Norma Jean Satterfield

Just two weeks after her 97th birthday, Jean Satterfield passed away peacefully in her sleep on Weds., March 16. A devout life-long Christian, she is now enjoying life in Heaven with Jesus and her beloved husband.

There will be a visitation on Monday, March 21, from 5 - 7 pm at Ellis Funeral Home on Andrews Highway. A memorial service will be on Tuesday, March 22, at 2:00 at St. Luke's United Methodist Church at 3011 W. Kansas Ave.

Born Norma Jean Wilson on March 3, 1925, to her loving parents Dolan and Cecil Wilson in Clever, Missouri, she was the 2nd oldest in a family of eight children. She had fond memories of a happy childhood, growing up on a farm in the rural Ozark Mountains, helping her mother with her younger sister and five younger brothers, and walking a mile every day with her older sister to the one-room schoolhouse they attended through eighth grade.

A few years after high school graduation, Jean took the train from Missouri to visit relatives in Modesto, California, and ultimately, decided to stay there. Some time later, she met a young USAF pilot from Texas named Robb Satterfield who was stationed at a nearby Air Force base. They began dating and after a three-year courtship, they were married at First Methodist Church in Modesto on July 31, 1949.

After a Coronado Island honeymoon, the newlyweds set out on a long cross-country drive to Robb's new assignment at Shaw Field in Sumter, South Carolina. This was just the beginning of Jean's new life as an air force wife that included being transferred to different bases across the country and overseas. Their tours of duty included Hampton, VA (Langley Field); Cambridge, England; Edwards AFB, CA; Long Island, NY, and lastly, Mobile, AL, where Robb retired as a lieutenant colonel and chief test pilot after serving almost 25 years in the USAF.

The Satterfield family's next and final move was to Midland, TX, in 1966, where her husband accepted a job as the pilot for Chaparral race car drivers Jim Hall and Hap Sharp. During this time, the family finally started putting down roots. Finding a church home was very important to Jean, and she immediately started visiting local churches. It didn't take her long to choose St. Luke's Methodist Church, and the family soon became members there. While her husband was often out of town on flights, Jean was busy raising her children, teaching Sunday School, playing bridge and, as often as possible, traveling with her husband.

After her husband's retirement from corporate flying, he spent the next several years performing aerobatics around the USA in his beloved P-51 Mustang with Jean right by his side. She loved to travel and that was a definite perk to being married to a professional pilot for almost 41 years. She had fond memories of special trips to Rio de Janeiro, Bermuda, Acapulco, Hawaii, Germany and England, A highlight of one trip back to England in the 1980s was when Jean and Robb were presented to Queen Elizabeth following his performance at an air show. Both were long time members of the Confederate Air Force.

Several years after Robb passed away in 1990, Jean married Bill Kouns, a long time fellow St, Luke's member. They enjoyed 17 years together, traveling the country and overseas, playing lots of bridge and attending St. Luke's together until Bill passed away in 2011.

Left to cherish her memory are her son Larry Satterfield of Midland, and her daughter Marilyn Hightower and her husband Bill, also of Midland, and their children Ryan Hightower and wife Keleigh of Fort Worth, and Ashley Cole and husband Andrew of Dallas. She is also survived by her three great granddaughters: Elizabeth (Bessie) and Charlotte Cole of Dallas, and Sophie Hightower of Fort Worth. She is survived by her sister Betty Hawkins of Republic, MO, and her brother Joe Wilson of Springfield, MO, as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins in Missouri and California. She is also survived by her step-daughter Marilyn Long Kouns and her husband K.O. of Abilene, TX, and their children Tracy Arnold and husband Eric, their children Griffin and Reese of Nashville, TN, and Scott Long and wife Meredith and their children Bennett and Hudson of Dallas.

The family would like to express their appreciation for the loving care shown to our mother by the staff of Cowden Cottage at Manor Park, including Valerie, Amanda, Jessica, Mary Ellen, Tina, Autumn, Jamie, Angela, Julie, Sandra, Marlene, Erin, Emma, Kimberly A. and Kimberly B.

Special thanks also to Jean's longtime doctors Cindy Marriner, Jeff Grigsby and Robert Ochsner for their care.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.ellisfunerals.com for the Satterfield family. In leu of flowers the family is requesting that charitable donations be sent to any of the following: St. Luke's United Methodist Church, Hospice of Midland or Manor Park.