Kansas native Elsie Mae Tierney, 85, passed peacefully on March 25, 2013 at the home of her daughter, Janet Wisner. Elsie Mae was born May 11, 1927 on a Kansas farm near Marquette, Kansas, to Edith Olsen and William Loder. She was the fourth of nine children. Elsie Mae graduated from Marquette High School in 1944, and always maintained ties with her family and with Marquette, attending family reunions in Marquette most every year. Elsie Mae left home at age 18 to become a nurse and attended nursing school in Hutchinson, Kansas and St Louis, Missouri with plans to serve as a nurse in World War II and travel to Alaska. Elsie Mae married Jim Tierney and raised six children. She was a loving mother, and nothing pleased her more than spending time with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Elsie Mae devoted herself to the profession of nursing for over fifty years - a perfect fit for her pure and compassionate heart and spirit. She worked in the first cardiac care unit at Kansas University Medical Center, and in various other capacities in hospitals and private duty nursing. Elsie Mae stayed true to her farming roots and loved gardening, working in the earth and nurturing plants. She loved animals and they adored her, from a stray dog named Doug who followed her back to the family farm as a girl, to her latest pet, Duchess, and many others in between. Elsie Mae is preceded in death by her husband, Jim, daughter, Teresa Fortune, grandson, Jacob Releford, brother, Arthur Loder, sister, Lola Jane Rohner, and brother, Don Loder. She is survived by five of her children, son, Michael Tierney, daughter Janet Wisner, son Tim Tierney, son Dan Tierney and daughter Shelly Charpentier, seventeen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, as well as five of her siblings, Leroy Loder, Robert Loder, Francis Loder, Leona Hudson and Clinton Loder. Funeral Service: 2:00 PM Thursday, March 28 at the Elim Lutheran Church in Marquette, Kansas with burial in the Marquette City Cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service on Thursday at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations may be made to the University of Kansas Cancer Center - Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion in care of the Roberson-Polley Chapel, 403 N. Hundley, Albany, MO 64402. Online Condolences: www.robersonpolleychapel.com