James Espey

James Allison Espey, 101, Maryville, died Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at his home.

He was born December 30, 1922, to Ivan Allison and Helen Kate Powell Espey. He attended Scudder Rural School and graduated from Maryville High School in 1940. Following high school, he enrolled at the University of Missouri, pursuing a degree in agriculture. At MU, he was a member of the Farm House Fraternity.

When World War II started, he entered the United States Army and received training as a combat medic. His unit attached to General Patton’s Third Army at the Battle of the Bulge and continued with Patton’s forces through Belgium, France and Germany, until the war’s end, participating in the Gusen Camp liberation. He returned to the family farm following his service.

Mr. Espey was a lifelong farmer of Nodaway County. He spent his entire life on the same family acres and in the same family home where he was born, southwest of Maryville.

He enjoyed showing the hogs and cattle he had raised and was an exhibitor for many years at the American Royal Livestock Show in Kansas City. In 1934, the Missouri Shorthorn Breeders Association awarded him the Best Missouri Shorthorn Calf at the St. Joseph Calf Show.

Funeral services were Sunday, November 24 at the Bram Funeral Home, Maryville. The burial, with full military rites, was in Miriam Cemetery, also of Maryville.

Memorial contributions may be made to Toys for Tots of Nodaway County.

Online condolences may be left at bramfuneralhome.com.

Arrangements were under the direction of Bram Funeral Home.