Minear, Mary Ella Jones – 1921-2019

ATWOOD, BILLINGSLEY, BOSOVICH, CAVERT, CROSS, JONES, MINEAR, PETERSEN, SCHEIBEL, SOUTHERN, VANDERWERFF

Posted By: Diana Wagner
Date: 7/13/2021 at 21:35:34

Des Moines - Mary Ella Jones Southern Minear passed away on Saturday 25 May 2019 in Des Moines. Friends are welcome to gather for fellowship at 12 noon on June 1 at Westover Chapel before a celebration of her life at 1:00 pm. Mary was born on 9 November 1921 in Ira, Iowa to Alta May Cross and Zenas Crane Jones. She attended school in Mingo, Iowa and graduated from the University of Northern Iowa, then named Iowa State Teachers College, where she was known for her plays and creative writing. She taught English in Atlantic, Iowa in the 1940s and in Des Moines in the 1960s. She married her high school sweetheart, Lt. Lowell Southern; after his death in Italy in 1944, she joined the Red Cross where she served in the South Pacific on Okinawa.
After the war, she returned to Newton, Iowa where she met and married Lee Minear in 1948. They spent most of their life together in Des Moines where she joined the congregation of Westminster Presbyterian Church in the 1950s, serving as a deacon and as a long-time contributor to the Christian Education Program, especially in the Adult Sunday School to which she delivered carefully researched and rehearsed homilies. Mary was a creative and entertaining leader in the Heart of the Hawkeye Camp Fire Girls program and a devoted speaker and member of PEO Chapter JM and the American Legion Auxiliary. Lee and Mary enjoyed European travel and hospitality exchanges with Friendship Force and hosting family gatherings for holidays.
Mary is survived by her daughter, Mary Beth Cavert, and son, Mark Minear, sister Cleo Billingsley as well as beloved grandchildren and extended families: William Cavert (Katie), Diana and Sam; Elizabeth Cavert Scheibel (Nick); Melissa Minear Alongi (Scott), Sofia, Lilliana, Dominic, Collin Lee Minear; Robbie Petersen; Betty Southern Atwood; and Mardelle Minear.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Lee Minear, son Kenneth Minear, and siblings Lowell M. Jones, Verla E. Bosovich, Helen Vanderwerff, and Keith Jones.
The family suggests memorial contributions to Jasper County Historical Society, 1700 S. 15th Ave. W, Newton, Iowa, http://www.jaspercountymuseum.com/home.html. And/or the family suggests that you treat yourself to a special trip to visit friends.
Source: Des Moines Register; Wednesday, May 29, 2019