Verla Lea Harlan passed away at 7:23 a.m. on Thursday, May 2, 2024, at North Care Hospice House in North Kansas City, MO, at the age of 100.
Funeral services are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at the First Christian Church in Trenton. Visitation will be held from 1:00 p.m. until the service time at the church. Open visitation will occur from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday at Resthaven Mortuary of Trenton. A private burial will take place at a later date in Resthaven Memorial Gardens of Trenton. Memorial donations are suggested to either the First Christian Church or North Care Hospice and may be left with or mailed to Slater Neal Funeral Home in Trenton.
Verla was born to Delmar Lee and Ocie (Turner) Shepard on August 11, 1923. She attended school in Mt. Moriah, MO. On March 28, 1942, she married Clifford Ray Clapham. They farmed and raised three children: Billy Conrad, Linda Lou, and Paul Douglas. Clifford passed away in 1978. Verla worked as a nurse’s aide at Wright Memorial Hospital. She enjoyed reading, playing cards, and crocheting. She volunteered at several places. On September 15, 1983, Verla married Ed Harlan, who passed away in 1991. Verla is survived by her children: Bill Clapham, Linda Lou Crowder and her husband Frank, and Paul Douglas Clapham and his wife Lynett; stepchildren Ron Harlan and his wife Vanda, and Cheryl Sanders and her husband Gary; brothers Noel Clifford Shepard and his wife Alice, Jimmy Roe Shepard, and Roger Shepard Cain and his wife Barbara; nine grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and several great-great-grandchildren.
Verla was preceded in death by three brothers: Walt, Charles, and Loren Shepard; three sisters: Ila Gail Lawson, Monice Averal, and Kay Smith; a grandson, a step-grandson, a niece, and a nephew.
