Alyce Marie Curtis

They say dynomite comes in little packages... well, nitro glycerin comes in even tinier ones. If you knew Alyce and her beautiful, innocent soul, you soon came to know that there was a whole lot of living done in the 85 years represented by that hypen between her birth and death, as well as the fact that this itty bitty slip of a person could be a stubborn, sometimes cantankerous, tough old bird and a mighty force with which to reckon. Between her birth to Charles Frederick "Fred" and Bertha Belle (Jeffries/Jeffrey) Hatcher in a barely existent mapdot known as Loveland, Iowa to the time of her passage from Buffalo Missouri to rejoin her Creator and the love of her life Earl Junior Curtis who predeceased her in May 1998, she lived her entire life in the Palm of God's Hand. She lived most of her early years in southern Missouri after she, her dad, older brother Clyde Herbert and younger sister Doris Belle relocated to a small piece of land north of Buffalo Missouri. She never completed high school, going to work for her dad with his hauling and other odd jobs business. She learned from watching country life and held a wealth of motherwit knowledge and common sense wisdom . She loved watching nature and being outdoors and the changing of the seasons (something she said she truly missed during the time she lived in Arizona). She married E Wayne Jones on November 24, 1946, at Fort Scott, Kansas, where Wayne was stationed before he left for Korea during the Korean conflict. During her marriage to Wayne, she spent time with Wayne's parents, John and Clara Jones, as well as his maternal grandmother Alice Belzora "Belle" (Peppers) Phillips and his maternal grandfather George Phillips. Her former sister-in-law Nadine Keith and neice Carmen Lou Krissinger, who shared Alyce's birthday,commented that she was always took good care of Granny Jones and Granny Belle and that she was always quite kind to others. To this family was born Jimmie Wayne Jones and Janna Marie "Jaye B" Jones. Youngest child John Charles Frederick Jones died shortly after his birth because we are all God's children, and with some of us, He just can't wait to bring us home. Alyce was a stay at home Mom. She was active in First Baptist Church of Buffalo from Cradle Roll to Women's Auxiliary. She participated with her children in the school system. Alyce often read to Jim and Jann from the King James version of the Bible and instilled a love for reading and for gospel, country, and other music in her children. Alyce and Wayne divorced November 21, 1963 (the following day, JFK was assassinated). During their marriage, Wayne supported his family by working as a pig farmer, a deputy for Dallas County, a technician for Chapman's Appliance, and finally as an insurance salesmen for Globe Life Insurance Company until his death in March 2011. Jim recalls that the years of home cooking and chief cook and bottle washer at the City Cafe gave her the ability to make bologna, eggs, and gravy in a feast royale`. Her speciality was fresh fried crappie and bluegill filets. A reverend who once came to Sunday dinner accused her of making him commit one of the seven deadly sins. He told her that he was guilty of gluttony by reason of bluegill and crappie filet. Jann remembers when Mom did her homework.... It was a home made apple pie with criss crossed crust for home economics. Many reading this might recall that most of the conversations in Alyce's home took place around the kitchen table. Alyce worked for City Cafe on the square and the school cafeteria in Buffalo before accepting a job at Pigg's Cafe in Springfield Missouri in May 1964. Ironically, car trouble would prevent her first day at work. She would say that when God closes a door, He usually opens a window. That window would be a job in the cafeteria at Kraft Foods in Springfield. A self proclaimed matchmaker there at Kraft introduced her to Earl Junior Curtis, also divorced. It was love at first sight. It would take a year before he told his mother and family that when they married January 7, 1966 at the home of Alyce's sister Doris, they had only known one another six weeks. She often said these were the best years of her life. Alyce and Earl were active at Webster Park Baptist Church for a good number of years throughout the sixties and seventies. Religion was a large part of Alyce's life, and she was an avid Bible reader. She also read many Harlequin romances as well (and was said to pass them along to her daughter Jann if she thought they were "too racy"). She learned to crochet from her mother-in-law Georgia Curtis (rip) and found this to be a favourite passtime as well. In her lifetime, she crocheted many more than 100 afghans (she stopped count at that point), mostly for family, friends,friends of friends or family, several food service workers, and many of the other techicians in her life. Jann's physician, Dr Marshall, is especially fond of the pink one made for her and her three girls. Eventually, Alyce and Earl would retire to Shell Knob, Missouri, where they were able to spend more time fishing and enjoying nature and wildlife. Her grandson Jonathan said "her love of life and the beauty and art of nature" are the reason and inspiration for his love of eclectic art. They also loved to travel and again relocated. They had spent winters at a trailer home in Apache Junction, Arizona. By the eighties, this was their permanent home. Most all who ever met her remember her laughing eyes and her contagious smile. Her daughter-in-law Kate remembers her smile as "something that warms your heart as only a child's laughter can do." Her smile and laughter seemed a good match to the rest of her childlike qualities often stopping in the middle of a sentence to "Look at the bird!" or "Did you see that squirrel?" and not miss a beat in continuing the original sentence. All who met her seemed to know that this tiny woman had a heart of gold sevenfold her size. They could not help to see that she was an innocent "in a world full of pushing and shove." A woman who had lived her entire life in the Palm of God's Hand, she went to peaceful, tranquil sleep, Wednesday night (January 30), and awoke to the sounds of trumpets and rejoicing at midnight:21 am (January 31) when she returned to her Creator and awoke in the arms of the love of her life, her beloved Earl. She was predeceased by her parents Bertha Belle (Jeffries/Jeffrey) and Charles Frederick "Fred" Hatcher as well as her infant son John Charles Frederick Jones. Surviving her are her two children Jimmie Wayne Jones and his wife Lavada (Cantrell) Jones, Brookfield, MO; Janna Marie "Jaye B" Jones and her partner Kate Jones, Kansas City, MO; her sister, Doris Belle (Hatcher) Smith and her husband Tom Smith, Tunas, MO; and her brother Clyde Herbert Hatcher, Arkansas City, KS; her two step children, Bruce Jackson Curtis, Houston, MO, and Brenda Jane Nease, Spartanburg, SC; her grandchildren, Anna Marie Jones, Hollister, MO; Jonathan Wayne Jones, Austin, TX; David Alexander Jones, Branson, MO; Chris Allen Menter, Springfield, MO; Justina Lynn Salarano, Apache Flats, MO; Steven Hunter Kreter, California, MO; Angela Jane Claar, ---; and Anthony Lee Claar, ---, multiples of great grandchildren, great great grandchildren, neices, nephews (and all their children), and a host of family, friends, in-laws, and out-laws who sorely miss her contagious smile, her sweet, gentle ways, and her beautiful soul. Funeral Serivces will be 3:00 p.m. Monday February 4, 2013 in the Montgomery-Viets Chapel with the Rev. T.O. Spicer officitating. Burial will be in the White Chapel Cemetery Tuesday February 5th Visitation will be from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Monday at the Funeral Home under the direction of the Montgomery-Viets Funeral Home of Buffalo.

Alyce Marie Curtis

September 21, 1927 - January 31, 2013