Ruth M. Stevenson

Ruth Mae Stevenson went home to be with her Lord and Savior on June 19, 2024, at Luther Manor Retirement and Nursing Center in Hannibal, Missouri.

Funeral services will be Wednesday, June 26 at 11:00 a.m. at Arch United Methodist Church in Hannibal with visitation from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the service. Rev. Stacie Williams will officiate. Burial will follow at the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Hannibal.

Mrs. Stevenson was born June 17, 1923, at Wright City, Missouri, to Edmund F. and Myrtle Bailey Hollenbeck.

She was married to Joseph P. Stevenson at the home of her parents at Wright City on May 19, 1946. Her husband preceded her in death on April 18, 2012.

Survivors include two children: Linda Spaun and David Stevenson of Hannibal; two sisters-in-law, Mary Ann Hollenbeck and Ruby Stevenson; nephews Raymond Hollenbeck (Rhonda), Warren Stevenson (Dianna) and Kevin Stevenson (Susan); nieces Marie Hollenbeck, Diane Dreyer, Cheryl Wyatt (Jeff); Carol McGee (Richard), Mary Brooks and Barbara Langston (Richard); and many great and double great nieces and nephews.

In addition to her husband, Ruth was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers Otto Hollenbeck and Edmund H. Hollenbeck; two sisters-in-law Helen Hustedde and Mildred Hollenbeck; two brothers-in-law Henry Hustedde and Warren Stevenson, Sr.; a nephew William (Bill) Hollenbeck; her ""favorite son-in-law"" William Becker Spaun, Jr. and her beloved grandson William (Billy) B. Spaun, III.

Ruth attended a one room school, the Upper Charrette School, in Warren County, Missouri, for eight years where she developed ""a head for numbers."" She met her husband to be when he was the teacher at the Upper Charrette School later in the 1940's. Ruth graduated from Wright City High School in 1941.

From her high school graduation until her marriage, Ruth worked as a waitress, as a clerk in a general store, and as a defense worker making torpedo rings for the war effort at a factory in Warrenton, Missouri. She lived with her Aunt Lorena Bailey in California for a while where she worked in a bank in the San Francisco Bay area. After her marriage, in addition to her role as a farm wife, Ruth worked for the cafeteria system of the Wright City Public Schools, beginning as a cook and ending as an accountant.

After retirement, she and her husband and son enjoyed traveling by car around the United States, especially in the west.

Ruth and her husband Joe loved to square dance. They belonged to several square dance clubs in the Wright City area. They then joined clubs in the Hannibal area after moving here in 1983. Ruth also enjoyed being active in women's groups, such as the home economics clubs sponsored by the University of Missouri Extension Service, the WPFA (Women's Progressive Farming Association), and UMW (United Methodist Women). She was active in her churches both in Wright City and Hannibal, serving as treasurer and on the church council at the Immanuel United Church of Christ in Wright City.

Ruth was a good cook and liked to read cookbooks and try new recipes well into her 90s. She also had a ""green thumb"" raising large gardens of vegetables, which she canned and froze for her family, and her flower gardens were always well tended and beautiful. She shared her love of gardening with her grandson. They spent many happy times together as Billy took pictures of her flowers. Those flower photos are prized family art now.

Pallbearers will be Darren Armour, Joel Combs, Cory Combs, Michael Dreyer, Andrew Dreyer and Jason Fletcher.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Charrette Memorial Association, Jeff Wyatt Treasurer, 14461 State Highway M, Wright City MO 63390, for the restoration of gravestones in the historic Harmonie Cemetery at Wright City, or to Arch United Methodist Church, 56017 Ocean Wave Lane, Hannibal MO 63401. These contributions may also be made in care of Smith Funeral Home and Chapel.