Nancy Jean Skillings Buttry

Nancy Jean Skillings Buttry, a loving and joyful mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend, passed away on March 17, 2025, at age 81 in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

She was born on August 29, 1943, in Waynesville, Missouri, to parents Dr. Vernon Skillings and Zelma “Jackie” Abbott Skillings.

Nancy lived most of her life in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and Puxico, Missouri, where she graduated from Puxico High School in 1961. She married Larry Buttry in Dyersburg, Tennessee, on November 3, 1961, and they were married for 50 years until his death on October 9, 2012.

She loved music and the arts, and she studied both at Three Rivers Community College and Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO), where she graduated in 1977. She was a talented watercolor artist, and during her life she worked as an art teacher and volunteered at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum in Poplar Bluff.

Nancy was very involved in her church and local community. She was a long-time member of the Puxico First United Methodist Church, and she served faithfully as the pianist and organist for many years. She was an active member of the SEMO Sassy Lassies of the Red Hat Society, where her friends knew her as “Queen Mother Nancy.” As a sales representative for Avon, she passionately shared and delivered products to friends and neighbors for over 25 years. She also enjoyed playing cards and showing love to her cats.

Everyone who met Nancy noticed her friendliness and contagious joy. She never met a stranger, and she shared love, care, and laughs with everyone in her life.

Nancy is survived by her two sons and their spouses, Alan & Cheryl Buttry of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and Stephen & Valerie Buttry of Plano, Texas; five grandchildren, Joey Clark, Michelle & Joseph Massey, Robert Clark, Jacob Buttry, and Matthew Buttry; and six great-grandchildren, Ashton Clark, Kenzie Clark, Kennedy Clark, Grace Massey, Sam Massey, and Lilly Massey. Nancy was preceded in death by her parents, Dr. Vernon Skillings and Zelma “Jackie” Abbott Skillings, and by her husband, Larry Buttry.

A memorial service will be held at Watkins Funeral Home in Puxico, Missouri, on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at 12pm. Visitation will precede the service at 10am, and burial will follow the service at 1pm.

Alzheimer's Association: www.alz.org