JANNA LEE (ORE) YOUNG – OBITUARY

SUNRISE: December 28, 1936

On December 28, 1936, Janna Lee Ore made an early appearance into the world, much to the surprise of
her loving parents - Ava Marie and Robert L. Ore. The young couple had traveled to Carthage, Missouri
to visit Ava's parents during Christmas when Ava went into labor at the Medearis home. Arriving several
months early, Janna was tiny and premature, but a fighter from her very first day of life. Grandmother
Mary Medearis quickly whisked Janna into a warm oven to save her life, as there were no hospitals and
incubators available for premature babies at that time.

Three years later, Ava became pregnant again, this time with twin sons. Sadly, the boys were stillborn.
Then two years later, Ava became pregnant again, this time delivering Mary Elizabeth Ore on September
18, 1941. The family was then complete.

During her childhood, Janna, and her younger sister, known as Mary Beth, were raised on the family
farm northwest of Burden, Kansas. From an early age, Janna was groomed by her mother, Ava, to be the
"junior boss" at the farm by assisting with meal preparation, canning food, milking cows, cleaning the
house, collecting eggs, and butchering chickens.

As a result of growing up on a farm and participating in church, Janna learned leadership and
organization skills that served her well in life. She particularly enjoyed music classes, English classes, and
drama classes while attending country schools near the farm and in Burden. Both Janna and Mary loved
spending time on the farm with their dog, Tinker, who was their faithful companion during their
childhood years.

In addition to farm labor, Janna and Mary also took piano lessons from Mrs. Brooks in the town of
Burden. Music was always an important part of the family's life as all members were musical. During
high school, Janna competed in many piano competitions at the local and state levels. She also served as
an accompanist for the Burden High School Boys' choir and then for the First Baptist Church of Burden.
Janna also gave piano lessons to young children after graduating from high school.

Growing up in a strict Baptist household, neither Janna nor Mary could attend and participate in school
or community dances. During Janna's senior year in high school, she was voted Class Queen by her
classmates due to her outgoing personality and beauty. However, Janna was not allowed to attend the
crowning ceremony due to the family's beliefs regarding dancing.

During high school, Ava volunteered for Janna to work at a local blood drive by passing out cups of
orange juice to blood donors from the Burden area. Fate intervened that day, as Janna met Frank Young,
a new arrival to the community due to his transfer by Texaco Oil Company. As a young roustabout, Frank
had been assigned to work in the oilfields in the Atlanta area of the county. The two began dating and
eloped a year later, marrying on January 14, 1955, in Newkirk, Oklahoma. Frank and Janna settled into a
second-floor apartment in Burden, sharing a bathroom with the owner of the house.

Within the year, Janna was pregnant and became a young mother at the age of eighteen when her
daughter, Deborah, was born on September 13, 1955. When Deborah was three years old, Janna and
Frank asked Deborah if she would rather have a baby brother or a dog. Candy Pepper, a black and white
Cocker Spaniel, then joined the family the same year. The small, but mighty, family was complete.

The family moved frequently due to Frank's career with Texaco as new oilfields were developed in
Kansas and Oklahoma. In 1960, Frank was transferred to Beaver, Oklahoma. As soon as Deborah was old
enough to attend school, Janna obtained a job as a sales clerk at the Western Auto store in Beaver. As a
result of Janna's income, the family was able to afford their first new home built on the edge of town.
However, the family's time at the new home was short-lived, as Frank was promoted to head
roustabout in Kingfisher, Oklahoma where the family moved in 1965.

Before the family's move, Janna had begun taking Saturday classes at Northwestern College in Alva, OK.
After the move to Kingfisher, Janna transferred to Central State College (now the University of Central
Oklahoma) in Edmond and commuted in carpools for three years. Janna graduated with a bachelor's
degree in Arts with an emphasis in English and drama in the spring of 1968 and then quickly obtained
her master's degree in Arts with an emphasis in English the following year in 1969.

After her college classes were over, the family built a new home on Zellers Avenue in the spring of 1969.
They would be the second homeowners on the street in the new Zellers Hilltop Addition. This house
would remain Janna's home for over forty-three years. Both Frank and Janna took tremendous pride in
their home and neighborhood in Kingfisher.

Janna began her teaching career at Okarche High School in the fall of 1968 by teaching English and
drama classes and directing plays and sponsoring the new forensic speech program at the school. Janna
was loved by her students and was voted Okarche Public Schools Teacher of the Year during her time at
Okarche.

In the fall of 1973, Janna obtained a job as middle school librarian and established the new middle
school library in Kingfisher. Within a few years, she transferred to the high school and began teaching
English, drama, and debate classes as well as directing plays and establishing a new forensic speech
program at the school. One of Janna's students is former Oklahoma state representative, Mike Sanders, of Kingfisher.
Many of her students from Okarche and Kingfisher considered her to be the most influential teacher
during their time at the school. She usually treated the forensic students to ice cream after the
conclusion of a speech tournament. Janna was voted Teacher of the Year for Kingfisher Public Schools
and later voted Outstanding Speech Teacher of the Year by the Oklahoma affiliate of the National
Forensic League.

