JoAnn Gerard

(From Ulmer Funeral Home)

Margaret “JoAnn” Gerard, 87, passed away January 26, 2020 at St. Luke’s Nursing Home in Carthage. JoAnn was born December 12, 1932 in Bartlesville, OK to John T. Shirley and Louise “LaPrade” Shirley.

She was a resident of Carthage since 1953 and worked at KDMO Radio for over 30 years. JoAnn was a member and past treasurer of the Ladies’ Auxiliary, VFW Post #2590 and a former member of Crossroads ABWA, receiving a Woman of the Year Award.

JoAnn is survived by one son, Donald J. Hall (Lyn) of Cheyenne, WY; one daughter, Katherine Cook (Bill) of Wichita, KS; one brother, John T. Shirley III (Marion) of Tahlequah, OK; four grandchildren, Rick Hall, Charmin Bland, Alisha Homolka and Michelle Carlson; eight grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren, along with many beloved nieces and nephews.

JoAnn was preceded in death by one brother, Robert E. Shirley; two sisters, Mary L. Hilton (Thurman) and Connie Sanders.

A family celebration of life will be held at a later date in Carthage.

Memorial contributions may be made to VFW Post #2590 in care of Ulmer Funeral Home.

Online condolences may be made at www.ulmerfh.com.

Arrangements are under the direction of Ulmer Funeral Home.

Rachel Aldrich

(From Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home)

Rachel Marie Aldrich, age 63, of Mt. Vernon, Missouri, passed away at 2:50 p.m. on Saturday, January 25, 2020, at her home. She was born September 28, 1956, in Marshfield, Missouri, the daughter of Max Willard and Alice Maxine (DeVore) Aldrich.

Rachel was a 1975 graduate of Mt. Vernon High School and received her associate’s degree from Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri. She was a housekeeper for the Lawrence County Council on Aging and was a very active member of the Summit Baptist Church. She accepted the Lord as her Savior at a young girl and she served her Savior, faithfully her entire life, right up to the end.

Rachel lived a life serving others. She was loved by many. She had a special heart for her family, children and senior citizens.

Rachel is survived by her mother, Alice; three brothers, Michael (Cindy) Aldrich of Neosho, Missouri, David (Jacklyn) Aldrich of Chadwick, Missouri, and Jonathan Aldrich of Mt. Vernon; six sisters, Rebekah Koenig of Mt. Vernon, Ruth (Dwight) Ozley of Miller, Missouri, Mary (Steve) Cheney of Pacific, Missouri, Martha (Lewis) Davis of Gladewater, Texas, Elisabeth (Jimmy) Brashers of Mt. Vernon, Esther (Keith) Lesmeister of Onawa, Iowa and many nieces, nephews and friends.

Rachel was preceded in death by her father, Max and her grandparents.

A visitation, under the direction of the Fossett-Mosher Funeral Home, in Mt. Vernon, will be held from 1:00-2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, at the Summit Baptist Church, with a funeral service to follow at 2:00 p.m. Burial will follow at the Salem Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made payable to, Operation Christmas Child, the Baptist Hill Church Camp, or the Barry-Lawrence County Development Center of Monett, Missouri, in care of the funeral home. Online condolences may be shared at www.FossettMosherFuneralHome.com.

Jeanne Johnson

(From Mason-Woodard Mortuary)

Jeanne Faye Johnson, age 68, of Joplin, passed away on Saturday January 25, 2020, at Spring River Christian Village, following an illness.

Jeanne was born on December 18, 1951 in Ponca City, OK, the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles Proctor. She married Eddie Johnson on May 15, 1970 and together they were blessed with three children. She was a devoted wife and mother. She worked four years as a drug counselor for the Ozark Center. She attended the Chapel services at Spring River Christian Village.

She was preceded in death by her husband Eddie Johnson on January 31, 2008; and a granddaughter, Khloe Wittenmyer.

Jeanne is survived by one son, Chris Johnson and wife Tara, Carl Junction, MO; two daughters, Lisa Johnson and husband Joe Garcia, Joplin, and Stephanie Johnson, Joplin; one brother, Bob Stewart, Beloit, KS; and eight grandchildren, Bradly Johnson, Kylee Johnson, Evan Wittenmyer, Nathan Garcia, Katie Johnson, Journee Wittenmyer, Phoenix Wittenmyer, and Addison Garcia.

Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m. Thursday at Mason-Woodard Chapel. The visitation will be 1:00 p.m. Thursday, prior to the service.

