Mary Jane Andrews

Mary Jane “Nan” Andrews was born to Audie and Thelma (Thompson) Turner in Gentry County, Mo., on August 12, 1929, and departed this life into eternity with her Savior Jesus Christ on July 22, 2018, while surrounded by her family at Citizens Memorial Hospital. Jane’s family moved to Mansfield, Mo., in the early 1930’s during the Great Depression. She attended Mission Temple Baptist Church where she was saved and joined the church at the age of 11. Jane attended the Mansfield schools until the last semester of her senior year. In 1947, Jane’s family moved to Bolivar, Mo., so she and her sister could attend Southwest Baptist College. She graduated from Bolivar High School in 1947 and from Southwest Baptist College in 1949. Jane married Cletis Andrews on August 20, 1950, and his service to his country took them to Ft. Hood, Texas, where their only child, Jerald, was born. In addition to working the family dairy farm together, Jane and Cletis also enjoyed spending time with a group of close church friends. The group could usually be found getting ice cream or dinner together a few times a week, resulting in lifetime friendships. After returning to Missouri, Jane worked at Empire District Electric for 25 years before retiring in 1995. Prior to that, she served as the Deputy County Clerk of Polk County from 1960-70 and worked at the Bolivar Garment Factory in 1959. In addition, Jane worked at Miles Sheet Metal and for the Missouri Telephone Company in the early 1950’s. Regardless of which job she was working at the time, though, Jane continued to work on the family farm west of Bolivar, helping in the milk barn or feeding baby calves and runt pigs by bottle. In her later years, Jane also found time to do bookkeeping for Service Right Lawn Mowing. Jane’s life focused on several areas. She had been an active member of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church since the early 1960’s and rarely missed a service until her recent health problems prohibited her from attending regularly. She taught Sunday School classes and served on several church committees, including the flower and food committees. Jane enjoyed traveling and visited 35 states and several countries in her lifetime, and was always up for a trip, big or small. Jane was a big fan of Walt Disney and made more trips to Disney World than could be counted. Even with her excited granddaughters beside her (and plenty of scurrying great-grandchildren later in life), it was hard to tell who the real kid was as a smiling Jane strolled down Main Street USA with Cinderella’s Castle in the distance. In fact, Nan had plans to go on the great-grandchildren’s first trip to Disneyland later this year. Family was, without question, a focal point of Jane’s life. She cared for her family in a variety of ways. She loved to cook and prepared a large meal every Sunday following church for all her family who could attend. Sunday lunch was very important to Nan, and was a time reserved for her family to come together despite all the busy schedules involved. Nan was the go-to source for any homemade Halloween costumes, and was also quick to sew buttons, fix holes in clothes, or make any other emergency apparel repairs. She loved to garden, and many of her homegrown fruits and vegetables made their way to the family dinner table on Sunday afternoon. Nan was a fixture at her granddaughters’ ballgames, recitals, Grandparents Days, and any of their other events growing up, and continued that tradition by attending as many of her great-grandchildren’s events as she could in recent years. Jane was especially proud of her son, Jerald, and all his professional accomplishments. She would beam with pride as she showed friends newspaper stories featuring Jerald. She was particularly pleased with all his work as President and Executive Director of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and Price Cutter Charity Championship, and was a fixture at luncheons, banquets, and events over the years. Jane was very active with her class of 1947 classmates and enjoyed their monthly luncheons. She looked forward to playing dominoes every month with a group of special friends at Silo Ridge Country Club. Jane and Cletis provided housing in their trailer court and other rental properties to hundreds of college students. Many of those residents stayed in touch with her over the years. Jane was preceded in death by her parents and her loving husband, Cletis. She is survived by one son, Jerald Andrews, and his wife Giana, of Bolivar; four granddaughters, Jeralen and husband Byron Shive, Joylyn and husband Ty Smith, and Mary Blair, all of Bolivar, and Kate and husband Jonathon Elliott of Franklin, Ind.; and eight great-grandchildren, Bryton and Turner Shive, Mya and Ella Smith and Jaylee and Jud Blair, all of Bolivar, and Canaan and Nixon Elliott of Franklin, Ind. She is also survived by one sister, Jean Cole, of Corpus Christie, Texas; one brother-in-law, Bob Andrews and wife Hazel, of Bolivar; two nieces, Dr. Cathy Cole-Perez of Corpus Christie, Texas, and Gretchen Combs of Bolivar, and one nephew, Dr. Bob Cole, of Coral Springs, Fla. Nan is also survived by close family friends Jay and Paige Stevens and their children, Morgan and Haden. Jane also leaves behind a host of friends from her many walks of life. Visitation will be at Butler Funeral Home on Tuesday, July 24, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The funeral will be at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 25, at the funeral home. Officiating over the funeral and burial services will be Eld. Michael Calhoun, current pastor of Calvary MBC, close friend Jay Stevens, Eld. Ron Erven (former pastor at Calvary), and grandsons-in-law Eld. Jonathon Elliott and Byron Shive. Jane will be laid to rest at Greenwood Cemetery in Bolivar. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Building Fund of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church or to a charity of your choice.

Mary Jane Andrews

August 12, 1929 - July 22, 2018