Nina Jean Usery

Nina Jean Usery (nee Dishman) passed away on January 1, 2026, in Cuba, Missouri at the age of 92.

Born on Flag Day, June 14, 1933, in Buskirk Kentucky, Nina liked to point out that the flags flew in honor of her birthday every year and never missed a chance to remind people that she grew up in West By God, Virginia before her family moved to Oviedo, Florida in the mid-1940s. Early in her life Nina accepted Christ as her Savior and was a member of the Delhi Baptist Church.

As a teenager, she was involved in cheerleading and basketball. She met William “Bill” Usery in the course of her work at a citrus packing plant when he drove his long-haul truck in to pick up a load of oranges. The two married on April 4, 1954, and were married for 55 years. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

She raised five children—Katie Kell of Fulton, MO; Nancy Hoyle (John) of Tucson, AZ; Connie McPherson (Tom) of Cuba, MO; Tom Usery of Sullivan, MO; and Tim Usery (Dianna Coleman) of Sullivan, MO. She was the matriarch of a large and lively family that includes grandchildren Lori Meyers, Jason Kurtz, Kevin Sitzes, Casey Kingsley, Amy McPherson (Carlos Madrid), Kelly Williamson (Dean), Molly McPherson, Christopher Usery (Kimberly), Heather Usery, as well as twelve great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

She enjoyed shopping, especially for shoes and purses, and was always up for a girls’ trip with her daughters. She liked sitting on the porch, catching up on family news, and reading just about anything she could get her hands on. She had a sweet tooth that she satisfied with ice cream as often as she could. She often clipped articles and wrote down quotations that she wanted to remember, and these little slips of paper could be found tucked into books, slipped into picture frames, and hung on the refrigerator.

She was preceded in death by her husband Bill, her parents, “Charlie” and Isabel Dishman, her sister Georgia Malcom Lee (née Dishman) and husband Kenneth Malcolm, her brother Ott Dishman and his wife Edith, brother Jimmy Dishman (died in infancy), brother-in-law Don and his wife Catherine Usery, sisters-in-law Georgia Baggett and Delores Moody, and her grandson Aaron Kurtz.

Visitation will be held on Monday, January 5, 2026, from 11:00 a.m. until time of funeral service 1:00 p.m. at Mizell Funeral Home & Crematory with Pastor Joe Bruno, officiating.

Interment will follow at Kinder Cemetery, Cuba, Missouri.

The Mizell Funeral Home & Crematory is honored to be serving the family of Nina Jean Usery.