During the summers, Frank and Janna enjoyed going on vacations and taking their boat to the lake to
water ski and enjoy the sun. They helped to instruct many people (including family members and former
students) to water ski at Lake Keystone. Janna also enjoyed playing card games and especially the game
of Authors. Her niece, Kimbra Jan Cornett, always hoped that she would be able to stay all night at their
house as they bonded over a mutual love of card games and chocolate. Janna also encouraged Kimbra
to join the band and collaborated with her to help her perform the poem, "My Dog, Fido" at the
Hennessey Fine Arts contest.

In May of 1981, the entire family experienced a devastating loss due to the death of the family patriarch,
Robert Ore, who died of a heart attack while rototilling his garden at the family farm on Memorial Day.
Within the year, Janna and Frank assumed many of the farm duties and responsibilities on the farm in
Kansas while still working full-time jobs in Oklahoma. They worked as a team to keep the farm moving
forward for many years, finally retiring from farming in 1998. Earlier this year in 2022, the farm received
the Kansas Century Farm Award for Cowley County, KS thanks in large part to the efforts of Frank and
Janna during the 1980s and 1990s.

Frank retired from Texaco in 1987. Seven years later, Janna decided to retire from Kingfisher Public
Schools in 1994 so that they could spend more time traveling together. Janna excelled at planning trips
and organizing all details. She and Mary especially enjoyed taking cruises and traveling to Europe.
Together, they were able to accomplish their goal of visiting Europe 12 times.

Frank and Jan became "winter Texans" and stayed in various locations in south Texas during the late
1990s and early 2000s. Frank spent time fishing while Janna spent time swimming and reading. These
were incredibly happy years for both Frank and Jan.

In 2002, Janna was elected to the Kingfisher Public Schools Hall of Fame due to her excellent work as an
educator for the Kingfisher Public School system for twenty-one years. Her plaque hangs in the hallway
at Kingfisher High School. Janna left an indelible mark on public education and public service in all of her
communities throughout her lifetime.

The year, 2002, would be one that would change the face of the family forever due to the loss of Janna's
mother, Ava Ore, in the spring. Her health had been declining for quite some time, her last years spent
in assisted living centers in Enid and Kingfisher. Then, in December of that year, Frank died of a heart
attack while moving to a new condominium in Port Isabel, Texas. Fortunately, they had not yet sold their
house in Kingfisher, so Janna was able to sell the condominium and return to her home in Oklahoma
following Frank's death.

Janna surprised everyone by deciding to sell her home in Kingfisher to move to Spanish Cove Retirement
Center in Yukon, Oklahoma in the spring of 2011. When her best friend and former co-worker, Elsie
Hunter moved to Spanish Cove, and Janna wanted to join the fun there as well. She enjoyed the planning
process of organizing and decorating a new apartment at the complex. Janna participated in field trips
and bus tours and worked as a member of the Spanish Cove volunteer group. She received their award
as one of their outstanding volunteers in 2016 due to her excellent work helping to organize and
inventory items to sell at estate sales held at the complex. True to form, Janna made a difference in
every place she lived.

After five years of independent living at Spanish Cove, Janna transitioned from independent living to
nursing care in the winter of 2016, following a twelve-day hospitalization due to an infection and septic
shock. Within a month of returning to the rehab portion of the facility, she was hospitalized once again
due to intestinal bleeding in her upper G.I. tract. Although unable to stand and walk independently after
the two hospitalizations, Janna worked hard and was able to walk once again with the assistance of a
walker. Just as in her earliest moments of life, Janna was a fighter who cheated death multiple times and
triumphed over adversity repeatedly.

SUNSET: October 13, 2022

Janna passed away on Thursday, October 13, 2022, at Spanish Cove Retirement Center following a brief
battle with HERS2 metastatic breast cancer that developed in the summer of 2022. She is now free of
her earthly body and on the greatest adventure of her life.

Janna was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Ava Ore of Burden, KS; her husband, Frank
Young of Kingfisher, OK; stillborn twin brothers who were unnamed, and brother-in-law, Ron Cornett, of
Hennessey, OK.

Janna is survived by her daughter, Deborah Maehs, and her husband, Mark Maehs of Kingfisher,
Oklahoma; her sister, Mary Elizabeth Cornett, of Hennessey, Oklahoma; her niece, Kimbra Shriver, of
Cushing, Oklahoma; her great-niece, London Elizabeth Geyer, and husband, Holden Geyer, of Cushing,
Oklahoma; several cousins, two grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Janna's body will be on display at Sanders Funeral Service, 124 E. Broadway, Kingfisher.
The family will be present from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, for anyone who wishes to extend their sympathies to the family in person.

A funeral service will be held at Sanders Funeral Service at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19.

A private graveside burial will follow later that day at the Burden Cemetery in Burden, Kan.

The family wishes to thank the staff of Spanish Cove Retirement Center and also Traditions Hospice of
Oklahoma for their care, especially during Janna's last month of life.

Donations in Janna's honor may be made to the following organizations: Okarche Public Schools Speech
Program, P.O. Box 276, Okarche, OK 73762, or to the Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children, 3800 N
May Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73112.

In honor of Janna, we encourage each of you to attend a live theatre or musical performance in order to
keep the magic alive on this earth.