Rev. Dr. Thomas N Bass, 85, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri died Wednesday, August 10, 2022 at his residence.
He was well-known throughout the region as the "Bishop of Southeast Missouri" and served as a minister of the Presbyterian Church USA for 62 years.
Rev. Bass attended the Austin Theological Presbyterian Seminary, was ordained in 1962, and served churches in Clarkton, Parma, Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Perryville, Marble Hill and Dexter, Missouri before serving in Monroe, Iowa for five years. He started the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau and was pastor there for two years before taking a leave from the ministry to work for Carl Penzel Construction in building Interstate 55. He was pastor of Hunter Memorial Presbyterian Church in Sikeston, serving as Scoutmaster of the Sea Scouts and took the unit to competitions in Pensacola, FL, and the Naval Station in the Great Lakes, often bringing home first place.
In 1995, he married Mary Lou Walters, and served the First Presbyterian Church in Perryville and Brazeau, MO. He retired from the ministry in 2000 and began working for the Presbyterian Children's' Home in Farmington, MO. Realizing that his love for the ministry far outweighed his love for fund-raising, he served as Pulpit Supply in area churches, and finally in Dexter and Marble Hill. He Served there for 17 years and conducted services until three weeks before his death.
Tom was an excellent cross-stitcher and enjoyed working crossword and Sudoku puzzles and was always ready to help Mary Lou with her crafts. He loved Civil War history and loved to travel.
He was born September 7, 1936 to Linus and Helen Bass in Shreveport, LA. He was previously married to the late Mary Jo Ware. He and Mary Lou Bass were married on July 29, 1995, in Slidell, LA.
Survivors include sons; Ben (Alicia ) Bass of St Louis, MO, Darren (Kristen ) Walters of Overland Park, KS; Daughter, Kelley (Mike) Connors of Chaffee, MO; Eleven grandchildren; Erin (Jeremy ) Kilpatrick of Birmingham, AL, Matt (Bri) Bass of Atlanta, GA, Kelsey (Saje) Bird, and Sean Miller of Ogden, UT, Shannon (Tim) Ryan of Las Vegas, NV, Jared and Josh Pipkin of Nashville, TN, Teague Walters of Indianapolis, IN, Kaitlyn, Caden, and Megan Walters of Overland Park, KS; and six great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his first wife Mary Jo Ware; Daughter, Amy (Dennis) Miller; Brother, Robert Bass; and his parents.
Visitation will be 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Saturday, August 13, 2022 at Ford & Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel in Cape Girardeau Funeral Service will be at 4:00 pm Sunday, August 14, 2022 at Ford & Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel in Cape Girardeau with the Rev. Steve Moody officiating Burial will be at Cape County Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau August 22, 2022 at 11:00 am.
Memorial contributions may be given to Presbyterian Home in Farmington, MO or the charity of your choice.
Paul Edward( Pops) Slagley of Bloomfield Missouri, son of the late Truman and Oneida (Fasnacht) Slagley was born October 15, 1943 in Arcola, Illinois and passed from this life on August 13, 2022 in Sikeston, Missouri at the age of 78.
Paul lived around the Bloomfield area most of his life. He had also lived in East Saint Louis, Missouri and Centralia, Illinois. He was a retired truck driver, a former Mason and was of the Baptist Faith.
Paul is survived by two sons Richard Lee (Kathleen) Slagley of Dexter, Missouri, Jeffrey Wayne (Cindy) Slagley of Cape Girardeau, Missouri; two sisters Wanda Roberson of Marshall, Illinois; Vivian Kelly of Centralia, Illinois; six grandchildren; Megan Collier of Jackson, Missouri; Jenny Latham of Advance, Missouri; Alicia (Nick) Koehn of Fort Scott, Kansas; Tonya Kennedy of Dyersburg, Tennessee and Caleigh (Sam) Sulcer of Milan, Tennessee; six great grandchildren with one more on the way; A host of family and friends also survive.
Paul was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers Norman, Billy, Virgil and Vernon Slagely; two sisters Eldina Connely and Mary Blankenship; one grand-daughter Trisha Slagley.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, August 20, 2022 from 11 A.M. till 1 P.M. until the time of service at the Watkins And Sons Funeral Home in Bloomfield, Missouri.
Funeral service will be held Saturday, August 20, 2022 at 1 P.M. at the Watkins And Sons Funeral Home in Bloomfield, Missouri with Pastor Mike Lee of Bloomfield officiating.
Interment will follow at Gravel Hill Cemetery in Bloomfield, Missouri with Watkins And Sons Funeral Service of Dexter in charge of arrangements.
Bonnie Louise Curry of Morehouse, Missouri, daughter of the late Onus Edward Bruce and Vada Marie (Holman) Bruce born on July 14, 1941 in St. Louis, Missouri passed away on August 14, 2022 at her home in Morehouse, Missouri at the age of 81 years.
She lived in Stoddard County, Missouri for most of her life. She also resided in St. Louis, Missouri and Bowie, Arizona. Bonnie's home church was First Oneness Church in Morehouse, Missouri. Bonnie's hobbies were sewing, cooking, gardening and planting flowers as well as spending time with her grandkids.
Bonnie married Kenneth Charles Curry on October 11, 1958 in Salcedo, Missouri.
