Madeline Ann Cassen, 85, the youngest of 11 children of Robert and Anna Wheeler, was born Oct. 31, 1922, in Texas County. She died Jan. 9, 2008, at Willow Glen Nursing Home in San Jose, Calif., after suffering the effects of a stroke for the last two years.
Her mother died when she was only a few days old, and she was raised by her older sisters, brothers and father.
During her life, she had many roles: a school teacher during her younger years, a riveter during World War II and a sales clerk in a Kansas City department store before her marriage.
She moved to San Jose, Calif., around 1963 and lived in the same house in which she and her husband raised their children until she suffered a stroke.
She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, George, Jessie, Roscoe and Bill; and sisters, Gladys, Emma, Cora, Hortice, Irene and Wilma.
Surviving are two sons, Mark and Robert; a step-daughter, Melanie; four granddaughters and her overweight cat, Baby.
Services were Jan. 16 at the Evans Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Wesley Wallace officiating. Burial was in the Ozark Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Ozark Cemetery.
