Leola Jeanette McCracken

Leola Jeanette McCracken, commonly known as "Nesie" by friends and family, 61, of Nevada, Mo., passed from this life on June 15, 2015, at her home. She was born May 17, 1954, in La Jolla, Calif., the daughter of George Edmund and Anna Louise (Ramey) Patroske.

Jeanette spent her very early years in California, before moving with her family to Arkansas then Missouri to be near family and to explore job opportunities for her father. Early in her life she worked in the food service industry and for a time also worked locally at Nellie Don, later becoming a homemaker and raising her three girls. She was an intensely private person who enjoyed her home and loved woodworking, cross stitching, fishing, hummingbirds, and always had a love of the outdoors. One of her greatest joys were her dogs she had through the years: Sugar, Foxy, Drifter, Beauty and Shehe. But it was her granddaughter, Hannah, who was the "apple of Grandmama's eye." Those who knew her best were keenly aware of the fact that she was "stubborn as a mule ... yet loved so dearly."

Those who survive to mourn her passing include her three daughters, Rachel Shepherd and husband, Chris, Jessica McCracken, and Mary Hargrove and husband, Shawn, all of Nevada; grandchildren, Isaac, Brady, and Hannah Hargrove, and siblings, Walter Patroske and wife, Phyllis, of Yuma, Ariz., James Patroske and wife, Marilyn, of Osceola, and Ginger Lehmann, of Nixa; and many nieces and nephews. Jeanette was preceded in death by her parents and one brother, John Wilson Jr.

A memorial service for Leola Jeanette McCracken will be held at 3 p.m., Thursday, June 18, at Ferry Funeral Home, in Nevada. Private burial will follow at a later date.

View obituary and send condolences online at www.ferryfuneralhome.com.