May Francis Pulis, 90, of Ottumwa, died at 5:05 a.m. October 23, 2022 at Good Samaritan Society – Ottumwa.
She was born March 27, 1932 in Iowa Falls, IA to Earl Leon and Bessie Lee Graves Pulis. A life-long resident of Ottumwa, May graduated from OHS in 1949.
May began working in the Mechanical Depart. at John Morrell in 1949; remaining there until they closed in 1972. She was then employed by Omeco St. John from 1973 – 1976. In 1976 she began working for Hormel until their closing in 1987. May joined the Ottumwa Chamber of Commerce in 1988 and remained there until her retirement in 1997.
Surviving are nephews Steve (Sue) O’Brien of Agency, Lee (Joan) Pulis of Plymouth, MA, Spence (Le Ann) Byrum of Freeland, WA; nieces, JayAnn Pulis of Kansas City, MO and Marilyn (Dr. Tom) Jessen of Newton; great-nieces and great-nephews, Ashley (Jamie) Junis of Agency, Austin (Rachel) O’Brien of Runnels, Michael Pulis of Pinetop, AZ, Scott (Shannon) Pulis of Gilbert, AZ, Rali Pulis of Plymouth, MA, Ryan (Mel) Pulis of Hudson, OH, Melissa (Kendrick) Pulis-Wakenan, Tyler Pulis of Durham, NC, Zach Byrum of Whidbey Island, WA, Blake Byrum of Seattle, WA, Robbie Ann (Kevin) Fite of Stillwater, OK, Scott (Sarah) Boren of Oklahoma City, OK, Kristin (Jeff) Collum of West Des Moines and Blake (Julie) Jessen of Elkhorn, NE; and many great-great nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, 2 brothers, Earl and Russell and 3 sisters, Zouria Pulis, Betty O’Brien and Muriel Byrum.
Visitation will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 25th at Reece Funeral Home with the family present one hour prior to the service.
Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Wednesday, October 26th at Reece Funeral Home with Pastor Jeremy Skinner officiating. For those unable to attend, the service may be viewed on the Reece Funeral Home Facebook page. Burial will be in Memorial Lawn Cemetery.