Joe Altha Eunice Pledger (George) Obituary (1938 - 2022)

The family of Mrs. Joe Pledger invites you to attend services virtually by clicking on the link to Peaceful Rest Funeral Chapel's Facebook Page or YouTube Channel. Please find the links below. For Facebook Live Stream: https://www.facebook.com/watch/PeacefulRestFuneralChapel/?tab=home For YouTube Live Stream: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCYbQNKQcnh8lLyMK5DLQZQ?view_as=subscriber Well folks...Joe Altha Eunice (George) Pledger, aka-Mom/Grandma/Grams, ...whom we shall refer to heretofore and happily ever thereafter as "Grams", 'cause who are we kidding? Those little buggers were the ones who really mattered in her world anyway. At this point, I'm convinced that she had children (*John Anthony Pledger Sr., *Dennis Lee Pledger, and Gloria Jean Pledger) and grandchildren (John, *Toya, Shari, Darrick, Tarrell, Kita, Chris, and *Stacy) just to have great grandchildren (Jaason, Jaacob, Shekinah, Joshiah, Zakeyus, Jazmyn, Zohntrell, Darrick Jr., Alexis, Kira, Tarrell Jr., Daniel, Laiel, Kryslin, Kymberlin, KenaDe, Kaeden, and Keyleigh). But I digress... She finally closed out our tabs on September 1, 2022. I suppose she finally realized she was never going to collect that debt. If you've ever been a not-so-guest in her home and requested permission for, well...anything, then you know exactly what that means. For those of us who know it all too well--the grands, that is--mission accomplished. Tab evaded. The conversation usually went something like: Obnoxious grandchild who's only asking just to get a reaction from Grams: Grandma, can I have one of your Pepsi's? Grams: Sure. It's gonna cost you 50 cent. Grandchild: Ok, just put it on my tab...*with a Pepsi in our hands that's already half-gone. Now some of you read that list of names above, started clutching your pearls, and asking: Does the asterisk (*) mean what I think it means? Yep. Her loved ones who beat her to the finish line ("preceded her in death," for those who need the dignified obituary language). Seriously! It's an obituary. Do we really need to keep reading the word "deceased"? Just saying. And, aren't the names of spouses/in-laws supposed to be indicated by parenthesis? She didn't make that distinction, so I didn't bother. And if that sounds a little salty, don't worry, she already knew that's how we felt. Salty! While we're on the topic of those who beat her to the finish line, she got out-maneuvered by a few others as well: for starters, her husband--John Daniel Roosevelt Pledger, who I'm sure greeted her with a "Girl, you sure took your time; got me waiting almost 30 years", sons--John Anthony Pledger Sr. and Dennis Lee Pledger, siblings--Doris George-McDaniel, Lois George, Leon George, and Minor "Sonny" George, both parents, and two granddaughters--LaToya Danniece Pledger and Stacy Pledger, as stated earlier. And speaking of Stacy, who had selective hearing and "couldn't hear a word Grandma was saying" whenever Grandma got all up in her business, I bet she can "hear every word" she's saying now. But perhaps you, unlike Stacy who had to deal with Grams being all up in her business, only had the privilege of knowing her from a distance. Well, she was your typical little old lady--Keyleigh's words, not mine--who enjoyed typical little old lady stuff. You know? Going to church, cooking, going to church, sewing, time with the grands, going to church, and wrestling. I felt some of your eyebrow's furrow as you doubled back to read that sentence again. Yep! You were welcomed anytime, so long as you didn't get your feelings hurt when Grams disappeared come 7 o'clock on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. But don't worry, 'cause she still made her presence known as she yelled at John Cena from her recliner. And if you never thought you'd read the words "little old lady", "recliner" and "wrestling" in the same sentence, you're not alone; we're still trying to make it make sense, too. Yet, Grams managed to embody all of this. And for those reading this, still clutching those pearls, and thinking, "this is not obituary tone" you'd need only to have observed any of Grams conversations with her sister Liz or any of her daughters (daughter, granddaughters, and great granddaughters) to know that sarcasm and dry humor were her native tongue. Heck, she practically wrote this herself. And please note the emphasis on the daughter part. Those of us with a prefix in front of that word just took our cues from TeeTee (she retired "Gloria" about 45 years ago, thanks to Juhn). She taught us well. Seriously, it's impressive when you can say "yes ma'am" that somehow translates to "Mom, I'm grown. I've got this." Or, "You wanna do this or you want me to do it?" Shari, Kita, Stacy, and Kena are intimately familiar with the facial expression and tone that often accompanied this exchange between TeeTee and Grams. Lest anyone interpret this the wrong way, this was the playful banter that would come to characterize our shared family dynamic. Now about those grandsons... Y'all, this woman and her doggone grandsons! If you detect a rolling of the eyes and a lil' piece of attitude as I write these words, you'd be correct. Seriously! From TaRohn, whose picture still sits front and center above the TV where she yelled at John Cena, to Zohn who I think secretly still cried every time he left Grams' house, to Kaedabug who just knew he was the "man of the house" and Tarrell and Chris who somehow always had a cake waiting for them at the house...like seriously, somebody help me understand this! And suddenly this obituary just turned into a therapy session! Let me see if I can wrap this up. If you haven't figured it out by now, Grams lived an enormously full life, giving up a noble career in nursing in exchange for the noble life as a wife, mother, servant, and all-around caregiver--even helping to raise great grandchildren. If ever there was a woman who earned her promotion, it was her. So please join us in congratulating her on a job well done! Survivors: Children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren named above. Siblings: Maxine Morris (Center Ridge, AR); Elizabeth "Liz" Gibbs (Kansas City, KS); Felix (Annette) George (Kansas City, MO); Quitetta "Retta" (Lee "Bodie") Canady (Kansas City, MO); Randy (Linda) George (Kansas City, KS)