Mildred Joann Mayo

Mildred JoAnn (Borland) Mayo, 86, earned her place in the Heavenly Choir on November 2, 2016 at her residence in Blue Springs, Missouri. JoAnn was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, on December 14, 1929, the eldest of three children born to Joseph Edward and Eva Lucille (Garrison) Borland. She grew up near Mount Vernon, Illinois and received her formal education at the Mount Vernon Township High School and the Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Sixty-six years ago, on August 18, 1950, JoAnn married her high school sweetheart, Joseph Lloyd Mayo, and they settled in Mount Vernon. During the course of their adventures together they produced two sons and one daughter and began moving west, first to Webster Groves, MO, in 1957, then to the Kansas City area in 1969, and finally settling in Shawnee, KS in 1974. JoAnn became a member of the Shawnee Lions Club, sponsored by Joe, on June 26, 1987. She was the second woman to be inducted as a Lion in the state of Kansas, and in 1994-95 was the first woman elected District Governor in Kansas. She was a charter member of the Bluejacket Toastmasters Club and was working on her final presentation, a speech on Helen Keller, when she passed. She was active in both clubs through 2015, providing service to many and earning numerous honors over the years.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her brother, Jerry Richard Borland, and her eldest son, Daniel Edward Mayo. Surviving, in addition to her husband, Joseph Lloyd Mayo, of Blue Springs, MO, are her son, Michael Alan Mayo and wife Megan of Independence, MO; daughter Deborah Susan Dooley and husband Jack, of Blue Springs, MO; eight grandchildren, Rachael Mayo, Michelle Zastrow, Kelly Stoll, Thomas Mayo, Erin Noah, Brett Dooley, Eva Dooley, and Henry Dooley, 7 great grandchildren, and her sister, Janet Adkins, her sister by marriage, Kay Borland and several much loved nieces and nephews.

A celebration of JoAnn’s life will be held at 3:00 pm on Sunday, November 20, 2016 at the Shawnee Town Hall, 11600 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, KS 66203. Inurnment will be at Pleasant View Cemetery in Shawnee, KS. The family requests no flowers.

Those who wish to remember JoAnn in a special way may make gifts in her memory to the Shawnee Lions Club, c/o Stephen Powell, 1819 Baltimore, #103, Kansas City, MO 64108.