Gentry county Missouri, Obituaries: Lela Fae Holmes Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm Submitted by: Don Raymond Stanberry Headlight, Gentry County, Missouri, Thursday, December 8, 1955, page 1: Lela Fae Holmes, 33, Alanthus Grove, MO., was found about 11 o'clock Monday, December 5, 1955, among the burning embers of an outdoor toilet at the rear of the Holmes home in Alanthus. Finding the body were her husband, Lloyd E. (Cy) Holmes, Alanthus farmer, the Rev. Floyd Kolb, pastor of the Alanthus Baptist church, and Austin O'Banion, Albany, who worked for Holmes. The body was burned beyond recognition, only a shriveled torso remaining, according to testimony at the inquest staged by the county coroner, Dr. C. N. Williamson, Gentry, and Prosecuting Attorney Fred Kling, Albany. Testimony indicated that Mrs. Holmes had been ill mentally, off and on, since August, 1954, when her fourth child died a few hours after it was born. It was added that her diabetic condition of long standing did not help her mental condition. She was treated in several institutions for her mental condition, including Mayo's, the Smithville hospital and the sanitarium in Macon, Mo. Lela was born Mar. 19, 1922 in the Alanthus community and resided there most of her life. Lela was married April 25, 1944 in Troy, Kan., to Lloyd Eugene "Cy" Holmes. Survivors include her husband, the three children, Joseph, 10; Mary Susan, 8, and Johnnie, 7; her parents, and nine brothers and sisters. Ralph Murphy, Stanberry; Chester Murphy, Gentry; Marvin Murphy, Omaha; Mrs. Dale Mapes, Winterset, Ia.; Mrs. Virgil Warren, Kansas City; Wesley Murphy, Hood River, Ore.; George Raymond Murphy, Tillamook, Ore., and James Harold Murphy, Nebo, Ore. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday in the Alanthus Baptist church. Burial will be in the High Ridge cemetery, Stanberry, under the direction of the Phillips Mortuary.