Obituaries

Rhonda Butler, age 39, of Lamar, died Tuesday, August 10, 2010, at Freeman Hospital in Joplin, after a long, but courageous battle with illness.   Rhonda was born December 16, 1970 to Ronnie and Linda (Walker)  Means at Lamar.  She graduated from Lamar High School and attended Cosmetology School in Carthage, MO.  Rhonda was a Baptist and was baptized in...

Jessie Bula Wood, age 78, of rural Sheldon, passed away Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at her home.        Jessie was born May 9, 1932, in Kansas City, Missouri, into a family of three children, and, at age five was adopted by Glen and Jaunita (Flaker) Rogers.  She graduated from Liberal High School in 1950.  Jessie attended SMS and Pittsburg...

Wilbur Charles Leverett, age 94, of Lamar, passed away Sunday, August 8, 2010, at Truman Healthcare Center.        Wilbur was born July 8, 1916, in Galena, Missouri, to Charley and Mary Ann (Lundy) Leverett.  The Leveretts were a musical family and Wilbur and his younger brother, Homer, mastered the ukulele, banjo, fiddle and guitar at an early age.  Calling...

Billy W. Anderson, age 73, of Lamar, died Sunday, August 1, 2010, at his home after a long illness.  He was born February 10, 1937 in rural Barton County, to William D. and Ruby (Frogge) Anderson.   On February 10, 1967 he married Opal L. Drane at Jasper, MO and together they had two daughters.   Billy was retired from...

Howard Dean “Hoe Handle” Williams, age 71, of Lamar, passed away Monday, July 26, 2010, at his home following a long illness.        Howard was born November 21, 1938, in Lamar, to Claude and Trula Mae (Burkhart) Williams.  He graduated from Lamar High School in 1957.  A life-long Barton County resident, Howard had worked for O’Sullivan Industries and was...

Edward Arthur “Edd” Browning, age 63, of rural Lamar, passed away Saturday, July 24, 2010 at his home.        Edd was born August 4, 1946, at Benton, Illinois, to Dillard & Coy (Wiggins) Browning.  After graduating from Benton High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served in Japan during the Vietnam War.  While an accident while...

Edward Arthur “Edd” Browning, age 63, of rural Lamar, passed away Saturday, July 24, 2010 at his home.        Edd was born August 4, 1946, at Benton, Illinois, to Dillard & Coy (Wiggins) Browning.  After graduating from Benton High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served in Japan during the Vietnam War.  While an accident while...

Lois Hale, age 101, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri died June 19, 2010 hat her home at John Knox Village. Lois was born May 31, 1909 in Humboldt, Iowa.  In 1933, she married Harry C. Hale, who was the former City of Lamar Light and Water Superintendent. Lois was a homemaker and is survived by two daughters, Mary VanGilder (Lloyd) of...

Georgia Rose Heim          Georgia Rose Heim, age 87, of Lamar, died Saturday July 10, 2010 at Barton County Memorial Hospital.        Georgia was born December 4, 1922 in Vernon, MO, the first child of Alois Joseph and Rose Katherine (Jerik) Pruente.  She graduated from Verona High School and Draughon’s Business College in Springfield, MO.  She was...

Marie Crabtree, age 99, of Liberal, Missouri, passed away at 6:50 p.m. Monday, July 5, 2010 at Truman Healthcare Center in Lamar where she had been a patient for 31/2 years following a stroke.        Marie was born October 6, 1910, in Barton County, one of the eleven children of Simon Frank and Daisy (Hall) Washburn.  On Christmas Day...

Una Katherine Cohu, age 91, of Lamar, passed away Saturday, July 3, 2010 at Christian Health Care in Nevada where she had lived since suffering a debilitating stroke after surgery in 2000.  She was a great example and always believed you can keep going long after you think you can’t.  While raising her family, she told her children that each...

David Bradley Reed, age 36, of Marietta, Georgia, formerly of Lamar, passed away Saturday, July 3, 2010 at Barton County Memorial Hospital.        Brad was born March 15, 1974, at Joplin, Missouri, to Ben and Marianne (Harris) Reed.  He graduated from Lamar High School in 1992 and earned a degree from Missouri Southern.  On August 12, 1995, at Lamar,...

Larry LeRoy Wimer, age 66, of rural Lamar, passed away Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at his home.        Larry was born July 17, 1943, in Lamar, Missouri, to Roy J. and LaDean (Coffey) Wimer.  He entered the U.S. Navy in 1960 and served two tours in the far east aboard the USS Hector during the Vietnam war.  At the...

Robert Lee Wineinger, age 74, of Lamar, passed away Monday, May 24, 2010, at his home after a two-year illness.        Bob was born March 13, 1936 at Vincennes, Indiana, to Murch and Inez (Fiddler) Wineinger.  After graduating from high school, Bob entered the U.S. Air Force and served for twenty years as an avionics instructor at various state-side...

Jeanne was born June 22, 1921 at Sand Springs, Oklahoma to Clarence L. and Sylvia (Benhoff) Meetze.  Her mother died soon after she was born and she was raised by maternal grandparents in Baltimore.   She was working at the Wing headquarters for the Caribbean and SW Atlantic air ferry route to the Africa, European and far east war zones...

Betty Lee Boles Bright Thiebaud, age 95, of Lamar, passed away June 18, 2010 at Barton County Memorial Hospital.   Betty was born May 17, 1915 at Milford, MO to Reed and Emma (Lee) Boles.  She was raised and lived most of her life in Barton County Missouri.  She graduated from Lamar High School in 1933.  She went on to...

Orlan and Mary Kellenberger of Lamar, Missouri, died Sunday, June 13, 2010 in a private plane accident near Lidderdale, IA.   Orlan Eli Kellenberger was born July 4, 1945 at Rock Rapids, IA to Henry and Elaine (Grimm) Kellenberger and was one of twelve children. He graduated from West Lyon High School.   Mary Margaret Miller was born August 27,...

Rose Catherine Corley, age 100, of Lamar, passed away Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at Truman Healthcare Center.        Rose was born May 19, 1910, at Boonville, Missouri, one of the eight children of Paul and Anne (Gantner) Grauer. She graduated from Boonville High School and married James Edwin “Jimbo” Corley.  They had lived in Slater, Missouri, for many years,...

Marjorie Mezel, age 92, of Lamar, died Tuesday June 8, 2010 at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin after a short illness.   Marjorie was born August 16, 1917 at Mulberry, KS to James and Helen Ann (Campbell) McCulloch.  She was a graduate of Mulberry High School.  As a young woman she had worked as a waitress in Excelsior...

Lutricia Ann Rapue, age 71, of Liberal, Missouri, passed away Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at her home.        Lutricia was born September 28, 1938, at Kansas City, Missouri, to Garrett “Jud” and Gwendolyn (Shanks) Palmer.  On December 28, 1954, she married John F. Rapue and they had made their home in Liberal for the past six years.  In addition...