Elsie Juanita Lunsford

Elsie Lunsford Obituary

Elsie Juanita (Adams) Lunsford was born July 11, 1918 on a farm near Green City, Missouri. She was the sixth of nine children born to Thomas Benton Adams and Hattie Louise (Beabout) Adams.

Elsie married Virgil L. Lunsford on February 20, 1935 in Unionville, Missouri. She was sixteen years old at the time and Virgil was nineteen. Their union produced two daughters. Marilyn was born in 1937 and Karen in 1946.

During the spring of 1936, the couple moved to a farm near Albion, Iowa where they lived for the next seven years. During the depression, they had a good house to live in, food to eat, and a steady income. In 1943, they moved to Albion and bought their first house for about $4,000.

In 1948, the couple moved to Unionville, Missouri where they rented and later bought a small house on four acres of land near the edge of town. Elsie began attending church with her two daughters. In 1952, at the age of 34, she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior and was buried in Christian baptism.

Elsie was an excellent cook and enjoyed entering her pies, canned items, and other baked goods at the Putnam County Fair. She won many blue ribbons over a period of 40 years.

In 1965, after her last child left home, Elsie began working as a cook for the Putnam County Memorial Hospital, where she was employed for 18 years. After retiring in 1983, Elsie volunteered at the Putnam County Senior Center and served on the board of directors for many years.

In 1995, at the age of 79, Virgil, her true love and sweetheart, died from congestive heart failure soon after celebrating their 60 year wedding anniversary.

In 2010, after living in Unionville for 62 years, Elsie sold her house and moved to St. Charles, Missouri to be near her daughter Karen. In 2012, Elsie was hit by a car and suffered 7 shattered ribs, a scalp wound, a collapsed left lung, and a badly bruised left leg. Against the predictions of three doctors, she survived. With many prayers, God's healing power, and good medical care, her life returned to normal.

On May 1, 2018, at the age of 99 years (2 months, 11 days short of her 100th birthday) Elsie passed from this life to the glories of her eternal home and into the presence of her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Elsie is survived by her sister Berniece McDannald of Nashville, Tennessee. She is survived by her son-in-law John C. Thomas of Kearney, Missouri; four grandchildren Sherri Moye of Greenville, South Carolina, John W. Thomas of Lee Summit, Missouri, Irene Backer of Greenville, South Carolina, and Douglas Thomas of Kansas City, Missouri; three great grandchildren John Moye of Dallas, Texas, David Moye of New York City, New York, and Paige Thomas of Lee Summit, Missouri. She is also survived by her son-in-law Joe White of St. Charles, Missouri; three grandchildren Daphne Boyce of St. Charles, Missouri, Timothy White of San Antonio, Texas, and Denise White of St. Charles, Missouri; eight great grandchildren Zachary, Matthew, Daniel, Josiah, Gideon, Isaac, Tabitha, and Lydia Boyce of St. Charles, Missouri. She was preceded in death by her husband, Virgil Lunsford, her two daughters Marilyn Thomas and Karen White and by her two brothers and five sisters, Ruthie Adams, Rolla Adams, Ines White, Rita Fettters, Icle Adams, Evelyn McDannald, and Bonnie Rosenstangle.

Visitation will be held from 9:30 am to 11:00 am at Grace Baptist Church, 3601 Ehlmann Rd. St. Charles, MO 63301. Funeral Service to immediately follow at 11:00 am. Interment will be at Unionville Cemetery.