Lou  Ellen Scroggins (Feeley)

On Monday, November 7, 2016, Heaven gained an angel. Our beautiful beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great-great grandmother passed away at the age of 92, having lived a life full of adventure and wonderful memories. A visitation will be held from 7-9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 9, at the Speaks Suburban Chapel, 18020 E. 39th St., Independence, MO. Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday at the Suburban Chapel with burial to follow at Salem Cemetery. Lou Ellen Scroggins was born on July 17th, 1924 in Topeka KS. She was the second child born to Edward and Genevieve Feeley. She had an older brother, Earl. Her parents were the proprietors of a Hotel in Topeka. She grew up living in the Hotel, making friends with the guests. She learned kindness to strangers at an early age which is a trait she exhibited her entire life and one she passed on to her children. While a young girl she developed a love of Elephants and began collecting them around the age of nine. She has spent her entire life building a vast collection. In 1943 as the world was being engulfed by war, like many young women she found herself falling in love with a man in uniform. She married Floyd Woods and was blessed with her first two children. This marriage, again, like many others of that time, didn’t last and ended in divorce. In 1949 she met and married Howard Kenneth Barnes. Marrying into the Barnes family fulfilled a lifelong dream of being part of a large family. She was embraced and quickly became one of them. Over the course of the years, as the five children came long there were countless family dinners and gatherings where the adults visited on the porch and the children played outside. There were camping trips and church fellowships. The family lived in and around the Kansas City area, settling in Independence in 1965. Kenneth passed away in 1970. While raising her children Lou Ellen worked at several jobs. She enjoyed hospital work and was a switchboard operator at Baptist Memorial Hospital and the Medical Center of Independence. She later worked in a doctor’s office and at Commerce Bank. One of her greatest pleasures was spending time with her children. She enjoyed traveling to Branson with them, and the simple times of when they were all together. Holidays were important to her, a time she enjoyed being with all of her children. Lou Ellen always wished she’d had a sister; although not a blood relative she developed a sister relationship with Vinnie from Australia. She met Vinnie through a pen pal and this friendship lasted for more than 30 years. Lou Ellen was fortunate to have made several trips to Australia to spend time with Vinnie and her family. After being a widow for 18 years, she married Glen Scroggins. They had a happy, albeit short, marriage which tragically ended with Glen’s passing away. During their short marriage she had much happiness. They traveled to places such as Yellowstone, Colorado, Australia, and Branson. Lou Ellen was preceded in death by her parents, brother, two husbands, three infant grandchildren Carrie Nunamaker, Matthew West and Callie Dunham, three grandsons, Jeffrey Dunham, Brett Rodman and Kevin West. She is survived by her children Judy Bland, Richard Woods, Patty Colvin (Jeff), Debbie Henderson (Ray), Sharon Stiles (Adam), Jenny Overman (Rodney) and Laurie Snyder (Richard), 18 grandchildren, 27 great grandchildren, and 14 great great grandchildren. There are no words to express how much she will be missed by her family. Fly high mom, we love you always. Online condolences may be expressed at www.speakschapel.com (Arrangements: Speaks Suburban Chapel 816-373-3600)