Belva Mae Chanove

Belva Mae Chanove, 74, Salina, Kan., passed away on Monday, Feb. 11, 2008, at the Salina Regional Medical Center following a short illness. She was born Nov. 5, 1933, in Nevada, to Ben Hightower Poland and Elsie Mae Compton Poland. She was married to Otis W. Wright on Feb. 16, 1953, in Fort Scott, Kan., and this union produced three children. Belva later married Milton L. Chanove Jr., on Oct. 23, 1965, and this union produced one child.

Belva was reared in Vernon County, and graduated from Nevada High School in 1951. She was a member of the Horton United Methodist Church. She was a military wife for 18 years and lived on several Air Force bases in the Midwest and then Guam. Belva made her home wherever she lived, but never lost her love for Missouri. After moving home in 1971, she completed an associate's degree in nursing from Fort Scott Community College. She was a member of the District 13 Missouri Nurses's Association. She worked as a volunteer in the late 1970s for the newly created Vernon County Ambulance Service. She also worked part time for Heartland Hospital and Christian Health Care. She retired from her full-time job at the Nevada Habilitation Center after a full nursing career and then worked part-time for Oxford Health Care. In addition to working and spending time with her family, Belva enjoyed sewing, crocheting, fishing, gardening, cooking, country and western and blue grass music.

Survivors include one daughter, Andrea G. Jaume~ and her husband Mike, of Salina, Kan.; Greggory A. Wright, of Fort Scott; Darryl E. Wright and his wife, Teresa, Nevada, and Milton L. Chanove III, of Fort Scott. Grandchildren include Arlinda Johnson, of El Dorado Springs, Melissa Roberts and her husband Chad, of Manhattan, Kan., Michael and Kelsey Jaume~, of Salina, Kan.; Ryan and Seth Chanove, of Nevada. Great-grandchildren include Tritteny, Micayla, and Brandon Miller, of Manhattan, Kan., and Jeremiah and Hannah Johnson, of El Dorado Springs. Belva was preceded in death by her parents.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., at Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada, on Friday, Feb. 15. Interment will follow in Berea Christian Church Cemetery. Friends may call now and until the hour of service. The family will receive friends 6-7 p.m., on Thursday, Feb. 14, at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials in Belva's memory be made to the Horton United Methodist Church, the Berea Christian Church, the American Diabetes Association or the Nevada Area Habitat for Humanity in care of the funeral home.

You may view obituary and send condolences online at www.ferryfuneralhome.com.