Obituary of Jean Belt

Coffeyville - Mary Jean Belt, 88, of Coffeyville, died Monday, May 5, 2008 at Coffeyville Regional Medical Center. Jean was born May 25, 1919 in Manhattan, Kansas to Lisle and Lenore (Birch) Combs. At the age of 14, she moved with her family to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she graduated from high school and attended Colorado College. She moved to Coffeyville, to work as an apprentice pharmacist with her father at his drug store. On October 26, 1941, she married Charles Robert Belt in Coffeyville. He preceded her in death on January 18, 1988. She was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which was an important part of her life. She began working at the Thrift Shop at its beginning and worked there for many years. She and Robert also had a home on Grand Lake for 23 years and they were very active in St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Grove, Oklahoma, where she served on the Vestry. She was a member of Chapter EZ, PEO, Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority, and volunteered for many organizations as a younger woman. She had belonged to several bridge clubs and was a long time member of Roundtable Study club. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents and a sister, Marjorie Combs Boyce. She is survived by two sons, Michael and wife Barbara of Prairie Village, KS and Timothy of Somerset, Massachusetts; a daughter, Deborah Murphy of Coffeyville; five grandchildren, Sean Murphy and wife Jocelyn of Denver, CO, Charles Belt and wife Crystal of Lee's Summit, MO, Megan Schwab and husband Jeffrey of Hamilton, NJ, David Belt and wife Laura of Kansas City, MO, and Matthew Murphy of Bartlesville, OK; and seven great-grandchildren. Cremation has taken place under the direction of David W. Barnes Funeral Home. A memorial service and celebration of her life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 24, the day before her 89th birthday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to St. Paul's Episcopal Endowment Fund or St. Paul's Altar Guild. Memorials may be mailed c/o David W. Barnes Funeral Home, 306 N. Cline Rd., Coffeyville, KS, 67337.