Dorothy Jean Myers

Dorothy Jean (Haynes) Myers died August 8th, 2014 at the age of 90. She had lived in Overland Park since 1980 with her last days at Sweet Life in Shawnee. There will be an interment service at Forest Hill Mausoleum, Kansas City, Missouri, on Monday, August 18th at 11:00 AM.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, August 18, 1923, she was the daughter of Dr. Solon E. Haynes and Helen Agatha (Klose) Haynes who died when her three daughters were quite young. The three girls were raised by their father and stepmother, Alberta (Cross) Haynes and from this union another sister and then a brother were born into the family.

Due to the loss of their dear Mother, the three older sisters shared a common bond. Along with her two sisters, Helen Ann and Mary Ruth, the Haynes girls grew up in the Crestwood neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. They attended Nelson Grade School and the St. Mary?s Academy in Leavenworth, Kansas. She and her sisters were known throughout their lives as fun, lively, unforgettable people.

While attending Kansas City University (now UMKC) she met and married Ralph E. Myers. She played an integral part of his career, traveling the world to research architectural projects.

The family years saw her as a devoted, energetic and involved mother. Her own children plus those in the neighborhood and at the local schools benefited from her innovation and dedication. She served on numerous committees, including the board of the Florence Crittenton Home; no church or school project that she became involved in was ever done half way.

As the family grew up, she returned to college to complete her degree in history. She graduated in the top of her class from St. Teresa?s College (now Avila University). She continued on with post-graduate work in history at the University of Kansas. After her studies, she began a career that was a labor of love. She was a teacher at Meadowbrook (Mission Valley Middle School) Junior High School for over ten years. Her involvement with the students, offering an exciting method of learning, is cherished by many of them even today.

Jean was a person of many talents: entertaining, cooking (she could do a wedding reception at the drop of a hat), gardening, writing, story-telling, sports-watching (especially high school basketball) as well as her ability to use her study of history to seriously relate to everyday events.

Her greatest asset, however, was her unselfish desire to help those in need, especially those most in need. The list could go on for pages of those whose lives that were made better by her support, which came in many forms, but most significantly with sincere care and concern.

She was preceded in death by her parents and two older sisters, Helen Ann Fowler Andus of Brownsville, Texas and Mary Ruth Solak of Kansas City. Her son Gordon E. Myers II predeceased her in 2001.

She leaves family and friends who will remember her fondly. They include her sister, Joan Watts (Dale), of Leawood, Kansas and her brother, Dr. Solon E. Haynes, Jr. (Maureen), of St. Joseph whose extended families were a central part of her life.

She leaves her children, Marcia M. Tharnish and her husband Albert Tharnish, of Tualatin, Oregon and Ralph E. Myers, Jr. and his wife Dana F. Myers, of Kansas City; her three grandchildren, Kathy J. Kavanaugh of Point Clear, Alabama, Lindsy L. Myers (Mitchell Douglass) of Kansas City and Byron E. Myers (Thao Bui) of Kansas City, Missouri; and four great-grandchildren, Maret Miller, Sterling Clay, Macauley Douglass and Aynslee Douglass.



She left her late-in-life husband, Robert Ottesen, of the home, who passed away this week.

Memorial donations may be made to Rose Brooks Center.