Georgia Ann Anna Shaw Heffelfinger

Georgia Ann Heffelfinger, a long-time Kansas City resident, passed away after a long illness at the age of 94 on February 4, 2011 at Indian Meadows Health Care Center. Visitation will be held from 12:00-1:00 p.m. Saturday, February 12, at Mt. Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home, 10507 Holmes Road, followed by funeral service at 1:00 p.m. Interment in Mt. Moriah Cemetery South. Georgia Anna Heffelfinger, who preferred to be called Ann, was born May 25, 1916 and raised in Hiawatha, Kansas, daughter of Harold King Shaw and Eva Pearl Hull. She graduated with a B.A. from Kansas University where she met her husband John (known as Jack). As the story goes, he was working on something underneath a table at the moment she appeared to meet him, so she got down on her hands and knees to introduce herself. Later, whenever anyone asked her where she met her husband, her response was “under a table.” While Jack was getting his Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, she worked as a dietician at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio and then at General Hospital in Rochester, New York. She later used her nutritional knowledge and experience to advantage in cooking for her family. Ann had many strengths and talents. She was reliable, organized, hard-working, musically gifted and had a highly developed aesthetic sense. These were invaluable to her in her role as wife, mother, household manager and gardener. When Jack decided to go into business for himself as a consulting radio engineer, she was the organizing force behind his efforts and became his business manager. When they both developed an interest in rose-growing, Jack planted the bushes and she made beautiful flower arrangements from the roses. Her daughter, Carol, fondly remembers shared creative endeavors such as making May Day flower baskets with which to surprise the neighbors, decorating Christmas cookies, or making Christmas present tags from the previous year’s Christmas cards. Ann’s experience as a youth in the musical field – she studied piano, violin, and sang in the acapella choir at KU – was instrumental in supporting her daughter’s decision to became a professional violinist. Ann remained energetic and hard-working up until the time of her stroke at the age of 89, managing two households – one in Kansas City, Missouri, and the other in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado – and cooking dietetic meals for Jack. May God grant her the peace and rest she deserves. She is survived by her husband John (Jack) B. Heffelfinger of the home and her daughter Carol Heffelfinger of Graz, Austria. Condolences may be made at www.mtmoriah-freeman.com. Arrangements under the direction of Mount Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home, Kansas City, MO.