Mary Lou Purvis Collins Sheets, 81

Mary Lou Purvis Collins Sheets, 81, of North P latte, p assed a way O ctober 1 0 a t her home in North Platte.

Mary, the daughter of Alfred and Bessie (McDaniel) Purvis, was born June 1, 1944, in Ainsworth.

On F ebruary 3 , 1 960, s he m arried Franklin D. Collins, and to this union, six children were born: Eileen, Cindy, Franklin, Sidney, Nathan, and Iva. On March 13, 1980, Mary married James R. Sheets, and to this union, two children were born: Lester and Warren.

Mary grew up and attended school in Ainsworth. Her summers and holiday vacations were some of her most cherished memories, as she shared how blessed she was to spend the time on her grandparents' farm outside of Johnstown. She graduated nursing school as an LPN in 1977. She lived in Deadwood, S.D. for 13 years after retirement, and then moved back to North Platte. A natural caregiver, she channeled her n urturing s pirit i nto b oth her nursing career a nd h er r ole a s the world’s best mom. She loved elephants, plants and flowers, reminiscing and story telling. She absolutely loved babies and her family was her whole world.

Mary was preceded in death by her grandparents, Jess and Iva McDaniel; her parents; her husbands; her daughter Cindy Lou; one grandson, Jordan Collins; and two sisters, Carol (Bill) Ristov, and Kay Spegel.

Those left to cherish her memory are her brother, Jed Purvis of Lehigh Acres, Fla.; daughters Eileen Olson of Chadron; Iva (Wayne) Busboom o f North P latte; s ons S id ( Vicki) C ollins o f N orth P latte, Franklin (Penny) Collins of Long Pine, Nathan (Sasha) Collins of North Platte, Lester (Karie) Sheets of North Platte, Warren (Kelli) Sheets of North Platte; 16 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; one great-great grandchild; and many nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be directed to the Shriner's Crippled Children's Fund or PreBorn ministries.

A celebration of life will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, November 1, at the Berean Garage Cafe, located at 711 N. Vine St. in North Platte.