Janis Ann "Jan" Champion

Janis Ann was born November 18th, 1942 in Lawton, Oklahoma, the daughter of James and Velma (Parker) Doughty. At 17, she was married to Jerry Lee Champion, the love of her life, and they celebrated 62 years together; a true love story. She lived in the Tulsa area 56 years, leaving her earthly home to be with her Lord & Savior Jesus Christ on Tuesday, July 12th, 2022. She was 79 years of age.

Jan received her BS in Elementary Education, graduating from Oklahoma State University in 1964. Teaching was her calling, however she soon learned that the school classroom wasn't her passion. She studied the Bible and loved to teach others about Christ in many churches, Sunday schools, and women's groups. She also managed her own Bible book store, Jan's Word Shoppe.

She was a Director with Creative Memories, spending over 20 years organizing, selling, and creating scrapbooks. She used that platform to promote her Christian values and personally made over 200 photo albums.

Since 2006, Jan has been an Auxiliary member of The Gideon's International serving as State Secretary-Treasurer as well as other leadership positions for the Broken Arrow Camp. Her passion for sharing the love of the Lord was best expressed in gifting Personal Workers Testaments, which she gave over 800 testaments in the span of 2 years.

Being a wife, sister, mother and grandmother created many situations for prayer. Jan spent many hours on the phone and in-person talking and praying with friends and strangers alike. She was part of several prayer groups and prayer chains and had such a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and the willingness to make the sacrifice of fervent prayer; a prayer warrior.

To know Jan, was to know her love of shopping which she used to her advantage in making sure she had an outfit for every occasion with the proper accessories to match. The monthly hair and nail salon trips were her only "me time".

She is survived by her husband, Jerry Champion, daughter Christine (Tom) Hudson of St. Louis MO, son, Steve (Melissa) Champion of Plano, TX, five grandchildren: Megan Hudson, Jimmy (Hannah) Hudson, Sommer Champion, Daniel Champion, Lachlan Champion, one great granddaughter: Finley Grace Hudson, and brothers Jerry Dean Doughty of Lawton and Johnny (Deborah) Doughty of Coweta. Jan loved all of her extended family which includes her many cousins, nieces and nephews whom she especially liked to visit on her travels and during family reunions.

Jan was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, James H. Doughty, and son, Courtney.

Memorial service celebrating the life of Jan Champion will be at 11:00 AM, Monday, July 18th, 2022 at the First United Methodist Church in Claremore, Ok. A graveside service will be on Tuesday, July 19th, 2022 at 11:00am at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Lawton, Ok.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Gideons International.