Jo Anne (Jo) Call passed away May 27, 2023, from natural causes. She was born January 3,1935 in Lebanon, OH to Cecil and Frieda Jameson Griest.
Jo graduated from Lebanon High School in 1953. She attended the University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio where she pledged Tri Sigma sorority. Jo later attended Kansas State University.
On June 26, 1954, Jo was united in marriage to Edward (Ed) P. Call of Stow, OH. Soon after her marriage they moved to Manhattan, KS. They were married for 61 years until his death in 2016.
Jo was employed for eight years by First National Bank, eventually becoming a branch manager. However, she considered being a wife and a mother to her three children – and eventually grandmother and great-grandmother - to be her most important accomplishment of all.
Jo was an avid bowler and belonged to the Manhattan Women's Bowling Association. Her love of bowling took her to over 25 national bowling tournaments. She also enjoyed playing golf and she and Ed spent many weekends at Stagg Hill golf course where they were longtime members and where Jo helped coordinate the junior golf program. Jo was a crackerjack at crossword and jig saw puzzles. She also enjoyed playing cards with her bridge group.
Ed and Jo were fiercely loyal and vocal KSU fans. They were seasoned tailgaters with their dedicated crew of friends at home football games. Jo and Ed also attended many games to watch the Wildcat men and women’s basketball teams.
Jo was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and a special aunt and uncle, Clark and Elma Weamer.
Survivors include her children Sarah Call (Steve) of Shawnee, KS, Julie Kinsman (Martin) of Shawnee, KS, and Jeff Call (Jan) of Huntingdon Valley, PA. She leaves six grandchildren Andrew Kinsman (Kristen), Aimee McCauley, Matt McCauley (Kelcey) Leslie Kinsman, Kellye Morgan (Jamie), and Brian Call (Erica). Jo was also a great grandmother to Carson, Ellie, and Reese Kinsman, Lily and Henry Westerhaus, and Maeve, Meara, and Mattie McCauley. Other family members include a special cousin, Lois and Bill Rush of Kettering, OH, niece Suzanne Call Cryst and her husband, Michael Cryst, of Stow, OH and nephew, Howard Call of Stow, OH.
Memorial services will be at The First Presbyterian Church, 801 Leavenworth St., Manhattan, on June 8, 2023, at 11:00 AM., with Reverend Jason Pittman officiating. Private family inurnment will be in the Kansas Veteran’s Cemetery at Ft. Riley Veteran's cemetery beside her husband.
Memorials may be made to The Good Samaritan fund at Meadowlark Hills, The First Presbyterian Church- Call Family Memorial, or the GMCF – Manhattan Kiwanis Fund. Contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, KS 66502.