Jean Lois Freeland Shank, age 96, of Sturgis, Michigan passed away on Thursday, May 5, 2016.

       She was born in Sturgis in 1919, a daughter of Harold Buckner Freeland, Sr. and Florence Beebe Freeland.

       Jean graduated from Sturgis High School with the class of 1937, and maintained lifetime close friendships with several of her classmates. She was married to Lyle Wyer (1943 - 1952) and later to Oliver Shank, who preceded her in death.

        In 1938, Jean became the first woman to fly solo from Kirsch Airport in Sturgis. An avid sailor and canoeist, her love of Klinger Lake began in childhood and continued throughout her life. She resided at Klinger Lake many years.

      She was a devoted bridge player, and in later years, served on the board of the Sturgis Historical Society. During her working years, she was the Office Manager at Freeland Sons Company, manufacturer of farm equipment and fishing boats, a family business handed down thru four generations.  It was begun in Middleburg, Indiana in1893 by Buckner Fairfax Freeland and moved to Sturgis in 1902 by Curtis Aaron Freeland, former Sturgis Mayor. With her father, Jean managed the company during WW2, while her three brothers served in the military. After the company closed in 1964, she worked as a Claims Interviewer at the Michigan Employment Security Commission. She married Oliver Shank, in 1975, and was a Realtor in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where they resided. She returned to Sturgis after his death in 1984 and lived there until the fall of 2015, when she moved to the home of her daughter, Jean, of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

     Jean was preceded in death by her parents; sister Beverly Jane, her brothers, James C. Freeland, and Harold B. Freeland, Jr.; her husbands, Lyle Wyer and Oliver Shank; her infant daughter, Lora Jane; her sisters-in-law, Jeanne Freeland (William), a niece, Vickie Ann Freeland (Harold, Jr.); and her granddaughter Stacie Shank.

        She is survived by two daughters, Jean Mitchell (John) of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan and Rebecca Van Zile (Steve) of Sturgis, along with 3 grandchildren, Benjamin Aaron Staffin of Boston, MA, Rebecca Staffin Wilke (Matthias Wilke) of Seattle, WA, and Thomas George Mitchell of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, her youngest brother, William D. Freeland; her sister-in-law, Susan Freeland (Harold Jr.) and sister-in-law, Ellen Beth Freeland (James C.); six beloved nieces and nephews and many dear cousins.

        A memorial service will be held at a later date.  Friends wishing to remember Jean through a contribution in her memory, may consider Camp Fort Hill in Sturgis, a Boy Scout and Girl Scout Camp.  Envelopes are available at the Rowley Funeral Home in Mt. Pleasant.