Jeanne Gordon relied on her faith after devastating accident

Jeanne Gordon, who turned to her strong faith to deal with a crippling accident in 2006 and later became a talented artist, has died. She was 60 years old.

On the morning of June 3, 2006, Mrs. Gordon and her daughter were hit by a pickup while biking in east Wichita. The accident killed Mrs. Gordon’s 27-year- old daughter, Gabriele, and left Mrs. Gordon paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Even amid her trials, Mrs. Gordon remained a devout woman of faith who always “lived in the moment,” according to her daughter Genevieve Farha.

Mrs. Gordon, who died Thursday, wrote in a post that was shared on the Church of the Blessed Sacrament’s website, that after the accident she found peace in trusting God.

“I believe God allowed our accident to happen so he could use it for a better good,” she wrote.

After the accident, Mrs. Gordon used a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Farha said her mother never complained even when she was confined to her home for the last year of her life.

Though she couldn’t use her hands, Mrs. Gordon discovered a new talent – painting. She used a special stick in her mouth to create artwork, which she often donated to raise money for local charities.

“I think in some ways she didn’t even see herself handicapped,” Farha said. “She just went out and lived her life.”

As the mother of six children, Mrs. Gordon always put them first and would drop whatever she was doing to spend time with them, Farha said.

“Her greatest accomplishment in her mind would be mothering her children, raising her six kids and watching her kids raise her grandchildren,” Farha said. “She was an always-present mom; she was very devoted to her children.”

In 2014, Mrs. Gordon won the Peter John Loux Award from the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation of Kansas, which “recognizes exceptional Kansans with disabilities.”

She donated her $1,000 award to her co-winner, to help her purchase a wheelchair-accessible van.

One of Mrs. Gordon’s joys was sharing her art and her story as a paraplegic with children in local Catholic schools. Farha recalled some of the young students putting their paintbrushes in their mouths to try to paint like Mrs. Gordon.

On Blessed Sacrament’s website, Mrs. Gordon wrote that she wanted to leave the students “with the thought that no matter what situations may come to them, it is still a choice of how you’re going to react.”

“Much good can come from things that appear to be bad in the beginning.”

She is survived by her husband, five children and five grandchildren.

A rosary for Mrs. Gordon is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, 124 N. Roosevelt. Her funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the same location.

This story was originally published December 31, 2016 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Jeanne Gordon relied on her faith after devastating accident."