Wanda Jane Alexander Rippee's Obituary
Wanda Jane was born in Moutain Grove, Missouri on February 5, 1936 to Hugh Clifton Gourley and Zara Pauline Hamby Gourley. She was the fourth of five children; Mary, Donald, Carol and Bill. She attended school in Mountain Grove until her family relocated to Blytheville, Arkansas when she was in the eleventh grade. She graduated high school at Blytheville. Soon after her graduation, Jane became a student at Baptist Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Memphis, Tennessee. During the course of her studies there, she met her future husband, Henry H. Alexander, Jr. Jane received a Diploma Degree in Nursing in September 1957. Later in her career, Jane furthered her education to get her bachelor’s degree in Nursing. Medical, Surgical and Psych Nursing was her great love and expertise while working for Baptist Hospital for many years. She later became a Nurse Administrator, pharmaceutical representative and teacher well into her seventies maintaining her licensure through 2006.Jane and Henry were blessed with a son, Jeffery Harrison Alexander, on November 6, 1958. He was their only child and they were both devoted, loving parents during his formative years. They loved to spend their yearly family vacations in Destin, Florida, a precious and memorable time for them all. As a family, they shared in Henry’s passion for building, restoring and showing antique cars and Corvairs. They often toured different parts of the country as members of the Corvair and Antique Automobile Car Clubs of America. Later in life she toured the USA with a women’s acapella singing group, the Sweet Adeleines. She also won awards in quilting needlepoint.Jane was a devout Christian who loved the Lord Jesus with all her heart. She was a practicing Baptist as an adult and was active in church functions until her illness prohibited her regular attendance. Her love of the Lord was obvious in the way she loved and served her family and extended family. She was always there for them with a support and ferocious love that superseded her own comfort and circumstance.Soon after the premature death of her husband Henry at age of 65 in 1995, she relocated to Williston, Tennessee. She continued to work as a nurse in Somerville and spent as much quality time with her son, Jeff and daughter-in-law, Kim, as possible.In 2002, she remarried to her old high school sweetheart from Mountain Grove, Robert Rippee, and they spent many years in their heritage home with their cats until her passing.She was preceded in death by her sister, Mary and her two brothers, Donald and Bill. Her staunch battle with her disease suffered an unimaginable blow when her son, Jeff, passed away in November of 2018. She followed him on April 11, 2019.There will be a committal service on Saturday May 18,2019 at 11:00 a.m. at Memorial Park Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Avenue in Memphis.
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