Arlene Myers

Florence Arlene Myers passed away at the Golden Living Center, Maryville, on Saturday, February 2, 2013, at age 86.

Arlene was a loving wife and caring mother. A home-maker in the traditional sense, she cooked, cleaned, mended, gardened and handled the many domestic duties expected of rural women of her generation. She was mostly a fan of her family – a Cub Scout softball mom, Blue Bird leader, FFA and band supporter, and all-around family cheerleader. She stressed good manners, polite behavior and the importance of an education; seeing that all three of her children graduated from college. A Kansas City Royals fan for many years, she was also a soft touch for a stray cat or a lamb that needed to be raised on a bottle. After her children left home, she served as an American Red Cross volunteer at St. Francis Hospital for many years.

Born on May 15, 1925, Florence Arlene Shelman was the oldest of five children born to Arlie and Florence Shelman, of Worth and Nodaway Counties. Arlene graduated from Sheridan High School, became a teacher, and taught for a period in a one-room school house.

She and her husband of 67 years, Gayland Myers, married on May 23, 1944. Together, the couple farmed in Worth and Gentry Counties, then moved their family to the greater Kansas City area in the early 1950s where Gayland took up carpentry. With their three growing children, the couple returned to northwest Missouri in 1963 and purchased an 80 acre farm on Canal Branch north of Maryville from Arlene’s grandfather, William Noakes.

The couple had three children, Gary A. (Jackie) Myers, Jefferson, Wis., Gerald L. Myers, DVM, Pickering, and Peggy Sue (Scot) Richey, Platte City.

Arlene and Gayland doted on their five grandchildren, Sarah (Jason) Cleaver, Muskego, Wis., Philip Myers, Rochester, N.Y., Beth (Patrick) Richey-Sullivan, Stevenson Ranch, Calif., Madelyn Myers, Waltham, Mass., and Arlie Myers, Omaha, and two great-granddaughters, Lacey and London Cleaver, Muskego, Wis. She also held great affection for three step-grandchildren, Mike (Julie) Reilly, Ankeny, Ia., Katherine Reilly, Moline, Ill., and Brian (Beth) Reilly, Omaha.

Arlene is also survived by one sister, Ella Mae McGinness, Stillwater, Minn., as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and many dear friends.

Arlene was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, two brothers, Larry Shelman, Independence, and Bill Shelman, Kansas City, and a sister, Eva Lee Farris, LaJolla, Calif.

The Myers Family wishes to gratefully acknowledge the loving attention of caregivers at the Golden Living Center, Maryville.

Friends are encouraged to visit with the family beginning at 9:00 AM, followed by the funeral service at 10:00 AM on Friday, February 8, 2013, at the Bram-Danfelt Funeral Home, Maryville. Burial will take place at Prairie Chapel Cemetery, Denver, after the services.