Doris Geraldine "Jerry" McNiece
Doris Geraldine “Jerry” McNiece, a retired homemaker, businesswoman, and community volunteer, died Friday, June 18, 2010, at Kansas City Hospice House, Kansas City, Missouri, from complications of heart disease.
Mrs. McNiece was born January 25, 1917, on the family farm located on the site of the present day Wilson Creek Battlefield Civil War Memorial near Springfield, Missouri. She was the youngest of eleven children born to Joseph B. Crow and Laura B. Taylor Crow.
In 1925, Mrs. McNiece moved with her family to Zion, Illinois where she attended parochial schools. Upon graduation from high school in 1935, Mrs. McNiece began employment in the Zion curtain factory. During World War II, she worked for Johns Manville in the graphite-coating department and in the photographic laboratory at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center near Chicago. Following the war, Mrs. McNiece joined a brother and sister in the drapery and upholstery business, working from her home in Zion.
On July 14, 1937, Mrs. McNiece married her husband of 62 years, L. D. McNiece. Mr. McNiece was in the baking business in Zion and in 1949, the McNieces moved to Carrollton, Missouri, as part of the original partnership that founded the Banner Cookie and Candy Company.
While raising her family in Carrollton, Mrs. McNiece established a drapery and furniture slipcover business that she operated from her home for many years, having a customer base that extended from Carrollton to Kansas City.
From 1967 to 1980, Mrs. McNiece worked for Stockton Jewelry in Carrollton.
Mrs. McNiece was a founding member of the Carrollton Newcomers Club, a member of the Women’s Club, Business and Professional Women’s Club, Carrollton Public School’s Parent Teachers Association, American Cancer Society, Boys Scouts of America, and a member of the Carroll County Memorial Hospital Board and Hospital Auxiliary.
While working with the PTA, she led the effort to get hot water faucets installed in the restrooms of the Carrollton public schools and she became the president of the Carroll County PTA in 1953, serving schools in Hale, Bogard, Tina, Norborne, and Carrollton.
She served as a Cub Scout den mother for a number of years.
During the 1960’s, Mrs. McNiece became chairwoman of the Carroll County Chapter of the American Cancer Society and led an effort to recruit volunteers for a 5-year study to discover possible reasons for the high incidences of cancer in Carroll County.
Mrs. McNiece was an active member of the First Christian Church in Carrollton for over 60 years, teaching Sunday school, helping with vacation Bible school and church youth groups, supporting missionary work, and serving in numerous volunteer capacities in support of the church and the Carrollton inner-faith community. In 2002, Mrs. McNiece established the L. D. and Doris G. McNiece Permanent Fund, an endowment for the perpetual benefit of First Christian Church, Carrollton.
Mrs. McNiece was an active participant of the Carroll County Hospital Auxiliary, making complimentary gifts for patients and supporting other hospital initiatives. She enjoyed quilting, playing bridge, and was an avid reader. She and her husband were early advocates for a senior living housing area in Carrollton and she was one of the first residents of Jefferson Park upon its completion.
Mrs. McNiece was preceded in death by her husband, L. D. McNiece, her parents, 10 siblings, and 16 nieces and nephews.
Survivors include two sons: Allan D. McNiece and wife Sandra, Las Cruces, NM, and Bryant L. McNiece and wife Jane, St. Charles, MO; a daughter, Connie A. Brower and husband Pieter, Overland Park, KS; a sister-in-law, Dorothy McNiece, Marshall, MO; 8 grandchildren, Meredith McNiece, Longwood, Florida; Stuart McNiece and wife Yvette, St. Petersburg, Florida; Laura McNiece, Las Cruces, New Mexico; Jason McNiece and wife April, Las Cruces, New Mexico; Kimberly Davidson and husband Mark, Roeland Park, Kansas; Erin Brower, Kansas City, Missouri; Lindsay Healy and husband Sean, Prairie Village, Kansas; Reed Brower, Kansas City, Missouri; 5 great-grandchildren,Katelyn, Lindsay, Riley, and Brennan McNiece, Las Cruces, New Mexico; Sierra McNiece, St. Petersburg, Florida; and 23 nieces and nephews.
Jerry McNiece will forever be remembered by family and friends for her generosity, thoughtful kindness to others, and amazing enthusiasm for living in the present.
Visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m., until service time at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at the First Christian Church, Carrollton, Missouri, with Reverend Larry Gray officiating. Burial will be in Oak Hill Cemetery, Carrollton, Missouri.
The family suggests contributions be made to the Carrollton First Christian Church or Carroll County Memorial Hospital in memory of Mrs. McNiece. They may be left at or mailed to Gibson Funeral Home, 201 S. Main, Carrollton MO 64633.
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