Stories from Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Elzora Ruth Nichols, 72, Nevada, died Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018, at Medicalodges in Nevada. Ruth was born Sept. 4, 1945, in Rich Hill, Mo., to Lewis W. and Bertha M. (McClellan) O’Rourke. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 8, at Ferry Funeral Home, in Nevada. Friends may call now and until the hour of service at the funeral home...

Richard “Cris” Spratt, 68, of Milo, Mo., passed away on Friday, Aug. 3, 2018, at Freeman West Hospital in Joplin following a brief illness. Cris was born Jan. 13, 1950, in Butler, Mo., to Richard Felix and Betty Lee (Bainter) Spratt. On March 16, 1974, he was united in marriage to Joyce Dean Hancock, in Nevada, and she survives of the home...