Wanda Jane (Swartz) Reed, 80, of Oak Grove, Missouri passed away peacefully at St. Luke’s Hospice House on June 3, 2020 after a courageous battle with ovarian and colon cancer.
Our Mom was born May 10th, 1940 to Carnie George and Hattie Mae Swartz. After living in Kansas City for the bulk of her childhood, the family moved to Stover, Missouri which is where Mom truly called ‘home’. Mom had eight siblings that she absolutely adored. Roma,
Wilma, Keneth, Ruth, Irene, Kathy, Connie, and Jim were her best friends’ right to the end.
Mom moved back to the Kansas City area and began working as a timekeeper for Lake City Army Ammunition Plant where she met her soulmate Ronnie Reed. They married on July 30th, 1966 in Oklahoma and had 51 beautiful years together. In 2015 our Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Mom spent the next two years dedicating her life to assuring he was able to stay home with her until the end. His disease was a challenge most would have never been able to navigate. However, Mom was able to find creative ways to push through the Alzheimer’s and keep her Ronnie home until the end in 2017. When sundowners would hit at 5pm every night, Mom would put him in the car and take him for a ride in the country, so he thought he had gone home to the Ozarks. They would then come back home, and he would contently nestle in for the night believing he had made it home because of their travels. Their love was every Hallmark Channel movie ever made. They were best friends. They were inseparable. Little did we know that Mom was battling cancer herself while walking our Dad home. It only further shows the amazing strength that she displayed throughout her life. They enjoyed fishing, going to the casino, attending car shows, going for Sunday drives all week long and sitting in their recliners growing old together.
After marrying Ronnie in 1966, Mom never had an occupation outside the home. Her most important role in life that she embraced with all she had was Mom. She birthed 6 children. Sheila, Jeff, Barb, Lisa, Rod and Angie. When she and Ronnie married, she had the honor of joining the life of his 2 children Cindy and Randy. Together they raised all 8 children as one family unit. Mom was the true definition of unconditional love. No matter what situation we got ourselves into, we could pick up the phone and call her for advice or assistance. She’d tell us how dumb we were in what we had gotten ourselves into…and then help us get out of it. She never ever didn’t show up. She was our constant.
Wanda Jane Reed joyously is now reunited with so many that went before her that she missed every single day after they left this earth. Her ‘honey’, Ronnie Reed. Her daughter, Barbara Jean Denning-Whipple. Sisters Roma Oser, Wilma Bond, Keneth Swartz, Ruth Bell, Irene Smith and Kathy Bockelman as well as their parents Carnie and Hattie.
She leaves behind her children: Sheila Queen (Matt) of Oak Grove; Jeff Denning (Mara) of Pflugerville, Texas; Lisa Simpson of Lowery City, Missouri; Rodney Reed of Lowery City, Missouri; Angie Swoffer (Laura) of Blue Springs, Missouri; Randy Reed (Mary) of Warsaw, Missouri; and Cindy Reed of Harrisonville, Missouri. She leaves behind 22 grandchildren and multiple great-grandchildren. She was excitedly expecting her first great-great grandchild and we know she will get to see him or her before we do, and we KNOW it will be blessed with great-great-grandma’s kisses.
Mom also leaves behind her sister Connie (Ed) Viebrock and brother Jim (Madelyn) Swartz, her brother in-law Marvin Bockelman and sister in-law Dorothy Swartz. She leaves countless nieces and nephews, cousins, several of our ex husbands and wives who grew to become Mom’s friends throughout the years, and her children’s best friends throughout school and life that became Moms extended family that she loved dearly.
Visitation for Wanda Jane Reed will be Monday, June 8th at Royer Funeral Home from 12:30 to 2pm. Immediately following visitation will be a graveside service at Oak Grove Cemetery.
We will miss you every second of every day until we see you again Momma…go rest now.
Arrangements: Royer Funeral Home, Oak Grove, MO 816-690-4441