Glenna Dean Lowrance

Glenna Dean Lowrance, 85, passed away on Monday October 24, 2016. Funeral Service will be Saturday October 29, 2016 at 2:00 PM at Church of Christ in Grapevine. Burial will take place at Childress Cemetery in Childress TX Monday October 31, 2016 at 2:00 PM.

Glenna Dean Olmstead Lowrance, born December 21, 1930, she grew up on a farm outside of Frederick, Oklahoma. She was the second child and only girl among 3 brothers of Everett and Vonnie Olmstead. She carved her place early. At age 5 she pulled cotton and put the older kids to shame. At age 9 she made a dress that won first at the local fair and was sent on to state. The sad part of this story is that by the time she got the dress returned she had grown too much and never got to wear it. As a 5th grader in the country school of Sunset she got her claim to fame by being moved up to the junior high basketball team as she was already tall and athletic. And so the basketball legacy began.

After graduating from Frederick High School, Glenna moved to Wichita Falls, Texas to attend Drownes Business College. As serendipity would have it, she met John on the bus as she rode to school. John had a girlfriend but he had a friend he wanted her to meet. And shortly after, they did meet...Glen and Glenna. She thought he was tall and handsome. He thought she was beautiful and sweet. When she asked his middle name, her response was “No it isn’t”. Not only did their names fit, but Glen was a basketball player at Midwestern University with plans on being a coach. And so began the love story of Glenna Dean and Glen Dean Lowrance, married May 26th, 1951.

In their almost 35 years of marriage they traversed Texas with Glen as coach, principal and superintendent. Glenna was always by his side at every game and every event and every interview. She was part of every job. When he was senior class sponsor, so was she. They began their coaching years in Chillicothe where Brenda and Stan were born and fit right in to this coaching family. Brenda was even on the football sideline as a mascot. From there the family moved to Monahans where Deena was born. A brief time out of coaching in Odessa as a sporting good salesman was not who Glen and Glenna were and they bounced back to Chillicothe with Glen as coach and athletic director and Stan now old enough to be on the field, in the gym, and on the bus. The next stop was in Iraan where to everyone’s excitement Lenna was born. The next move was into administration in Eagle Pass, Georgetown and Claude. In 1976, Glen became superintendent of schools in Childress. Glenna served as church secretary at the Church of Christ and later worked as an assistant to Jo Brown in the Childress Independent School District Office. Glen and Glenna’s youngest daughter Lenna graduated from Childress High School in 1984.

Everyone at every stop knew Glenna because she was at everything with Glen and always brought the best food. At this point it seems appropriate to mention that while Glen was known for his coaching, she was known for her cooking and candy making. Caramels topped the list as everyone’s favorite. Glen died in 1986 and Glenna’s next journey began. After Glen’s death Glenna focused on her family. She moved to the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex where she spent two years working as an assistant in her son Dr. Stan Lowrance’s dental practice in Rockwall, Texas. She spent the last 20 years living with her daughter Lenna’s family in Southlake, Texas where she focused on all of her kids, grandkids and great grandkids.

Glenna’s life has always centered around family. In 1973 Brenda and David Land started her grandkids with Dixie. This first grandchild called Glenna “Meme” and that is who she became to everyone. Four years and another granddaughter Angie was added. These two girls were blessed to be loved and spoiled by Glenna and Glen. Her grandkids continued to add up as in 1989 Brett was born to Brenda and David. Stan and Cyndie added Chloe and in 1991 Shanae. Deena adopted David in 1989 & Stephen in 1991. Lenna and Scott Summy’s firstborn was Ashley in 1993 and Meme moved in to help with her baby girl’s baby girl. And then Hunter Summy in 1996 and Fielder finalized her grandkid count in 2000. Oh, but wait...there is more. Now we move on to great-grandkids who all loved their Meme. Dixie and Bryan Pauler gave Glenna her first great in 1997, Bryce. Dixie and Bryan added two more greats, Lance and Trace. Angie and Russell Best started their “great” line with Jarrell in 2007 and continued with Cortt and to everyone’s surprise added the first great-granddaughter Allie in 2015.

There definitely is the common thread of basketball throughout the generations of Glenna’s story. Her kids played basketball, her grandkids played basketball and her great grandkids play basketball, including her grandson Hunter and great-grandson Bryce who are currently college basketball players. She travelled many miles to see many games and became Meme to lots of players including the Tarleton Lady Texans where granddaughter Shanae was recently a stand-out.

In 1995 oldest granddaughter Dixie decided she needed to share something she loved with her Meme, so as a gift she registered and paid for Meme’s first church camp at Bandina. Glenna’s camp friends became her church family as she traveled from Camp Bandina to Petty John to Impact in Lubbock and Red River For 25 years she brought her love of friends and faith to each special camp. Also, it needs to be noted that she was known for her exceptional 42 skills (for those who don’t know, 42 is a domino game) and became a sought after partner.

If Glenna had a mission it was making people feel so special as they received a card with a hand written message. She took great pride in her elegant penmanship. She mailed thousands of cards to hundreds of people and somehow had more birthdays and
anniversaries committed to memory than most of us have Facebook friends. She single-handedly kept the United States Postal System going. They will miss her, too.

We each have something special that we remember about Glenna, Mother, Meme but everyone who knew her will agree that there was one thing extra special…………….her SMILE!

And that smile is what we will see when we think of her.

Glenna was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Donald Olmstead and Kenneth Olmstead, husband Glen and daughter Deena Jaunta. She is survived by brother Larry Olmstead and wife Renee of Mustang OK, sister-in-law Margaret Olmstead of Edmund OK, Nancy Olmstead of Rogue River OR, daughter Brenda Land and husband David of El Paso TX, son Dr. Stan Lowrance and wife Cyndie of Rockwall TX, daughter Lenna Summy and husband Scott of Southlake TX, grandchildren Dixie Land Pauler, husband Bryan and children Bryce, Lance and Trace of Buffalo TX, Angie Land Best, husband Russell and children Jarrell, Cortt and Allie of Van Alstyne TX, Brett Land and wife Lacey of Dallas TX, Chloe Lowrance Dembesky and husband Joe of San Jose CA, Shanae Lowrance and fiancé Randall Henderson of Dallas TX, Ashley Summy, Hunter Summy and Fielder Summy of Southlake TX, Nicole Lowrance of Dallas, David Jaunta and Stephen Januta of Mesquite, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends