Oct. 2, 1944 – June 20, 2011

NATCHEZ — Geri Lynne Simonton McKowan, 66, of Weirton, W.Va., formerly of Natchez, died Monday, June 20, 2011, at the Weirton Medical Center in Weirton, following an extremely long battle with heart disease.

Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 10, 2011, at the Natchez City Cemetery at the gravesite of her father, Robert Luther Robinson, and her uncle, former Natchez Police Chief J.T. Robinson.

Arrangements are under the direction of Arner Funeral Home in West Virginia.

Mrs. McKown was born Oct. 2, 1944, the daughter of Robert Luther Robinson (she was known at that time as Bobby Jean Robinson) and adopted daughter of Hayward E. Simonton Sr. and Wilhena Best Simonton.

Lynne moved to Weirton following hurricane Katrina with her cousin, Linda Douglass. She retired from The Zale Corporation where she worked as a gemologist and buyer. She also was an avid, knowledgeable historian.

She was a member of Jefferson Street Methodist Church and Natchez Pilgrimage Garden Club.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Delbert McKown.

Survivors include one son, Phillip “Butch” Abel Jr., of Canton, his children, Jeremy, Joshua, Alexander and Sean; one daughter, Gina Anderson, of Champaign, Ill., her children, Martin Shea, Zach, Sadie, Richard and Alex; one brother, Hayward Eugene “Gene” Simonton Jr., of Natchez, his children, Kym, Matt and Russell; and a number of cousins and loved ones in both families.