Mattie Ellen Snead, 88, Harrisonville, Missouri, died Wednesday, August 12, 2015 at Golden Years Care Center in Harrisonville. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, August 21, 2015 at the Atkinson Funeral Home in Harrisonville, with visitation from 10:00-11:00 a.m. Burial will be in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Pleasant Hill, Missouri.

On May 19, 1927, in Butler, Missouri, Mary L. (McFeders) Gravette and Hubert Stewart became parents of twin daughters, Mary Lee and Mattie Ellen. Due to the illness of her mother, her older sister, Violetta, promised their mother that she would care for her younger sisters to adulthood. After their mother's death in 1932, Violetta and her husband, Felver Jackson, honored that promise. The family moved to Harrisonville where Mattie attended Prince Whipple School through the eighth grade. She attended high school in Sedalia, Missouri, Emporia, Kansas and Lincoln High School in Kansas City, Missouri. Mattie and Mary worked at Wolfermans in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Mattie married the love of her life, Winford T. Snead, on March 11, 1951. To this union four children were born, Brenda, Thomas, Teresa, and Karen. She was a member of the Berea Church of God in Christ in Harrisonville.

Mattie enjoyed her grandchildren very much. She also loved her ice cream! A few of her favorite things and memories for us all: Her love of cooking and the big Sunday dinners; her collection of thimbles (300+); and if you don't have something she crotched, how did she let you pass by that. After she was confined to her bed, she loved watching the birds out her window; a fighter she was to the very end, but always with a positive attitude.

Mattie was preceded in death by her husband, Winford T. Snead, her parents, sisters, Violetta Jackson, Dorothy Booze, Eujetta Smith, Ruth Allen, Eva Austin, her twin sister Mary Lee Stuart, and one brother, Loren David Stewart. She leaves behind, to celebrate her life, her children, Brenda Cooper (Steve), Thomas E. Snead (Machelle), Teresa Shobe (Keith), and Karen Ausmer (Wilson); 5 grandchildren, Corey Snead, Keiya Shobe, Tylleassa Shobe, Evelania Burns, and Mattie Snead; 5 great-grandchildren, Keyarah Shobe, Ava Snead, Tyson Snead, Destini Cooper, and Lyreciss Jacobs, and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.