Mavis Jean Massey

Mavis Jean Massey, better known to her family and friends as “Jean,” was born on March 16th, 1935 in Jefferson City, Missouri to Charles Henry and Essie May Bell. Jean was raised in Arkansas with her three sisters, Virginia, Wanda, and Marion and spent her childhood raised in a Christian home there and graduated from Monette Highschool in 1953. Jean went home to be with the Lord while holding hands with her family at her residence in Hanford, California, August 16th, 2020. She was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt and friend and will be deeply missed.

Jean was hard working her entire life and was known for her great work ethic. She worked on the family farm in Arkansas as a child, she did factory work as a young adult in Indiana, and then raised her family while simultaneously doing office work in Lakewood, California. Later in her life she was a caretaker after she moved to Hanford, California where she lived about thirty years. Jean also loved cooking for her family and taking care of her grandchildren and she did so tirelessly and with great joy. Her meals are legendary and will be deeply missed. No one can cook chocolate rolls, mashed potatoes, hamburger soup, or chicken continental (often feeling she had not added enough thyme) quite like Grammy and she loved eating those chocolate rolls. Jean’s love for chocolate was well known and her family loved bringing her chocolate treats. One of Jean’s favorite memories with her family was seeing Buck Owens live in concert for her 70th birthday where Buck pointed her out as the birthday girl.

She was known for her devotion to her God and Creator. Toward the end of her life when she could no longer read her Bible, she listened to her speaking Bible daily. She could also recite Scripture with little effort and loved praying with and for her loved ones. This love for her Savior she passed on to her family.

Jean was preceded in death by her father and mother Charles and Essie Bell as well as her two older sisters, Virginia Cook and Wanda Hanson. Jean is survived by her husband of 63 years, Laborn Earnest Massey and her two daughters, Jeanna Davis and Christi Vigler as well as her youngest sister, Marion Smithee. Jean is also deeply cherished and remembered by her grandchildren Alaina and Travis Irwin, Timothy and Mallorie Davis, Davey Vigler, and Jacob Vigler as well her great grandchildren Caiden, Troy, and Trevor Irwin and Julia, Gabriella, and Timothy Davis.

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