Former teacher Geraldine “Deannie” Massey Slosson, 97, passed away from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic kidney disease and congestive heart failure Sept. 23 at Pacific Care Center in Pacific.
Deannie, a resident of unincorporated St. Louis County, had been treated for pneumonia at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in Town and Country and had recently been transferred to PCC.
In 1928, Deannie was born to Huron V Massey and Rachel Mary FitzGerald Massey on the FitzGerald homestead in Clay County’s town of Holt. Deannie was a child of the Depression. She and her older sister, Esther, rode from the family farm (later named a Missouri Century Farm) in Kearney, Missouri, to school on their pony, "parking" him at a relative’s house. Old Dude would sometimes slip his bridle and return to the farm; in that event, the girls’ father would drive the buggy to pick them up.
As a farm girl active in the 4-H Club, she raised a flock of 99 ducks that got washed down Branch creek. Deannie joined the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), an offshoot of Presbyterianism, in 1938. As an adult, she had been a member of Florissant Valley Christian Church and, then, a member of Hamilton Christian Church in Creve Coeur from March 1988 until its closure in 2013. She also had also been a member of the Rebekah Lodge (ladies auxiliary of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows).
During World War Il, Deannie saw German and Italian prisoners of war working on farms in Liberty Bottoms near Liberty and planes flying low over the family farm.
In the summer of 1945, she worked for the U.S. Army Effects Bureau in Kansas City, Missouri, sending letters of condolence to families of deceased soldiers along with their personal effects.
A student at Central Missouri State College (now called the University of Central Missouri) in Warrensburg, Deannie was a member of Kappa Omicron Phi (home economics), Pi Kappa Sigma (social) and Alpha Phi Sigma (honorary) sororities.
As a sorority sister, Deannie competed in a beauty contest, judged by crooner Bing Crosby, and was named runner-up.
She took time off from her studies to care for her mother, who had been stricken with polio in 1949 before polio vaccines were created. Deannie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in home economics and education and a teaching certificate in 1951.
Although Deannie also taught sixth grade at Linden Elementary School in Clay County from March to May 1956, most of her teaching career was spent as a home-economics teacher. She taught at Pierce City High School from January to June 1951, Maysville High School from 1951 to 1953 and Northgate Junior High School in North Kansas City from September 1956 to May 1962. Deannie also designed the Home Economics Department during the construction of the Northgate school.
Married to Donald Wayne Atkins in 1951, Deannie would share truck-driving duties with him, transporting fruits and vegetables from California, during the summers while she was off from teaching. They divorced in 1959.
She married WWII veteran Robert Cyril Slosson in 1960. Bob’s job eventually brought the couple to St. Louis, where he worked as an aeronautical engineer for McDonnell Douglas Corporation. They were married for 45 years until his death in 2006.
After leaving full-time teaching to be a homemaker, she returned to teaching as a substitute teacher at the Berkeley, Riverview and Ferguson-Florissant school districts in St. Louis County during the 1974-1975 school year, including teaching at Cross Keys Middle School in Florissant.
From February 1985 to June 2003, Deannie was a van driver for the now defunct Care Cab Transportation in St. Louis, which shuttled mentally and physically disabled adults to and from workshops.
A longtime Wayne Newton fan, she ran into the singer at the 1982 Scottsdale, Arizona, Arabian Horse Show, where Newton embraced and kissed her. A photo of the two of them was a prized possession and was proudly displayed in Deannie’s home.
She was predeceased by her parents; her sister, Esther Massey Warren; and her niece Deborah “Debbie" Warren Marquardt as well as first cousin Keith Gabbert.
Deannie is survived by her daughter, Joy Denise Atkins-Miller (Vernon R. Miller) of Union; her son, Robert Evan Slosson (Andrea Wales) of St. Louis County; four grandchildren Talia Slosson (Joshua Harvey) of Lithia, Florida; Olivia Slosson (Dakota Henry) of Perth, Ontario, Canada; Marina Slosson and Garrett Slosson, both of St. Louis County; and two great-grandchildren Marlowe Harvey and Landis Harvey.
In addition, she also leaves a niece Alesia Warren Smallwood (Bill); a grandniece, Rachelle Gerstel (David); three grandnephews, Jason Marquardt (Valerie), Timothy Fowler and Justin Fowler (Abby); four great-grandnephews Logan Gerstel, Travis Gerstel, Dylan Marquardt and Lucas Fowler (Tim’s son); and a great-grandniece, Karlie Fowler (Tim’s daughter).
Deannie is also survived by first cousin Annette Claypool Irving Stopka and two first cousins once removed Candice Irving Crawford (Jordan) and Chelsea Irving Howard Phillips.
Services: The family will hold a visitation at the SCHRADER Funeral Home and Crematory, 14960 Manchester Road at Holloway, Ballwin, Wednesday, Oct. 1, from 4 to 8 p.m. Friends may sign the family’s online guestbook at Schrader.com.
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