Arrangements are under the direction of Mason-Woodard Mortuary & Crematory.

Mary Watson

(From Parker Mortuary)

Mrs. Mary Evaline Watson, 85, of Cherokee, Kansas, passed away early Friday morning, January 24, 2020, at Joplin Health and Rehabilitation after a long illness.

Mary was born May 21, 1934, in Holyrood, Kansas, one of 12 children born to the union of the late John and Ivy (Newport) Brisbin. She attended schools in Cherokee. At the age of 12, Mary gave her life to Christ and never looked back. She attended church regularly in Pittsburg, Kansas, and Columbus, Kansas, and was well-loved by her church families, who lovingly called her “Miss Mary”. Mary was a wonderful baker. She took desserts to church each Sunday and her German Chocolate cake couldn’t be beat.

On December 31, 1952, Mary was united in marriage to Ronald R. Watson and together they had two sons, Dave and Jeff.

She worked as a homemaker, tirelessly caring for the home and raising her two boys. They resided in Independence, Missouri, from 1952 – 1988 and relocated back to Cherokee in 1989 to be closer to her family. Ronald and Mary shared 59 years of marriage before his passing on January 28, 2012.

Along with baking, Mary loved outdoor yard work and keeping up her lawn. She was an avid reader and had a huge heart for dogs. She enjoyed life and the simple things it had to offer. Mary had a sweet spirit and an even bigger sweet tooth; Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were worth just as much as gold to her. She let faith lead her heart always and family was the light of her life.

In addition to her parents and husband, Mary was preceded in death by all 11 siblings.

Survivors include her two sons, Dave Watson of Independence, Missouri, and Jeff Watson and her favorite daughter-in-law, Tammy, of Carl Junction, Missouri; three grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

Graveside memorial services will be announced at a later date. Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Parker Mortuary, Joplin, Missouri.

Betty Hamblin

(From Sisco Funeral Home)

Betty Marie Hamblin, 81 of Eureka Springs, Ark., passed away Saturday, January 25, 2020 at Circle of Life Hospice in Springdale and ascended to her eternal home in heaven to be with Jesus.

There will be no more pain or sorrow for Betty and she will be having a great reunion with many former earthly family members and friends that will be there to greet her in heaven. 

She was born Aug. 1, 1938 in Tokio, Hempstead Cnty., AR. To Jack Thorn and Helen (Sanford) Stockslager.She accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior at the age of 12 and was a dedicated Christian. She was the devoted wife of F.T. (Fay) Hamblin for 64 years. 

As a young girl, living in Eureka Springs, she worked at the Crescent Hotel, along with many of her other family members. She loved square dancing and would preform for tourists that visited her hometown, Eureka Springs, during the time that her father Jack, was the social director for the Crescent Hotel. She had a beautiful soprano voice and loved to sing. She was the song leader for her church, Mt. View Missionary Baptist Church for over 50 years. In fact she had a song for every occasion, which she was well known for by her family members and she would break into a song, pertaining to the present conversation, a precious memory to have for all that experienced this. 

Two of her passions of service were teaching Sunday school for many many years and giving to missions to the least fortunate in the world. Betty loved to serve her family with delicious meals and prepared too many to count for the holidays and birthday get togethers. She worked for the Eureka Springs School District for 37 years in many capacities, after being an Avon Lady and a census taker, with Librarian Aid as her most favorite job, during those 37 years, along with teaching students how to read.She herself was a voracious reader of the Bible, but also enjoyed other genre of literary works. Some of her favorites were mysteries. 

She also loved to watch movies, especially the older ones, along with science fiction, and action packed movies As a kid she went to the movie theater every week maybe even twice a week, but usually had to take along her two younger brothers, much to her chagrin. Some things most people didn’t know about Betty was that she would have loved to have been a librarian, an actress and to have learned how to play the drums. She also used the “Tarzan Yell” to let her roaming girls know when it was time to come home. 

She was a devoted mother to her four daughters, Lisa Marie Morris ( Randy) of Joplin, MO, Sherree Lynn Oyler (Mark) of Rogers, AR, Laura Jeanne Tyler, (Mark) of Springdale, AR and Stacee Fay Nuckolls ( Wesley) of Eureka Springs, AR. 

She would attend every event that her “girls” were involved in, even being a Pep Rally Sponsor, which meant riding a school bus to out-of-town games and would drive the 12 miles from their family home to pick them up if she couldn’t attend. She hand-sewed all of her girls dresses for special occasions, especially new Easter dresses and for Homecoming. She even sewed Barbie Doll clothes for her daughters, such a tedious job! 

