Obituary of Elwanda Lovelace

Funeral Services for Elwanda Lovelace of Elsberry, MO will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, December 21, 2017 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home in Elsberry.  Rev. Kris Hagemeier, pastor of the Elsberry First Christian Church, and Gene Spies will officiate with burial in the Elsberry City Cemetery near Elsberry.  Serving as pallbearers will be Tim Gildehaus, Grant Gildehaus, August Gildehaus, John DeClue, Gilbert Rivera, John Small and Jeff Ivy.
 

Mrs. Lovelace, 76, passed away Sunday morning, December 17, 2017 at home. Born July 15, 1941 in Bernie, MO, she was the daughter of James Hillard and Lola Beatrice Rife Beachum.  Elwanda was a 1959 graduate of Bernie High School.  She was united in marriage on July 25, 1959 in Malden, MO to Donald James Lovelace.  This union was blessed with four children: Camela, Angela, Jim and Jeanne.  In the early years, Elwanda was a cashier for Sears and Kroger.  Dedicated to her children, Elwanda was a room mother at their schools.  In 1970, Don and Elwanda opened Lovelace Carpet, which she continued to be active in today.

Elwanda was preceded in death by her parents, James and Lola Beachum; her brother, Johnny Wolford; and two grandsons: Graden Lovelace and Duane Orf.
 

Survivors include her beloved husband of 58 years, Don Lovelace of Elsberry; their children: Camela DeClue and her husband, John, of Kirkwood, MO, Angela Gildehaus and her husband, Tim, of Creve Coeur, MO, Jim Lovelace and his wife, Donna, of Moscow Mills, MO and Jeanne Lovelace of Elsberry; and five grandchildren: Kara Lovelace-Greer, Grant Gildehaus, August Gildehaus, Valerie DeClue and Abigail Lovelace.  Elwanda also leaves three sisters: Barbara Burleson and her husband, Wafe, of Dexter, MO, Gloria Morris and her husband, Bob, of Advance, MO and Kay Thurston and her husband, Mike, of Dexter; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. until the time of Funeral Services at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, December 21, 2017 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home in Elsberry.  Memorials may be made to the LOCOA Meals-On-Wheels Program in care of Carter-Ricks Funeral Home, 107 S. 5th Street; Elsberry, MO 63343.