;
brother, Donald Shoop (Holly), Fargo, North Dakota, brother-in-law, Rick
Hunley, St. John, Kansas; daughter, Krista Clouse (Darrin),
Charlottesville, Virginia; daughter, Heidi Cashman (Steve), Lenexa,
Kansas; son, Jon Hixson (Jessica), Alexandria, Virginia; grandchildren
Emma Clouse (Jacopo Scrinzi), Chloe Clouse, Lily Clouse, Sophia Clouse,
Jack Cashman, Sam Cashman, Luke Cashman, Will Hixson, Hannah Hixson and
numerous nieces and nephews.
A Funeral Service will be held on Friday, November 5, 2021, at 11AM,
at the WaKeeney Presbyterian Church in WaKeeney. Visitation will be
held the same day 10AM until service time.
Memorials to Trego Hospital Endowment Foundation or KU Endowment,
memo line: Parkinson’s Research and may be sent in care of
Plumer-Overlease Funeral Home, 723 N. 1st, Stockton, KS 67669, or donate
online at http://www.kuendowment.org/ParkinsonsCtrResearch