Jo Ann Swayze McKinney, 91, passed away on May 25, 2019. The eldest of three children of Helen and E. Gail Swayze, Jo Ann was born August 19, 1927, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and attended Tulsa Central High School. Jo Ann enrolled at the University of Arkansas where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta Sorority and Mortar Board Honor Society and graduated with a degree in physical education. Jo Ann met Wendell O. McKinney at the University. They married in 1950 and raised two children, Marsha and John, and remained married for 49 years until Wendell's death in 1999. Jo Ann was an active volunteer and loved traveling, entertaining, and dancing. She and Wendell had season tickets to the University of Arkansas football games which they attended with the Ben Queens and J. Farrell Kings, lifelong friends whom they met in college. Following Wendell's death, Jo Ann became one of the early residents of Inverness Village where she lived for nearly twenty years. Her family would like to thank her friends and caregivers for their kindness, compassion, and love through the years. We are thankful for all they did in making her life fuller.
Jo Ann is survived by her daughter Marsha and her husband Stephen Abney of Sugar Land, Texas; grandson U.S. Navy LTJG Eric Abney of Oak Harbor, Washington; and granddaughters Christina McKinney of Bishop, California, and Brianne McKinney of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Graveside Services 10 AM, Tuesday at Memorial Park Cemetery
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of your choice, or directed to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation or First United Methodist Church - Tulsa, Oklahoma.