Ann Elizabeth Braun-Shanks

Obituary for Ann Elizabeth Braun Shanks

Ann was born on July 24, 1946. She was 78 years old when she died on March 28, 2025, after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

Ann grew up in Dallas, Texas, where she lived with her parents, Robert and Gladys Braun, and her brother Steve. She had a normal happy childhood, growing up with a loving family.

After graduating from High School in Dallas, she attended college where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. Her plans to be an Elementary School teacher were set aside when she decided to become a Flight Attendant for American Airlines.

As a Flight Attendant she enjoyed serving her passengers and keeping them safe. It was as a Flight Attendant, she met the love of her life, George Shanks, an American Airlines Captain, whom she married in 1980.

She and George lived on their property south of Waxahachie, Texas, where Ann loved helping to maintain the property and tend to her animals. She had been a lifelong animal lover. During her life she rescued and cared for a long succession of dogs and cats who loved her in return.

Ann and George welcomed the Ashcraft family, who lived alongside them on the Waxahachie property. Crystal, Kenneth, their son Ryan (Lisa) and daughter Rylie. They became more than friends and considered Ann and George their parents and grandparents. The two families became one large, loving extended family.

Ann was preceded in death by her parents Robert and Gladys Braun, her brother-in-law, Tom Shanks, and her step daughter Susan Shanks.

She is survived by her husband George Shanks, Crystal, Kenneth, Ryan, Lisa, and Rylie Ashcraft, and her brother Steve Braun.

In accordance with her wishes, Ann was cremated. In lieu of a memorial service, Ann’s family asks that all those who knew her remember her as the warm, loving happy woman that she was. She will be missed by all who were fortunate to have known and loved her.