Summers were spent working together with her girls, gathering vegetables and fruit from the family garden and working as a team to get them processed. There were also swimming trips to Beaver Lake and picnics outside. She also loved flowers and many of her mother’s day gifts were just that flowers to make her happy. 

She also loved her grandchildren, they called her, Grammy “B” and the great-grandchildren, also called her, “Mims.Betty was able to travel abroad on 2 occasions. Once as a sponsor for a school trip that took her to England and France. The second trip to Germany was with her husband, Fay. She absolutely loved England for the beautiful foliage she saw and Germany in how beautiful the Black Forest was and how manicured the grounds were. She meet a man who was still grateful for the US Soldiers that liberated the German people from Hitler, which made a deep impression on her. Betty will leave behind such a great legacy of family members which will always hold on to the wonderful memories they have had with and of her.

Betty is also survived by two brothers, Newell Stockslager, of Harrison, Ark and Roger Stockslager (Melody) of Berryville, AR; 14 Grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, who all loved her very much, sister-in-law, Claudia Shelton (Ed) of Bella Vista and bother-in-law, Steve Hamblin ( Sugar) of Eureka Springs, Ark. 6 nephews and 1 niece, a very special lady.

A visitation and celebration of her life will be held on Saturday February 1, 2020 at Mt. View Missionary Baptist Church with Pastor Billy Brace officiating. Visitation will begin at 10 am and the Memorial Service will begin at 11:00 am. There will be a private burial at the family cemetery.

In Lieu of flowers please make donations to Missions via Mt. View Missionary Baptist Church, P.O. Box 101, Beaver, AR 72613 or Circle of Life Hospice. 901 Jones Road, Springdale, AR 72762

Arrangements have been entrusted to Sisco Funeral Home of Pea Ridge, Ark.

Marjorie Foster

(From Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home)

Marjorie Mae Foster, age 98, died Thursday, January 23, 2020, at the Medicalodge in Fort Scott, Kansas. She was born September 14, 1921, in Fort Scott the daughter of Frank and Ruby (Gump) Phillips.

 She married Melvin “Boots” Foster November 2, 1940, in Nevada, Missouri. He preceded her in death on February 13, 2007. Before retiring, Marjorie was secretary and bookkeeper for Boots Foster Floor Covering Service.

Marjorie was a long-time member of the First Christian Church of Fort Scott. In her younger years, she loved playing golf with her husband and good friends. She was active in the Ladies Golf Association of Fort Scott and Mound City.

Survivors include a daughter, Helen Kay Heffernan and husband Don, of Hebron, Kentucky, and a son, Melvin Foster and wife Susan, of Fort Scott. Marjorie had three grandchildren: Steven Heffernan and wife Jane of Hebron, Kentucky, Heather Foster of Webb City, Missouri, and Matt Foster and wife Mary of Manhattan, Kansas. She had seven great-grandchildren, three great-great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers, and three sisters.

Rev. Reed Hartford will conduct graveside services at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 28, 2020, at Evergreen Cemetery. Visitation for family and friends will be from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. at Konantz Cheney Funeral Home before leaving for the cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Activities Fund at Fort Scott Medicalodge and may be left in the care of the Konantz Cheney Funeral Home, 15 W. Wall, Fort Scott, Kansas, 66701. Condolences may be submitted to the online guest book at konantz-cheney.com.

Bert Clevenger

(From Campbell-Biddlecome Funeral Home)

Bert L. Clevenger, 66, lifelong area resident, passed away January 21, 2020 suddenly at his home in rural Seneca.

Bert Lee Clevenger was born December 13, 1953 in Granby, MO the son of Harry and Florence (Conrad) Clevenger. Bert was a 1972 High School graduate of Neosho High School. He worked for La-Z-Boy Midwest in Neosho, MO until retiring in 1996. Bert enjoyed fishing and was a big fan of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Bert was preceded in death by his parents Harry and Florence Clevenger, one brother and sister-in-law Jack Clevenger and Diana Clevenger.

Survivors include one brother, David Clevenger and wife Debbie of Duncan, OK; one Aunt Freida Cooley, Hot Springs, AR; several nieces and nephews and a host of extended family.

The body has been taken for cremation under the direction of Campbell-Biddlecome Funeral Home, Seneca, MO. The family will hold a Celebration of Life Memorial service in the Spring of 2020.