The Excelsior Standard, Mar. 31, 2023

Jo Ann Cochran Page, 87, of Overland Park, Kan., passed away on March 24, 2023, after a short illness.

Jo Ann Page

Jo Ann was born on July 24, 1935, in Kansas City to John M. and Lora Belle Newton Cochran, both teachers in the Excelsior Springs school system. Jo Ann spent her youth in Excelsior Springs and graduated in 1953 from Excelsior Springs High School as class valedictorian. During her high school years, she was a varsity cheerleader and member of the drama club. She also played on the girls basketball team and worked as a locker girl at the Lake Maurer swimming pool.

Jo Ann also was an accomplished pianist and performed for numerous dance clubs around town. After attending William Jewell College, Jo Ann’s 100 wordsper- minute typing skills helped to launch her career in medical administration at the old VA hospital in Excelsior Springs.

She would go on to serve as an administrator and office manager for various surgeons and clinics until venturing into the hot tub and sauna business in the 1980s. She was the owner/operator of the Land of Ahhhs hot tub store in Overland Park, building strong relationships with the hundreds of clients she served, including many players and coaches from the Chiefs and Royals.

Jo Ann would spend the final stage of her career as an office manager for a corporation that operated skilled nursing facilities throughout the country – a position that would see her transferred to the Orlando, Fla., area and later to Tallahassee. Retiring on her 80th birthday, Jo Ann returned to the Kansas City area to be closer to family.

During her lifetime, Jo Ann developed a love for ballroom dancing and qualified as a world traveler, long having lost count of the number of countries visited. It was most fitting that the last active week of her life was spent on a Caribbean cruise with her favorite girls.

Jo Ann is survived by two sons, Scott Cole and wife Ann, and Steve Page and wife Jennifer; two daughters, Micki Wayland and husband Brad, and Kris Brentano and husband Mark; and a special stepdaughter, Patrice Page. She is additionally survived by eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, three step-great-grandchildren and two step-great-great-grandchildren.

Jo Ann was preceded in death by her parents. A private family service will be held on Saturday, April 1, at Bross-Spidle Funeral Home in Excelsior Springs. There will be a private burial beside her parents in the Masonic Cemetery.