In Loving Memory of Dorothy Ann Willson

Dorothy Ann Willson

Ann, to all those who knew her, was born on July 15, 1935 in Wichita, Kansas. Ann died on February 13, 2024 at 88 years old in Apache Junction, AZ. Cause of death? Well, she just wanted to go home. Home, as we all knew, was Heaven. Donations can be made to Wycliffe Bible Translators “so the word of God can go on”. 1-800-WYCLIFFE, info_USA@wycliffe.org

Ann was widowed in 2006 but had been married for 54 years to Donald Willson. Ann had two children, Michael and Susan, and one son-in-law, Mark Ozbun. Ann had one grandchild, Nicole (married to Jeremy Callas), and four great-grandchildren, Carly, Evelyn, Nolan and Benjamin. Ann loved all her family tremendously and only wished we could all live together in one big house.

Ann came from humble beginnings and was an only child. She had lots of favorite cousins and friends throughout her school years. She told stories about eating dandelion greens, and watching a mouse run up her Dad’s pant leg. She felt very fortunate to have indoor plumbing for most of her life. She talked about learning to ride a bicycle. Her Mom and Dad met at a local café in Wichita where her Dad was a cook and her Mom was a waitress. She talked about what a great cook her Dad was.

Ann graduated high school and got married at 17 years old. She was very smart, although she never considered herself to be. She had more than her fair share of common sense. And she was extremely organized.

After marriage, Ann stayed close to her parents for the next few years while Don was in the Air Force in Africa. She worked during this time as a bookkeeper and data processor. Once her husband came back from Africa, it wasn’t long before Ann was pregnant with her son, Mike. She and Don moved to Georgia for a short time, but quickly moved back to Kansas to be closer to Ann’s parents. Three years later, there was an “accident”, and Sue was born. Ann was 23 years old with two small children. When Ann was 29, she and Don bought their first house and lived there for the next 25+ years.

Ann helped Don in his many business adventures through the years working in the office. She also helped Don with his bright yellow race car, #58.

Ann devoted the remainder of her Kansas life to her two children and was always available to them while they were growing up. She would play games with the kids and tickle wars were a daily occurrence. She was such a stable force in the lives of her children.

Ann tried desperately to teach Sue to cook and the first meal was fried chicken. Ann wanted Sue to learn to cut up a whole chicken but Sue refused due to it’s “ickiness”. She asked Sue how she was going to feed her own family and Sue told her she would only buy chicken already cut up. It was only in the last few years of Ann’s life that Sue agreed to learn how to make scalloped potatoes and a few other things.

Dorothy Ann Willson…

Ann made sure her house was always welcoming to her kids and their friends. She took in a lot of “strays”, the human kind. If anyone didn’t have a place to go for a holiday or birthday, or just a Friday night, they were always welcome at Ann’s home where they were immediately treated as family.

Once the kids were out of the house and off to college, Ann began getting more involved with church and private Bible and Prayer Studies. She quickly became known as a prayer warrior and spiritual leader, but she would laugh out loud about those titles. She used to say she was the biggest sinner of all and she never wanted anyone to put her on a pedestal. One of her biggest spiritual joys was having an old-fashioned river baptism together with her Dad. In her last days, she said her biggest accomplishment was leading the Bible Studies at church and at Weaver’s Needle. She still kept all her notes and teachings.

Ann crocheted a lot before moving from Kansas. And she did a lot of canning and preserving food from our garden and fruit trees. We never had any lack of potatoes, peas, corn, carrots, green beans, cherries, apples and pears. We loved climbing the trees to pick all the fruit. And of course, eating everything we grew in the big garden.

Ann and Don were also very involved in square dancing. Ann loved the social events and loved getting dressed up in the special square dance outfits that matched whatever Don was wearing.

Once Don retired, Ann was happy to leave her home and follow Don where-ever he led her across the country. They spent several years RV-ing and enjoyed every minute of it, eventually traveling to over 25 states, including Hawaii, Alaska and Canada. Ann especially enjoyed parking the RV at night and getting to know the surrounding neighbors and RV-ers. Eventually, they settled in Weaver’s Needle and bought a park model, where Ann lived for the next 30+ years.

Ann enjoyed learning about painting and loved to paint scenery. Two of her paintings are posted at the memorial.

Ann and Sue took a couple of long-distance trips. She was a great traveler, never once questioning where Sue was driving. She was so happy to ride along and look at the sights and visit some of her friends that she met at Weaver’s Needle that had moved to other states. Ann and Sue used to look at the road signs as they drove along and say the names of the roads out loud together. But when they saw Wolfe Street, they both howled like wolves at the moon, rather than saying the actual street name. Sometimes, when they talked on the phone, they still howled together.

In her later years, Ann expanded her home and heart to include everyone she met. Ann knew no strangers. Everyone was simply someone new she could pray with.

Dorothy Ann Willson…

Ann was all about people. Everywhere you look in her house is something someone has given her. She collected things people gave her, because she really collected people. She simply loved people. And she loved Jesus. It seemed common sense for her to bring the two together. She would take every opportunity she could to pray and share about Jesus and how much He loved everyone. She used to share devotions at various events at church and at Weaver’s Needle Park. She loved sharing the devotions with Sue beforehand. Growing up she was super shy, so standing in front of so many people and speaking was especially meaningful to her as she never imagined she would be able to do anything like that due to her shyness.

Ann was also feisty and ornery so sometimes she enjoyed shocking people with an occasional bad word or off-color joke. She also liked to play little jokes on people and make them wonder who was behind it. She talked a lot about visiting Gary, her neighbor. But sometimes they weren’t home, so she would turn over a sign on their home. They always knew who had visited when they returned home because they saw the sign turned around backward.

Ann had a very tender heart and could be easily hurt. And even though she had tons of people in her life, she often spoke of being lonely. She loved to laugh and have fun. She loved being silly. She loved to go for walks and put the newspapers closer to the front door for her neighbors.

Yes, Ann was about other people. And red lipstick. She used to say that she may not be the thinnest person or the most stylist, but she always wanted to look her best and always have her makeup on. One of her last regrets was that she didn’t have her red lipstick with her.

Ann spoke at times of her memorial and how she hoped it would be a joyous and happy time, with lots of sharing and praying and laughing. She did not want us to be sad because she knew she would be happy in Heaven with her Loving Father.

“Don’t grieve for me for I am in a far better place.
Rejoice!…for I haven’t left, you just can’t see me.
I will kiss your cheek with the sun,
sing to you through the birds,
hug you when you are blue,
and love you, love you always.
I’ll be waiting at the East Gate for you!”