Ann Dewar Blecken Connie Johnson Winborn
MEMPHIS - Ann DEWar Blecken, widow of Robert Oliver Biecken died February 18, 2023 in Germantown, Tennessee. She was the daughter of the late Donald R. and Mary L. Dewar. She was a graduate of Hutchison School and Southwestern College (now Rhodes College). She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority and served as its president her senior year. For many years she wrote a garden column for The Commercial Appeal and received a national award for the column from the Garden Writers Association in 1990. She and her husband escorted trips to the great gardens of Europe and the UK. Ann was a founding member of the Memphis Horticultural Society as was her husband and her brother the late Robert Dewar. She was a member of the Le Bonheur Club and the Le Bonheur Garden Club, The Memphis City Beautiful Commision, and the Memphis Symphony League.
She was a member of the Church of the Holy Communion where she sang in its first choir and served on the altar guild. She was a longtime supporter of the Memphis Botanical Garden, and the Blecken Pavilion is a lasting tribute to Ann and Bob atop the garden’s lovely daffodil hill.
Mrs. Blecken is survived by three nieces, Karen Gordon, Kris Adams and Karol Hiegel: one nephew, Kenneth Blecken and many many friends.
Funeral Services for Mrs. Blecken will be conducted on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 12:00pm at The Church of Holy Communion. Visitation will begin an hour prior to the service starting at 11:00am. Burial will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made to The Memphis Botanical Garden and The Church of The Holy Communion in memory of Mrs. Ann Blecken.
NEW ALBANY - Connie Ruth Johnson Winborn, 90, passed away Feb 22, 2023 at New Albany Health and Rehab Center. Connie was a warm, loving woman who was beautiful both inside and out, and she spent her life taking care of and serving others.
Connie was born in Holly Springs, MS on May 20, 1932 to David Jackson Johnson and Ruby Hazel Wilson Johnson. She was the oldest daughter of a farming family, where she helped her father in the field and her mother in the house. As she grew, she developed a strong sense of service to others that would shape who she was throughout her life. The Johnson family relocated to New Albany MS, where Connie would eventually meet and marry Harvey Gray Winborn, the love of her life. She and Harvey would spend over 71 years together, tied to each other by an enduring love.
Before retiring back to New Albany, the couple spent their working years in Memphis TN during which time they built their lives and family. As a homemaker, Connie gave birth to and raised 2 daughters and managed the home. She supported her children in their schools and activities, and still found time to serve her extended family as well as others at her church. Her favorite pastime was bowling, a sport at which she excelled, and the money collected from her Memphis teams went to benefit a local public school. Connie possessed an amazing green thumb, somehow able to revive any green living thing from the brink, and she loved all types of music - an appreciation she passed onto both her daughters. Connie was an active member of her church in Memphis, and she and her late husband, Harvey, were both members of Glenfield Baptist Church in New Albany.
Services will be held at United Funeral Service in New Albany on Monday, February 27th at 11:00 AM. Visitation will be held Sunday, February 26th from 3:00 - 5:00 PM. United Funeral Service is honored to be entrusted with these arrangements. For online condolences and guest registry, please visit www.unitedfuneralservice.com