Mary Jane Brown Means

is honored with a Brick from Dave Bennett , Jeff Bennett, Kirk Bennett, Mike Bennett, Sue Campnest, Sally Liebst, Janet Mansfield , Rob Means, and Nancy Oldfather.

Born October 6, 1924

"Sister Act - Showing Daily in Wichita!"

It's not a movie, it's a description of Jane Means and Elizabeth Bennett. We are the children, nieces, and nephews of both of these women. They are separated in age by slightly more than three years, but they haven't been apart much since. We knew that no description of them would be complete without a little history of their unique bond. Although we admire them immensely as individuals, we are in awe of their special relationship and the fact that they are each other's best friend.

Jane (known to the Bennett kids as Tia, which is Spanish for Aunt) and Elizabeth (known to the Means kids as Tante, which is French for Aunt) are the only children of Nicholas Brown and Mary Thornton Brown who were married in 1923. Nick and Mary instilled in their daughters a strong Catholic faith and the faith in themselves to accomplish a great many things in their lives.

Mary started a tradition by graduating with a teaching degree from Fairmount College. Jane, Elizabeth and many of their children have followed in her footsteps and have attended Wichita State University. That tradition combined with our deep love and respect for these women inspired us to honor each of them in the Wichita State University Plaza of Heroines.

Jane and Elizabeth graduated from Blessed Sacrament Grade School and then Mount Carmel Academy High School where some of their lifelong friendships began. After each finished high school, they enrolled at WSU and joined the Alpha Tau Sigma Sorority (which later became Delta Gamma). There are many stories and fun-filled outings from their years in high school and college. They both have a true love of learning, and that coupled with a great sense of humor made their college experience quite enjoyable.

When Jane graduated from college with a degree in Education she decided that her next adventure would be to move to California to live, work and experience what the world had to offer. Elizabeth graduated with a degree in English and was also drawn to California to live with Jane and friends. Those years as single working girls were very special to them, but the next phase of their lives is where we come in, so we think it's a very important phase!

Elizabeth married Robert F. Bennett on May 19, 1951. Their six children arrived over the next ten years. In order of appearance: Kirk-1952, Sue-1953, Dave-l956, Nancy-1958, Mike-1960, and Jeff-1961. Jane married Harold F. (Bud) Means on July 6, 1957 and their three children arrived in the following order: Rob-1958, Sally-1961, Janet-1963. As you can imagine with six and three kids respectively, each woman was pretty busy, but with the support of their husbands they each found many social, religious and cultural organizations in which to become involved.

With their lives being so compatible and parallel we easily became one BIG family. Our holidays, baptisms, graduations, vacations and just about any other family activity is time we all spend together. To sum up their lives would be impossible in two pages but we would like to end by telling a few of our favorite stories which capture a sense of their unwavering love and loyalty to family, adventure, and just plain fun:

Mom jumping out of the car and onto a city bus with a child who desperately wanted to ride the bus (dad followed until they hopped off again) - Taking us all on a round trip flight to Tulsa for dinner just so we could experience air travel at a young age - Setting up hot air balloon rides for the whole family only to be told that it was too windy when it was their turn for a ride - Month-long stays at our great cabin at Wagon Wheel Ranch and making sure that we rode horses, swam and camped out often, although none of this appealed to them - Always attending our various sporting/musical/educational/etc. activities which still continues with the grandchildren today - Making sure that we had wonderful family vacations to someplace new, taking in everything the destinations had to offer - Introducing us to various cultures through our travels and having foreign exchange students to dinner.

Hopefully these stories provide a glimpse of their fun personalities. This brick seems like a small gesture to try to thank our moms for all of their unselfish love, dedication and hard work over the years. Their devotion provided us with a solid foundation upon which to build our own lives and has been our greatest source of strength. For all of this and more we wish to express our heartfelt THANKS and to say that WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!

Submitted by Kirk Bennett, Sue Bennett Campnest, Dave Bennett, Rob Means, Nancy Bennett Oldfather, Mike Bennett, Jeff Bennett, Sally Means Liebst and Janet Means Mansfield

September 14, 1998