Ann (Rogers) Martin

Shirley Ann Martin passed peacefully and surrounded by family on the morning of November 15, 2024 in Overland Park, Kansas. Ann was born on December 19, 1935 in Denver, Colorado, daughter of Helen (Kepler) and Byron Giles Rogers. She graduated from East High in Denver, Colorado in 1954 before attending Colorado State University (then Colorado A&M), where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics (Child Growth and Development) in 1957. During her time in college, Ann was active in student government and sorority activities, which included serving as a founding member of the Pi Beta Phi chapter on her campus.

After graduating from college, Ann trained to become an airline stewardess for Trans World Airlines (TWA) and moved to the San Francisco area. She met pilot Hollis Warren Martin while working on a flight in 1958, and the two were married in Denver, Colorado on April 2nd, 1959. She then returned to school to earn an additional certificate in elementary education from Denver University and worked part-time as a substitute teacher for young children. Ann and Hollis welcomed a son, Derek, in 1963 and then a daughter, Kristen, in 1969. They raised their family in Leawood, Kansas before moving to Lake Lotawana, Missouri in 1989. In retirement, Ann and Hollis found their greatest joy in their three granddaughters—Katie, Abbi, and Elizabeth. Ann took tremendous pride in supporting their growth and education, and she enjoyed keeping up with their many adventures.

One of Ann’s great passions was traveling with family and friends. This was reflected in a lifetime of worldwide adventures, including numerous trips throughout Europe, to the pyramids in Egypt, barging the canals of France, and sailing among the Galapagos islands and down the Amazon River. She maintained her love for adventure to the end of her life, recently embarking on trips with her girlfriends to the Great Lakes and across the northeastern United States.

Ann valued connection with others above all else, and her life was marked by meaningful friendships that often spanned decades. She was an active member of her PEO International group, as well as being involved in her husband’s Kiwanis International chapter. Their retirement was filled with social engagements, and their lake house was the hub for many a lakeside party. In addition to year-round events at the Lake Lotawana Yacht Club, Ann and Hollis also enjoyed “float boat” parties out on the lake on warm summer nights and frequent get-togethers with the “Lake Eight”—a group of close friends and neighbors with whom they stayed in touch to the end of their lives. Ann made it a priority to find community wherever life took her. After she and Hollis moved to a villa in the Kingswood Senior Living community, Ann became the secretary of the neighborhood’s members organization and maintained friendships with a close-knit group of girlfriends who supported each other through the ups and downs of their day-to-day lives. She was also a lifelong Christian and found faith and community as an active member of Prairie Baptist Church.

Ann is preceded in death by her husband Hollis, her parents Helen and Byron, and her brother Byron Jr. She is survived by her son Derek, her daughter Kristen, her granddaughters Katie, Abbi, and Elizabeth, and many extended family members, all of whom will miss this remarkable woman dearly.

A memorial service will be held at Prairie Baptist Church at 75th and Roe in Prairie Village, Kansas at 1 P.M. on Friday, November 22nd. A reception at the church will follow. Ann’s family expresses their heartfelt gratitude for the outstanding care provided by Dr. John Dunlap and his team and the nurses, doctors, and hospice group at Menorah Medical Center. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Ann’s favorite local NPR station, KCUR 89.3.