Suella Jordan Mowery

Suella Jordan Mowery, 87, of Tamms, Illinois passed away peacefully at her home surrounded by family on Wednesday evening, March 27, 2019. She was born March 28, 1931 at home on a farm south of Elco to the late Eugene and Eulah (Greer) Jordan. Suella was the fourth of five children. As a child she walked to a one-room schoolhouse and helped on her family’s farm. Suella married Dale E. Mowery on June 2, 1948. They made their home on Valley View Farm where Dale was born, in a home they built, in 1953 before welcoming their only daughter Joyce. Married almost 70 years until Dale’s passing in May of 2018, their strong and faithful bond was apparent to all who knew the couple. Sue was a true partner in running Valley View Farms, farming alongside Dale, driving tractors, milking cows, raising a garden and taking food and drinks to the fields when needed. At the height of their farming operation the couple farmed over 1000 acres raising corn, soybeans, hay, and cattle. As a team, Dale and Sue were proud that Valley View Farms remained in the Mowery family and was designated an Illinois Centennial Farm in 1978 and an Illinois Sesquicentennial Farm in 2001. They farmed with a deep commitment to conservation practices and preserving the land for future generations. The Farm Bureau was an important part of Sue’s life. She was dedicated to serving agriculture through her leadership in multiple roles with the organization. Sue was only the second woman to serve as President of the Pulaski-Alexander County Farm Bureau Board. She was a member of the Illinois Farm Bureau women’s committee starting in 1979, its vice chairman from 1986 to 1990 and state women’s committee chairperson from 1990 to 1997. In January of 1993, Sue was named to the American Farm Bureau women’s committee, representing the Midwest Region. It was in this role that she traveled to Ukraine in the fall of 1994 to promote private enterprise and leadership among women in agriculture and agribusiness in the former Soviet country. In 2009 the Illinois Farm Bureau awarded Suella with the Eagle Award for Excellence in recognition of her lifelong dedication to agriculture. Locally she maintained her commitment to agriculture by serving on her county committee for the USDA Farm Service Agency and on Congressman Jerry Costello’s agriculture committee. Sue’s faith was an integral part of her life, and she attended church every Sunday. She was a dedicated member of her congregation at Beech Grove and later at Cross Road United Methodist Church. Throughout her life she served as a lay leader, song leader, Sunday School teacher, choir member and on a number of committees in her local church. She helped her church raise funds to merge and build their new facility in Ullin. It was important to her that her church family and community had a place to worship and gather. Suella was an avid seamstress, sewing her own clothes and those for her family. She enjoyed quilting and spent any spare time she had in her sewing area, working on quilts for family and friends. Loving survivors include her daughter, Joyce Crews and husband Mike of Jonesboro; granddaughter, Jordan Edmonds and husband Tyler of Anna; grandson, Matthew Smith of Tamms; great-grandchildren Trevor Smith, Adeline Edmonds and Graydon Edmonds; and many close nieces nephews and cousins who were dear to her heart. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents and her brothers Dean Jordan, Donald Jordan, Mildred (Jordan) Pierce and Martha (Jordan) Kaufman. Visitation for Suella Mowery will be from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. Sunday, March 31, 2019, at Cross Road Methodist Church in Ullin. Funeral Services will be at 3:00 p.m. at the Church with Rev. Alan Milligan officiating. Interment will be private at a later time at St. John’s Cemetery in Dongola. Memorials may be made to Cross Road Methodist Church. Envelopes will be available at the Church. Crain Funeral Home in Tamms is in charge of arrangements.

Suella Jordan Mowery

March 28, 1931 - March 27, 2019