Services to honor and celebrate the life of Jean, will be held on April 5, 2024. Officiated by Reverend Harrell Shelton and Dr. Parker Goforth. Visitation will begin at 9:30 AM and the service will begin at 11:00 AM at Airline Baptist Church in Bossier City, Louisiana. Following the funeral, she will be laid to rest at Hill Crest Cemetery in Haughton, Louisiana.
Born to Robert and Edna Lankford in Union Parish on March 30, 1934, MeMe was a beacon of light with the warmest smile and kindest heart that she shared with everyone she was blessed to know, and even those she did not know. She truly modeled the love of Christ through her compassion and selflessness.
Predeceased by her parents; her husband and father of her three sons, John William Avery; later husband, James Ray “Jim” May; sisters Lois Baird and Mary ”Skeet” Gardner; and brother in law, W. L. “Dub” Gardner.
Jean’s memory will be cherished and kept alive by her three sons, John Randall “Randy” Avery (Karen), Rickey Lynn “Rick” Avery (Ann), and Charles Gregory “Greg” Avery (Kelly); her six grandchildren, Tori Avery Johnson (Mark), Courtney Lynn Avery, Emily Avery Daughdrill (Chase), Anna-Kate Avery Goforth (Parker), William "Will" Randall Avery, and Joel Reese Avery; five great-grandchildren, Kinley Nicole Johnson, Jake Avery Johnson, Davis Daniel Johnson, Avery Kate Daughdrill and Eden Grace Goforth; a host of nieces and nephews; and extended family Howard Ray Johnson, Monica Johnson Tracy, Gina May Gleason (Tim), Teresa May Johnson (David), James Ray “Jim” May, Jr. (Nancy), and Deane Zager as well as countless friends who loved her so.
After graduation from Marion High School in 1952, she moved to Shreveport, Louisiana where she met and married John in 1956. Shortly after, they started their family and grew their locally-owned hardware store, Fairway Ace Hardware, in Bossier City, Louisiana. For many years she served others by counseling them to overcome personal battles. After that, she worked as a bookkeeper with her son, Greg, at Avery’s Jewelry for twenty-one years until she retired.
The family would like to extend their sincere gratitude to the doctors, nurses, and staff at Willis Knighton Bossier Hospital and Emergency Room, Pathway Rehabilitation in Bossier City, and Brookdale Assisted Living in Bossier City, Louisiana, and a special thank you to Amy Epp, her nurse from Bristol Hospice, and beloved friend and beautician, Glinda Avery.
Honoring MeMe as pallbearers will be Will Avery, Joel Avery, Mark Johnson, Chase Daughdrill, Parker Goforth, and Donald Digilarmo.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that a donation be made to Shriner’s Children’s Hospital or Airline Baptist Church, where she was a member, 4007 Airline Drive, Bossier City, Louisiana.
