Wanda Eileen Plemones, 96
Graveside services for Wanda Eileen (Reynolds) Plemones, 96, of Rogersville, were held Oct. 2, 2025, at Centerpoint Cemetery, west of Gainesville. She died Sept. 29.
She was born July 13, 1929, to Archie K. and Jewel E. (Owens) Reynolds in Gainesville. Jewel went into labor that day while picking up rocks in a field that Archie was plowing, and Eileen was born under a tree nearby.
She grew up on Centerpoint Road on her parents’ farm and graduated from Gainesville High School. After high school, she pursued her teaching degree and began her career in a one-room schoolhouse, where she taught grades 1-12, including her two brothers. She also taught in Three Brothers, Arkansas, where she lived in a 9-foot trailer beside the General Store during her time there. She then decided to move to Wichita, Kansas, to work at Boeing Aircraft, where she met and married Thomas Fredrick Plemones, and they had two children: Gary Lynn Plemones and Cheri Kay (Plemones) Carey. Eileen then returned to school to obtain her cosmetologist license and started a beauty shop in her home in Wichita, where she continued to do hair as a side career. After a time, the family moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Eileen worked for General Motors, GMAC, in the business office. In 1973, she transferred to the GMAC office in Springfield. In 1977, she and Tom purchased a Chevrolet Dealership in Ash Grove. Eileen then received her real estate license in 1982 and worked in real estate until retiring in her early 80s.
Eileen never backed down from a challenge and was a go-getter. She loved the Lord and her family with her whole heart and was devoted to her family and her friends. Eileen was a Christ follower and a regular attendee at South National Church of Christ in Springfield until health issues made it impossible for her to attend on a regular basis.
Eileen always looked for the best in people and carried a positive outlook on life, even during her cancer fight and the loss of vision in one eye. She took it all in stride and always commented that things could be worse. “You don’t have to look very far to see someone worse off than me. If you have your family and your health, you don’t have anything to complain about,” she always said. Eileen’s favorite pastime in her later years was watching the St. Louis Cardinals. She said it was the only clean thing on television. She also enjoyed going out to dinner.
She is survived by her son Gary Plemones and wife Amber; her daughter Cheri (Plemones) and husband Tim; three grandchildren: Skyler Plemones and wife Abigail, and Joshua Plemones; sister-in-law Mary Ann Reynolds; her niece Kelly Lemburg; her nephews Daniel Reynolds, Darrell Reynolds, Donald Reynolds; and several great-nieces and great-nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents Archie and Jewel Reynolds; and brothers Harold Reynolds and Charles Reynolds.
Arrangements are under the direction of J.D. Lee and Sons Funeral Home, Rogersville. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Centerpoint Cemetery. Mail checks to Century Bancshares, Inc., PO Box 68, Gainesville, MO 65655.