Melissa Renee Speer Jackson

Melissa Renee Speer Jackson, age 32, a resident of Fort Scott, died Thursday, July 10, 2008, at the Mercy Health Center Emergency Room. She was born Dec. 12, 1975, in Midwest City, Okla., the daughter of Johnny Kenneth Speer Sr. and Pamela Kay Cooper Speer. Melissa was a 1994 graduate of the Uniontown High School. She had worked as a clerk for various convenience stores as well as in the restaurant of the Fort Scott Sale Barn. She attended the Bethel Community Church.

Survivors include her parents, John and Pam Speer, of Redfield, Kan.; two brothers, Jeff Swink, of Redfield, Kan., and John Speer Jr., Fort Scott, Kan.; two sisters, Kim Speer, of Redfield, Kan., and Kathi Hall, of Fort Scott. Also maternal grandparents are, Tom and Betty Cooper, of Richards, Mo., paternal grandmother, Janice Cowan, Webb City, Mo., and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by a daughter, Laura Kay Jackson, a brother, Michael Speer, and paternal grandfathers, Charles Speer and Raymond Cowan.

Following cremation, a private family graveside service will be held at the Woods Cemetery near Redfield. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, July 14, at the Cheney Witt Memorial Chapel. Memorials are suggested to the Melissa Speer Jackson Memorial Fund and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, P.O. Box 347, Fort Scott, KS 66701. Words of sympathy may be e-mailed to the family at condolences@cheneywitt.com.