On April 12, 1927, a bright spring day, a little blonde haired, blue eyed baby girl was born to Joseph Forrest and Goldie Lenora (Underwood) McNeece in Johnson County, Missouri. Jo Anna was the youngest of six children. On July 9, she left her earthly home to rejoin her husband and family.

Jo Anna spent most of her life in the Columbus area of Johnson County, Missouri. She attended several different one room schools, riding a horse or mule to school every day. For a short time, she attended school in Jefferson City, Missouri, when her parents relocated after her father took a job as a guard at the state penitentiary. After returning to the Warrensburg, Missouri, area, Jo Anna graduated from College High School in 1945.

While working at the corner drugstore after graduation, she met the love of her life, Rolla William Marr. One of her classmates, Arthur Marr, introduced her to his dashing older brother who had just returned from World War II. It was love at first sight and they married a few months later on November 3, 1945. They lived for a short time in the Chilhowee, Missouri and Warrensburg areas before returning to Columbus. In 1975, they returned to Warrensburg. Jo Anna moved to Blue Springs, Missouri in 2016 to be closer to her oldest daughter, Leslie, and her husband, Bill.

Over the years, Jo Anna held several different jobs. In the early 1950s, she and Rolla worked at the Lake City Ammunition plant in Independence, Missouri. She worked at the Unifemme factory in Warrensburg for several years as a uniform inspector. Jo Anna's last job, her favorite, was in the cataloging department of the Ward Edwards Library on the campus of Central Missouri State University, now known as the James C. Kirkpatrick Library at the University of Central Missouri. She retired from the library in 1992.

Jo Anna loved spending as much time as possible with her family. An avid reader, she also enjoyed shopping, walking, working in her yard and tending to her flowers. She collected cardinals, antique cruets and dearly loved the cat companions she shared her home with throughout the years.

Jo Anna was preceded in death by her parents, beloved husband, Rolla, brothers Forrest Julian and John Robert McNeece, sister Lucile Marie Clifton, sisters Mayfair and Mable Florence, both of whom died at birth and son-in-law Bill Arbuckle.

She is survived by her daughters, Leslie Ann Arbuckle of Blue Springs and Meredith Linn Thompson and her husband, George Mason, of Wichita, Kansas, two former sons-in-law, Kenneth Wilson Fowler of Warrensburg and William Roger Thompson of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and sisters-in-law Shirley Jones, Betty Marr and Joan Marr, all of Warrensburg, as well as many nieces, nephews and special friends.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, July 17 at Sweeney-Phillips and Holdren Funeral Home, Warrensburg. Visitation will be at 1:00 p.m. followed by the service at 2:00 p.m. Interment will be at the Columbus Christian Church Cemetery, State Highway M, following the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Warrensburg Animal Rescue and can be left in care of the funeral home.