Bonnie is survived by two daughters Donna Kay (Dennis) Ledbetter of Mitchell, Indiana, Carol Ann Curry of Morehouse, Missouri; two sons David Lee Curry of Atlanta, Georgia, Allin Bradley Curry of Sikeston, Missouri; fourteen grandchildren; fifteen great grandchildren plus one more on the way; ten great great grandchildren plus one on the way; one sister Wanda Jean McClure of Bernie, Missouri; two brothers Donald Walter Bruce of Bloomfield, Missouri, Ronald James (Tim) Bruce of Bloomfield, Missouri. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband; one son Kenneth Charles Curry, Jr.; one brother John Wayne Bruce. A host of family and friends also survive.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 17, 2022 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Bloomfield, Missouri.
Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. at the Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Bloomfield, Missouri with Brother James Vent of Morehouse, Missouri officiating and Watkins and Sons Funeral Home of Bloomfield in charge of all arrangements.
Interment will be held at the Bloomfield Cemetery in Bloomfield, Missouri.
Kay White, daughter of the late William Orin Phillips and Helen McCain Phillips, was born on April 19, 1947, in Malden, Missouri, and departed this life on August 15, 2022, at her residence in Bloomfield, Missouri, at the age of 75 years.
Mrs. White was the former owner of the Junk & Stuff at the Bell City Junction, she was a former bus driver for Advance Public Schools in Advance, Missouri, and she enjoyed collecting antiques
She was united in marriage to her high school sweetheart, Charles White. Mr. White survives of their home in Bloomfield.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by two sons, Lance White and wife Mary Jane of St. Genevieve, Missouri, and Chance White and wife Amy of Benton, Missouri; by three grandchildren, Ayden, Truman, and Tennyson; and by her sister, Judy Kirby of Dexter, Missouri.
Other than by her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother, Bruce Phillips.
No services are planned.
Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter is assisting with arrangements.
Bonnie Jo Meritt was born in Charter Oak, Missouri, on May 10, 1926, to Terry Cunningham “T. C.” Faughn and Mary Magdalene “Maggie” Ralph Faughn. She passed from this life on August 12, 2022, while in the tender loving care of the folks at Winchester Assisted Living in Bernie. She had resided there and at Central Gardens in Dexter for several years, after having moved from her own home in Dexter.
She joins her beloved husband Roy “Poss” Meritt, who died in 1969. Bonnie will be laid to rest at his side in the Dexter Cemetery. In addition to her parents, she also rejoins brothers Mendel Sexton, John Faughn, and Philip Faughn, along with her sister, Glenadair “Lady” Gromer. Only one sister, Betty Overbey of Turlock, CA, survives to remember how the Faughn family, like many others, survived the Great Depression and World War II as hardscrabble sharecroppers to become known later as the “Greatest Generation.” For much of that time, the Faughns lived in a cabin on the Floodway “ditch dump,” barely surviving yet always thriving on grueling work and through extraordinary resourcefulness.
Bonnie and her siblings had to carefully walk over the Floodway’s railroad trestle on their way to attend school in Charter Oak, with the youngest child always being carried on the shoulders of the eldest. Upon earning her eighth grade diploma, Bonnie went on to graduate from Gray Ridge High School with the Class of 1946. That summer, she and “Poss” settled into married life, while she completed two college courses that would enable her to begin her teaching career at West Charter Oak, where she taught the ABCs,123s, geography, science, history, music, art, and physical education to children in Grades 1-8. Throughout those years, she also found time to direct countless plays, raise funds at box suppers, and organize sporting events for her students. All this time, she continued her own education through college classes at night and during summer sessions.
During the consolidation of the county schools in the 1950s, Mrs. Meritt was reassigned to the elementary building at Gray Ridge, where she taught third grade. When the Gray Ridge and Essex school districts became Richland R-1 in the early 1960s, she moved her classroom to the new campus located between the two communities. In 1966, she earned her long-sought B. S. in Education from Arkansas State and continued to work at Richland until her retirement in 1988 after 42 years as a teacher. During her long career, she also taught night classes for adults who were seeking to further their education and earn diplomas. Like all elementary teachers, Mrs. Meritt received lots of presents from her students throughout the years, delighting in each gift and proudly displaying them for all to see. Some of these gifts were costly, some not, but it was a slightly-wilted flower picked by a little boy and planted in a tin can decorated in foil that she would fondly recall long after that boy had grown to be a man. Although Bonnie was never blessed with children of her own, she considered her students to be hers, enjoying their visits and taking immense pride in their accomplishments.
After her husband’s death, she moved from Gray Ridge to Essex and then to Dexter, making friends of neighbors and enjoying decorating each of her houses and yards along the way. Always known as a “snappy” dresser in her stylish clothing and high heels, she liked her “paint and powder.” Bonnie leaves a much-loved group of nieces and nephews including Linda Dowdy of Dexter, John “Skip” Faughn of Lake Havasu, AZ; Keith Overbey of Grass Valley, CA; Terry Gromer of Malden; and Carrie Hines of Turlock, CA. Known as “Aunt Jew Jew” to this group, she played an important role in their lives and cherished each of them, their children, and their children’s children.
For the last decades of her life, Bonnie was blessed with the devotion of Dr. Leslie Williams, who provided her with love and companionship every day until his death in 2021. Her family wishes to thank each and every one of the folks at Central Gardens, Winchester Assisted Living and Elara Caring Hospice, who provided her with outstanding TLC during the last few years and up until the final moments of her long life. She would want you to know that your work is important and much-appreciated.
A gathering of friends and friends will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, August 16, at Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter. The service will follow at 10 a.m. with Rev. Gary Gilbert officiating.
