Obituaries

Jeanne Scott "Jonny" Boggess Hammans

Photo of Jeanne Scott "Jonny" Boggess Hammans
Jeanne Scott "Jonny" Boggess Hammans of Stuttgart, Arkansas passed away on Sunday December 14th 2014. Preceded in death by her husband, Charles Erle Hammans Sr. At her passing, she was surrounded by the children who loved her and is survived by Claire Hammans Daniel of Stuttgart, Claudia Hammans Stallings of Little Rock, Scott Hammans (Zack) Mason of Little Rock, Erle Hammans of Little Rock and Malu Hammans of Chattanooga Tenn. Her grandchildren, Scott (Roger) Berg of Fort Collins, Colo.; Hammans Stallings of Austin, Texas; Brooke (Win) Wilson of Little Rock; Taylor (Ashley) Stallings of Houston, Texas; Darby Tompos of Chattanooga, Tenn.; Drew Mason of Little Rock and Clay Mason of Manhattan, New York. Her great-grandchildren, Tyler Berg, Grayson Berg of Fort Collins, Colo.; Win Wilson and Lillian Scott Wilson of Little Rock. "Mrs. Jonny" as many people preferred to call her lived a full spirited life. Jonny was always an activist and when she volunteered or was elected to a position she took the bull by the horns. Jonny was born January 26th 1930 in Harlan, Ky. and attended grade school in Barlow Ky. Jonny's mother took a position on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tenn. while Jonny was in high school. Her high school was a Federal government high school which as President of the student body Jonny staged a student walk out because the school would not close for the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Little did her mother or Jonny know that the Manhattan Project was actually developing the atomic bomb. Once the war was over she served on a committee (Youth Council on Atomic Crisis) and they lobbied in various cities on the eastern sea board and Washington DC for civilian control of atomic energy. The bill passed and the first usage of that energy was used to power the ticker tape units for the New York Stock exchange. Jonny graduated from Oak Ridge high school at the age of 16, moved to Arkansas and attended Arkansas State University. Jonny as a freshman was Miss Sadie Hawkins. Her sophomore year she was elected homecoming queen by the football team and was a charter member of the Sigma Omicron chapter of AOPi. Her sophomore year friends brought her to Stuttgart and on a blind date met Charlie Hammans home from the University of Arkansas. Jonny and Charlie married in 1949; early married life was all babies and diapers. When school started mother was very involved in our school work, serving multiple times as President of the PTO for the various schools we attended. It was also during that time she started making and sewing clothes for her daughters. They were always the best dressed girls in school. It was then that Mrs. Jonny took her passion for sewing and altering to a new level by making many formals and wedding dresses for the girls of Stuttgart. Once we were old enough to fend for ourselves she started her volunteer work. Jonny and Charlie spent many hours watching Erle play baseball at John Cain Park. It was at that time they both decided the park, tennis courts, baseball fields and the old WPA pool needed work. Mother had herself appointed to the Park Committee with Claudia, Scott, Erle and Malu in tow, she started painting the pool, grandstands, ordered new playground equipment and worked to get the tennis courts in playing condition. In 1972 then Governor Dale Bumpers appointed Jonny to the University of Central Arkansas' Board of Trustees. Jonny was at that time the first female appointed to an Arkansas university board. Jonny served as secretary of the board for many years and loved to sign the graduate's diploma. Jonny's proudest moment was serving as Chairman of the Board two different times as then governor Bill Clinton reappointed her for a second term. Jonny was the first female in the South to serve as Chairman of a University board. Jonny was always an advocate for the students, their education and worked to get the Honors College started. When UCA President Silas Snow retired, some of the board members wanted to hire a president from out of the state. Jonny stuck by her guns and said "the biggest mistake we as a board could make would be to not have Jeff Farris as president of this University" as he was already at UCA. She was right as President Jeff Farris took the university to new heights. Jonny was the wife of a Rice farmer and as the decline in agriculture started in the 70's she was very involved in Women in Farm Economics. Jonny as President of WIFE and National Rice Chairman spent many hours in Washington, DC and Little Rock lobbying Representatives and Senators on various agriculture issues and concerns. It was during this time she decided she wanted to make a difference in a different way. Jonny ran against an incumbent state senator and while she did not win, she loved learning what people wanted and needed. She stayed involved in the political process and loved the new friends she met along the way. We will miss our mother's spirit, her drive to better the things she wanted improved, her unwavering love of First United Methodist Church in Stuttgart and the Sunday school classes she taught. In Mother's usual giving way, she donated her remains for research study by the medical students at UAMS. We will have a Memorial service for our Mother at First United Methodist Church, 307 East 4th Street in Stuttgart on Thursday, December 18th, at 2 p.m. The family will have a visitation at 2022 McCracken Street from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, December 17th. We would like to ask that no flowers be sent and to please make a donation in her memory to the building fund of The Christian Life Center at First United Methodist Church, 307 East 4th, Stuttgart, Ark. 72160 or The Museum of the Arkansas Grand Prairie, 921 East 4th Street, Stuttgart, Ark. 72160. We would like to thank her physician Dr. Dan Daniel of Stuttgart Medical Clinic for his constant and unwavering care of our mother.

Published December 17, 2014

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