Ottawa - Verna Lee Rivera, 80, passed away on Thursday, August 10, 2023, at her home in Ottawa, Kansas. She was born on July 4, 1943, in O'Kean, Arkansas, the daughter of Oscar and Martha (Pritchett) Johnson.

Verna had grown up in Arkansas and had lived most of her adult life in Kansas.

Verna had worked as a seamstress for the H.D. Lee company in Ottawa for more than 25 years until they closed. She then worked for Heartland Embroidery until her retirement.

Verna was married to Gale Wagoner. To this union three children were born, Raylene, Roy and Sherry. They divorced, but later remarried, and Verna took care of Gale while he battled cancer until his death on November 1, 2006. She later married George Rivera, but he preceded her in death shortly after they were married.

Verna was also preceded in death by her parents, Oscar and Martha; by her four brothers, Ronald Moore, Harold Moore, Jerry Johnson and Marvin Johnson; and by one sister, Teresa McEntire.

Verna is survived by her three children, Raylene (Steve) Brecheisen of Lyndon, Roy Wagoner (Sandra Gilliam) of Ottawa and Sherry (Bub) Cooper of Lincoln, Missouri; her one brother, Hulen Moore of Arkansas; her three sisters, Lillie Marie Keifer, Mary Jane Leach and Sharon Kay Forrester, all of Arkansas; her nine grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren.

Graveside services for Verna will be at 11:00am on Monday, August 14, at the Woodlawn Cemetery at Pomona, Kansas. Memorial contributions in memory of Verna may be made to St. Jude or Olathe Health Hospice Care, sent in care of Feltner Funeral Home, 818 Topeka Avenue, Lyndon, KS 66451.