Lenna Faye Vance (nee Jennings) passed peacefully on May 16, 2025 just shy of 98 years. Lenna was born on June 3, 1927 near Alanthus Grove in Gentry County, Missouri to Lester Ambrose and Lenna Alverda Jennings. Lenna married Clifford Manley Vance in 1947, a dashing young soldier returning from WWII. Manley and Lenna had three daughters, Vicki Lyn, Valeri Jo, and Karen Annette, whom they raised in a family filled with unconditional love, encouragement, and patience. Helga Maria Futter, joined the family as a foreign exchange student from Austria in 1973, and has remained a loving daughter throughout the years. Sensory memories of their childhood are filled with the aroma of baking bread, pies, and the sound of the piano.
Lenna’s love for learning began in a one room schoolhouse, to which she arrived on her horse, Tony. After moving to Liberty, she earned an undergraduate degree in education from William Jewell College and a Master’s degree in Library Science from Central Missouri State College in Warrensburg. She taught primary grades in the Liberty Public Schools and retired as an elementary school librarian. Her love of books and reading was passed on to countless young children. In addition, her gentle spirit and boundless love was shared with and known by a myriad of campers through Manley and Lenna’s time as directors of a summer camp.
Lenna was an active member of the Liberty Christian Church throughout their time in Liberty.
Lenna was preceded in death by her husband, Manley, in 2006; daughter Vicki in 2020; and granddaughter Elise Simpson Lane in 1990; and was the last surviving sibling of the seven Jennings children.
Lenna is survived by daughters Valeri Lane of Sedalia, and Karen Vance (John Ashton) of Westcliffe, Colorado; three grandsons, Joshua Manley Ellis of Cotopaxi, Colorado, Dylan Cody Lane of Westminster, Colorado, and Nathan Daniel Johnson of St. Joseph, Missouri; as well as three great-grandchildren, Elliot and Evan Vance Lane, and April Johnson.
Visitation is scheduled for Thursday evening, May 22, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Church Archer Pasley funeral home, 119 East Franklin Street, Liberty, Missouri. Services will be held at Liberty Christian Church, 427 East Kansas Street at 10:30 Friday morning, May 23. Graveside services will be held at Empire Prairie Cemetery in Andrew County, Missouri, near King City, at 2:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the elementary libraries of the Liberty Public Schools.
The family would like to thank the caregivers and staff at E. W. Thompson Health and Rehabilitation St. Croix Hospice for their kindness and caring approach to our mother.
Please visit ChurchArcherPasley.com for more information or to leave condolences, as arrangements are under the direction of Church Archer Pasley Funeral Home, 816-781-2000.
