Myrtle Skaggs

Myrtle Skaggs, age 92, of Lamar, passed away Sunday morning, January 14, 2018, at Truman Healthcare Center.      Myrtle was born January 18, 1925, in Stilwater, Oklahoma, one of the six children of Tom and Haley (Broaderick) Oyster. She was preceded in death by her parents and three brothers, Johnny, Charlie, and Russell Oyster.      Moving with her family to Dade County, Missouri in 1940, Myrtle graduated from Lockwood High School in 1944 and worked on the family farm. On October 12, 1948, at Nevada, Missouri, she married Denzil Skaggs and they made their home and farmed near Sylvania before moving to Barton County in 1957.      In addition to being a devoted homemaker, wife, mother, and grandmother, Myrtle had worked as a nurse aide, admitting and caring for the very first residents of the newly opened Chastain’s Nursing Home. She was a natural and loving caregiver who shared her heart as “Granny” to many of her granddaughters’ friends. Myrtle’s family and friends reaped the blessing of her cooking skills and made wonderful memories around a table filled with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cherry pie, or her incredible cinnamon rolls. Many of those great meals came from her bountiful garden, either fresh, frozen, or canned in her kitchen. She kept her mind sharp with word-find puzzles. Myrtle was an avid Kansas City Chiefs fan and never missed a radio broadcast of a Lamar Tiger Football game.      Survivors include her husband of nearly 70 years, Denzil, of the home; a daughter, Bev (Dan) Yokley, Neosho, Missouri; two sisters, Clara McMillen, Augusta, Kansas and Zella Mae Needham, Greenfield, Missouri; two granddaughters, Robin (John) Turner, Lamar and Crystal (Jamie) Franklin, Neosho; and four great-grandchildren, Gage Turner, Kassidy (Dylan) Inman, Brady Franklin and Brock Franklin.      The family will receive friends from 1:00 until 2:00 p.m. Saturday, January 20th, at Daniel Funeral Home followed by a committal service at Maple Grove Cemetery near Sylvania, Missouri.