Elmer Jurl Connelly

Elmer Jurl Connelly, 83, of Nevada, Mo., passed away on Saturday, March 9, 2013, at Freeman Health Systems in Joplin, Mo., following a lengthy illness. Jurl as all his family and friends called him was born on Dec. 19, 1929, in Green Forest, Ark., to John Elmer Connelly and Ella Mae Mills Connelly. He married Sandra Lee Ross-Peter on June 9, 1963, in Nevada, and she survives of the home.

Jurl's family moved to Kim, Colo., around the year 1931 where they farmed several hundred acres of pinto beans. In 1949, Jurl graduated Salutatorian of his class at Kim, Colo., High School. The Connelly family moved to Vernon County in 1951 on a dairy farm south of Nevada. Jurl served in the Marine Corps between the years of 1951 and 1953 as a corporal, marksman and radio operator. He was honorably discharged to come home at the end of his two-year duty. He moved back to this area where he helped his parents on their dairy farm and started as a dairy truck driver with his father. After the death of his father, Jurl acquired the family farm from his mother. His four children were raised on this farm. He hauled milk for 56 years of his life and retired after a truck accident in February 2006. The dairy farm continued to run until 2009. Jurl attended the Nevada Assembly of God.

In addition to his wife, Sandra, he is survived by two sons, Tracy Connelly and his wife, Destiny, and Travis Connelly, all of Nevada; two daughters, Pam McNeil and her husband, Bill, Bronaugh, Mo., and Nancy Davisson and her husband, Kirk, Nevada; seven grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; one sister, Nettie Phillips; one brother, Russell Connelly and his wife, Connie, all of Nevada; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, John Elmer Connelly Jr.; two sisters, Phillis Anita and Nancy Ann; two grandsons, Cody Jenkins and Adam Davisson; and two great-nieces, Michelline Morton and Victoria Brown.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, March 13, at Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada, with the Rev. Les Brown officiating. Interment with military honors will follow in Sheldon Cemetery, Sheldon, Mo. Friends may call now until the hour of service and the family receives friends from 7-8 p.m., today, March 12, at the funeral home.

View obituary and send condolences online at www.ferryfuneralhome.com