Lou Ann Denny

An outdoor funeral service to celebrate her life will be held at Basehor United Methodist Church (18660 158th St, Basehor, KS 66012) at 1:00 PM on Friday, August 28th. Funeral service attendees are required to wear a mask and practice social distancing to protect all attendees and their families. For those who cannot attend in person, the family hopes to live-stream the service online, with additional details forthcoming.

Lou Ann was born in Cabool, Missouri on December 29, 1935 to Naoma Edens and Doctor Louis Edens. She was the youngest of 7 children, and enjoyed a very happy and adventurous childhood. She revered her father, who was a rural horse and buggy doctor and a decorated World War I POW survivor. Her mother was very influential in her life, instilling a deep and abiding love of family. She adored her six older siblings, sharing vivid and admiring stories about each one throughout her life.

In 1953, while living in California, Lou Ann met a strapping young Marine named Walter Denny. They fell in love and married in October of that year. After settling in Walt’s hometown of Kansas City, they raised a family of 3 children – Mike, Linda, and Craig. Their home was filled with happiness and the family was very tightknit, building bonds that would last a lifetime. She and Walt would be married for 43 years before his untimely passing in 1996. Over time, Lou Ann would be blessed with not only her three loving kids, but also ten adoring grandchildren, ten great grandchildren, dozens of nieces and nephews, and countless kind friends.

Until her passing, Lou Ann (also known affectionately as “Mamaw”) was the last surviving member in her family of the “greatest generation” – those who lived through the Great Depression and World War II and helped to build the prosperous post-war era. She was the matriarch and bedrock of her Kansas City family, revered for her simple yet profound wisdom, her kindness and loving manner, her steel-trap mind and memory, and her exceptional gift for telling vivid stories from her life.

Beyond her family, which meant more than anything to her, she was a trailblazer in the workplace, moving up from the ground floor of Radiology Chartered to become its business manager before retiring in 1991. Her hobbies included avid reading, crossword puzzles, cooking, antiquing, sewing, tracking current events, rooting for the Chiefs and Jayhawks, and conversing and corresponding daily with friends and family. She was an amazing cook – punctuated every December by a Christmas meal that was a sight to behold – and everyone in her orbit can trace some of their favorite meals, dishes, and desserts directly to her.

She valued family ties and experiences over material possessions, treated friends and strangers alike with respect and dignity, and embodied resiliency and simple grace to the very end. She will be missed by all whose lives she touched, and she leaves behind a loving legacy and ripple effects that will endure forever.

In lieu of flowers, Lou Ann expressed her wish that donations be made to Basehor United Methodist Church, which will enable the purchase of a new sound system tailored for worshippers who are hard of hearing.