"All is well." These were the last words from Bishop William McKendree as he passed from this earth. He was the first American-born Methodist and Episcopal Bishop. All was well when a McKendree family descendant, Earlean McDaniel, passed peacefully at home on November 16, 2018.
Earlean Mayes McDaniel was born July 18, 1919 to Mary A. McKendree Mayes and Lawrence D. Mayes in Nashville, Tenn. She would grow to possess a simple grace and striking beauty.
She and her two sisters were children when the family moved to Indianapolis, Ind. As a young woman, she fudged her age to obtain a job at the Indianapolis Glove Factory. Unique at the time, the Glove Factory advertised pleasant working conditions and the employees were mostly women. She and other Hoosiers were part of the great civilian work force that assisted industry as they shifted to war materials production, rationing on the home front, and even growing a Victory garden. She met Leonard Cook McDaniel in Indianapolis and they were married in 1950. They resided in Crawfordsville, headquarters of McDaniel Freight Lines, with terminals in Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Lafayette, and Danville, Ill. They maintained farms in Crawfordsville and a home in Hollywood, Fla. After Leonard’s passing in 1978, she lived in Crawfordsville and Dunedin, Fla. Earlean enjoyed the study of antique furnishings and period styles, and owned an antiques business for 10 years. She resided with her daughter and son-in-law on Amelia Island, Fla. the last 12 years of her life.
She was preceded in death by her mother, father, and sister, Mildred O. McGuire of Indianapolis. Surviving is her daughter, Marla J. McDaniel (Gale W. Jameyson) of Amelia Island; sister, Helen L. Haltmeier of Denver; nieces, nephews, and Fritz the flying Dachshund.
She smiled, and typical of the greatest generation did little to no complaining. One of her favorite poems was Kindness: “I shall pass through this world but once. If, therefore, there be any Kindness I can show, Or any good thing I can do to any fellow creature, Let me do it now; Let me not defer or neglect it. For I shall not pass This way again.” (Stephen Grellet)
She and her family are very grateful for Community Hospice and Palliative Care, Baptist Medical Center Nassau, and Fernandina Fire and Rescue.
A family service will be held at a later date in Boswell, Ind., where she will be laid to rest next to her husband, surrounded by generations of McDaniels.
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Oxley-Heard Funeral Directors