Mary Jessie Meier

Mary J. Meier, 97, a longtime Gladstone, Missouri resident, passed away early Saturday, May 16, 2026. Friends and relatives are invited to visitation at 1 pm on May 29, 2026, at White Chapel Funeral Home, with a funeral service at 2 p.m.

Mary was the daughter of Joseph Guadalupe Olivarez and his wife, Feliz (Cruz) and was born November 4, 1928, in Wayne City, Missouri, near Sugar Creek along the Missouri River. She graduated from St. Mary’s Academy and held a variety of clerk positions before retiring from Kansas City Power & Light in the early 1990s.

Mary married Robert L. Mansur and the couple moved to the Northeast area of Kansas City. They moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, after Michael L. Mansur was born to the couple in 1956. Robert died in 1965 from heart damage resulting from a childhood illness. Mary and her son moved back to the Sugar Creek-Independence area.

Mary married Duane L. Meier after meeting at Kansas City Power & Light, where they worked. They married in 1969. After retirement, in the early 1990s, they travelled extensively, enjoyed their growing family and their home in Gladstone. Duane passed away in May 2012.

Mary was a resident of St. Anthony’s Senior Center in Kansas City for about five years. She enjoyed staff and residents there greatly. Her family members thank the center and its staff for their care and attention to Mary.

Mary was preceded in death by two brothers, John Olivarez and Robert Olivarez.

She leaves a third brother, Joe Olivarez (Jan); her son and his wife, Michael and Patricia Mansur of Kansas City, Missouri; granddaughters, Kathryn E. Snellen (Justin) and Claire Mansur Louzader (Thomas); grandson, Robert W. Mansur; and two great grandsons and one great granddaughter. She is survived by many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Many will long remember her and her baked goods, especially Angel food cakes, her accomplished sewing and holiday parties at her home.