Jo Ann Allen Gibbons

Jo Ann Allen Gibbons passed from this life on Sunday, December 16, 2012 at Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, at the age of fifty-four. Jo Ann was born in Kansas City, Missouri on June 4, 1958; she was the daughter of Joseph J. Heffron Jr. and Georgiana Armstrong Heffron. She was raised and attended school in the Kansas City, Kansas area. Upon completion of her education, Jo Ann moved to McCook, Nebraska where she was married to Mike Allen. The couple made their initial home in McCook and had two children, Julie and Mike. After a couple of years, Jo Ann moved her family to Blackwell, Oklahoma where she raised her two children. While residing in Blackwell, Jo Ann accepted a position working as a carpenter installing and finishing cabinets in remodeled and new constructed homes. Later, she began her career as a home health care nurse assisting in the care of the elderly. After residing in Blackwell for several years, Jo Ann moved to the Cleveland/Jennings area where she has remained for the past twenty-five years. She has continued to work as a private home health care nurse until for health reasons she was medically retired about seven months ago. Jo Ann was an avid gardener and loved tending to her house plants. It could be said that she had a green thumb. She mostly enjoyed spending time outdoors and especially loved to fish prior to her illness. She was described by her family and friends as a kind, compassionate and loving mother, grandmother and friend who never met a stranger. She is survived by her daughter and her fiancee, Julie Allen and Justin Landers, Blackwell, Oklahoma; a son and his wife, Mike P. and Amanda Allen, of Blackwell, Oklahoma; two grandchildren, Destiny and Blaze Allen of Blackwell, Oklahoma; and her fiancee, Billy Vaughan. She was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph J. Heffron, Jr. and Georgiana L. Heffron; a brother, Skip Goret of California; and a sister, Sheryl Goret of Kansas. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM Thursday, December 20, 2012 at the Chapman-Black Funeral Home with Gene Black officiating. Friends may share a memory with the family at the funeral home or online at www.chapman-black.com