FLORENCE (JERRY) (GARRARD) WAGONER
JANUARY 28, 1920 - FEBRUARY 12, 1992)
Florence Wagoner
Florence (Jerry) Wagoner was born January 28, 1920 in Clay County Arkansas to William and Judith Garrard. Her family included five sisters and two brothers. She graduated from high school in Greenway, Arkansas in 1938 and the Draughn School of Business in Little Rock Arkansas in 1940.
She worked for the Department of Engineers in Little Rock, St. Louis and the Canal Zone. She later transferred to the State Department, Foreign Services Division and worked in Chung King and Shanghai China.
While working in China she met her future husband, John A. Wagoner, a Wood River native who was stationed in China with the Army Air Corps as a pilot. They were married in Shanghai on April 30. 1946. Their two oldest daughters, Joan and June were born in China. They returned to Grand Island in 1949 where John re-established his Law Practice, which had been discontinued with his military service.
John and Jerry's family included four daughters, Joan Kopf (Lincoln), June Edwards (Washington D.C.), Ann Grill (Omaha), and Mary Mailliard (Gainsville FL.); three sons, Dr. John Jr., James, and Robert all of Grand Island, and 17 grandchildren.
She was a member of St. Mary's Cathedral parish and a past member of the Grand Island Woman's Club.