Mrs. Jean Lorraine Rogy Strickland, 90, of Park View Circle, Blowing Rock, passed away Friday July 27, 2012, at Watauga Medical Center.

Born September 24, 1921, in Peoria, Ill., she was the only daughter of the late Lial Henry and Ethel Jane Shamo Rogy. Educated in West Palm Beach, she was a graduate of Palm Beach High School. Jean obtained a Bachelor of Music from Stetson University in 1943 and was a member of Alpha Xi Delta Soriority and Phi Beta. She married William C. Strickland August 25, 1943.

Mrs. Strickland was the secretary for First Baptist Church in Gainesville, Fla., for 2 Â1/2 years, while her husband was the assistant pastor. During William's education at Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Ky., they served Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church near Frankfort, Ky., as pastor and pianist. She was also a faculty secretary and receptionist at the seminary, later working at the law office of Dulin, Helms, Stites and Wood as a law secretary. She followed Dr. Strickland to Southeastern Theological Seminary in Wake Forest where he taught New Testament for fifteen years. While in Wake Forest, she was the founder and first President of the Women's Club. She sang in numerous church choirs.

The Stricklands came to Appalachian State Teachers College in 1966. Mrs. Strickland was active in the Boone community, playing piano for the Blue Ridge Community Theatre and the Boone Junior Women's Club Sunshine Shows. She was a member of the Boone Worthwhile Women's Club and the Mountaineer Garden Club, where she served one term as President. She worked on the ASU campus with a group of faculty wives assisting with registration before the advent of computers.

She is survived by one daughter; Claudia Strickland of the home; one son, Jeff Strickland and wife, Kerstin, of Germany; two granddaughters, Lea Mallace and husband, Andrew, of Oklahoma City, Okla., and Anna Strickland of Germany; one great-grandson, Alexander Mallace of Okla.; and a number of cousins.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Watauga Humane Society, P.O. Box 1835, Boone, N.C. 28607. Online condolences may be sent to the family at http://www.austinandbarnesfuneralhome.com

Austin & Barnes Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the Strickland family.