Larry Mardell Jones

Larry Mardell Jones, age 75, of Omaha, MO, would want everybody to know that he “assumed room temperature” at home and went to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on August 25, 2016. Larry was born January 31, 1941, son of Lester “Tut” Jones and Lillian (White) Jones. He attended the one-room Berry school house through 8th grade and graduated from Livonia High School in 1958, the valedictorian of his class (of 17 students).

Education was encouraged by his parents. Larry received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northeast Missouri Teachers College (now Truman State University) in Kirksville, MO. In 1972, he received his Doctorate in Business Education from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND. He taught classes at the Moulton-Udell High School, Moulton, IA; Hannibal-LaGrange College, Hannibal, MO; a community college in Illinois (for a very short time); and Central Missouri State University (now University of Central Missouri), Warrensburg, MO. Larry taught business education courses and supervised student teachers during his 30 years at CMSU. He also enjoyed teaching Sunday School classes at Grover Park Baptist in Warrensburg, MO, and Centerville Assembly of God in Centerville, IA. He also attended First Assembly of God in Warrensburg, MO. During his youth and for the last two years, he enjoyed being part of Omaha Baptist Church in Omaha, MO.

On December 21,1974, Larry was joined in marriage to Donna Marie McNamara, a former student of his (of the dozens of teachers Donna had, she always declared “Dr. Jones” to be the best). They made their home in Warrensburg, MO, and had two children, Joshua (1976) and Rachel (1978). Grover Park Baptist Church gave him their very first “Father of the Year” award because he took the 3:00 a.m. on shift of taking care of his prematurely born children following each of their births at 28 weeks’ gestation.

Following Larry and Donna's wedding, they began celebrating their "monthiversary" on the 21st of every month. Larry would always smile when Donna would (privately or not so privately) declare the number of months they'd been married. The years went by, and they were thrilled in 2007 to celebrate their 400th monthiversary. The aggressive cancer diagnosis had been declared 2 years before that, and they had asked God if He would give them 10 more years together. What an incredible gift; God gave them 11! They celebrated their 500th monthiversary on August 21, 2016, quietly at home--and Larry graduated to Heaven just 4 days later.

In 1999, Larry retired early from teaching and moved back to the farm where he’d grown up. Soon after, he purchased a powered parachute and enjoyed flying over the countryside, waving to people.

Larry said retirement was the best “job” he ever had. He enjoyed teasing people who were still in the workforce, thanking them for going to work each day to pay for his Social Security. He enjoyed watching Sid Roth, Jack Van Impe, and Hal Lindsey TV shows on the end times and the rapture. Larry expectantly looked forward to the return of Jesus, and Larry’s family hopes Jesus comes back very soon!

Twelve-year-old Benny, Larry’s Jack Russell/Fox Terrier mix, cats, and chickens were Larry’s farm friends. He enjoyed riding his four-wheeler with Benny and would point out Amish buggies to Benny while they were in the car. Larry loved all animals and would tell even the most homely animal how “beautiful” or “handsome” he or she was. He enjoyed giving his pet cats unusual names such as Chief Growling Bear, Bonifazi, and Fuzzoli, and giving his roosters names such as Buttercup and Roostie Toostie.

Larry had such an amazing sense of humor, and although he was painfully shy as a young man, by retirement age he had especially bloomed into someone who never met a stranger. Anybody sitting on the bench at Walmart was fair game, and he enjoyed visiting with anybody and everybody, and many times inquired as to whether they knew Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Even more than Larry’s desire to encourage you to NOT vote for Hillary Clinton this fall, his overall hope for you is that you, too, would make a decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Life Leader and ask Him to come take over your life and serve Him.

In addition to his wife, Donna, Larry is survived by his two children, Joshua (Ashley) Jones and Rachel (Robert) Cortesio, all residing in the Omaha, MO area on the family farm. He is also survived by his granddaughter, Hannah Jones, and grandson, Nathan Jones.

Preceding Larry in death were his parents, Lester “Tut” and Lillian Jones; and his grandparents.

Funeral services for Larry Jones will be at Playle and Collins Family Funeral Home in Unionville, MO, at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 28, 2016, with visitation one hour prior to the service. Burial will take place at the Mitchell Cemetery near Omaha, MO.

Larry requested that memorials be given to the Omaha Baptist Church building fund and may be entrusted to Playle and Collins Family Funeral Home, 709 S. 27 Street, Unionville, MO 63565.