Ola Jean Feeney

Ola Jean Feeney of Springfield, Missouri, passed away peacefully from this life at the age of 93, in her home with her family surrounding her, on Saturday, February 21, 2026.

Ola Jean's story began when she was born to Herbert and Ida (Moody) Green on April 8th, 1932 somewhere out in the countryside near Oldfield, Missouri in a member of her family's house. Shortly after Ola Jean was born, her birth mother unexpectedly passed away and her father, who was a hard working farmer, was a bit overwhelmed raising 4 children all alone, so the decision was made to let Ola Jean go to be raised by Herbert's sister Maggie when Ola Jean was about 1-2 years old. Her bonus parents were Leroy (Daddy Roy) and Maggie Garrett. Ola Jean had 3 brothers, and one half brother & one half sister.

Ola Jean graduated from High School in Monett, Missouri where she played the snare drum on the drum team. She then attended 1 year of Junior college. In 1950 she met a handsome young man named Clarence Feeney, who agreed to go to church with her, IF she would agree to go out on a date with him in return. Apparently Clarence REALLY liked that church service, and perhaps he liked that sweet little red-headed girl just a little bit too, because shortly thereafter Clarence Edward Feeney decided he wanted to marry Miss Ola Jean Green. He had to ask her 4 times before she finally accepted his marriage proposal, and they were married in Monett Missouri on July 10th of 1951. A few short years later HE went on to become a Church of Christ minister and SHE became the preacher's wife. Ola Jean was a devout Christian, and the Church remained a very important staple in her life throughout its entirety. But that was just the beginning of Ola Jean's story and it did not end there because…

Over the years Ola Jean became a jack of all trades working at several part-time jobs in her lifetime starting at a dime store, a shoe factory, in the birthday card industry, as a flower & garden seed salesperson, she was a proud Mary Kay salesperson for a number of years, a home sunroom addition saleslady, and she also worked as the secretary for the many different churches she and Clarence attended, and served at, throughout the years. She proudly tried to spread the gospel by attending many campaigns for Christ across the U.S., and other foreign countries around the world.

She also enjoyed sewing quilts and making dresses for her kids, and crocheting lacy edges onto towels and pretty pillows, and doing many other different types of crafting. She dearly loved all her pet cats, and she would say each one of them was her absolute favorite whenever she was asked. She would sit outside for hours petting and loving on them all.

She LOVED singing in her lovely soprano voice to a'capela songs in church services, and she also sang every Sunday morning on the Living Word Program on TV for a number of years. At home, she'd continue her singing along with the radio or with albums, or she'd sing whatever song popped into her mind as she worked or went about her day. She was truly gifted with an absolutely beautiful singing voice.

By far, we believe she would tell you that her primary job and role was being a good loving Mother, and raising her 4 children well. She had 3 daughters… Bonita Saunders (deceased), Linda Barnett, and Deanna Chaffin, and 1 son Jon Feeney, all of whom kept her quite busy while she was raising them. She also had 9 grandchildren. Heather & April. Steve & Mark. Tyler, Jennifer, and Crystal. And Ryan & Lindsey. She also had 9 great grandchildren, several great- great grandkids, and many beloved Aunts, Uncles, Nieces, Nephews, and Cousins. They were all well loved, the children were thoroughly played with & spoiled rotten, they were sang to, and they were EXTREMELY WELL FED because Grandma Feeney was a great, GREAT cook. In fact, when all family members were asked to provide some of their best memories about Ola Jean, nearly every single child, right down to the littlest great grandchild remembered loving "Ma Feeney's homemade noodles." All of them said it. She would spend hours cutting the noodles, drying them on a counter, and then making them into huge pots of chicken and noodles to feed her family at all the holidays. Her buttermilk pies and coconut cream pies were also honorably mentioned as huge favorites by many in the family too.

Ola Jean was the glue of her family. She hosted the dozens of family members in her home for Thanksgiving, Christmas's, and on Easter Holidays in the little pink house, on the small cattle farm her and Clarence had bought together. On an average Easter, dozens and dozens of Eggs were hidden amongst the thousands and thousands of flowers they both planted, that dotted the entire yard. While collecting all the memories of Grandma Ola Jean, what we discovered was that she searched for some way to reach each of us and let us know how VERY special we ALL were to her. Her superpower was simply loving her family.

Part of Ola Jean's story was also being well known for her extremely friendly nature (she'd simply had never met a stranger.) Her quirkiness and fun loving spirit was amazing. You just could NOT but help loving Ola Jean Feeney, no matter who you were.

Ola Jean Feeney lived a great, long, beautiful storied life that was rich with love, laughter, family. She left a trail of joy and laughter in her wake, like magic, every time she walked through a room. That feeling of WARM SUNSHINE, and the LIGHT that she brought to everyone will be deeply, and profoundly missed by all of us left behind on this earth…

BUT… We still don't believe her story ends there either…

Because we believe she's still singing her big, beautiful heart out up there in Heaven, and we are also betting the Angels are getting a really big hoot out of knowing Ola Jean Feeney, just like we all did.

Arrangements are under the care of Greenlawn Funeral Home North.