Mary Ruth Landers, 91

Services for Mary Ruth McDonald Landers were held Jan. 4, 2016, at the Gainesville First Christian Church. Mrs. Landers died Dec. 31, 2015, at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

She was born Oct. 30, 1924, in Gainesville, the daughter of Alva and Delphia Martin McDonald. She was a descendant of some of the earliest settlers of the Ozarks.

Although she sometimes lived away from Ozark County, her heart was always here. All her life she was known to family and friends as "Punkin" due to her birth occurring near Halloween. On Dec. 17, 1940, when she was a 16-year-old senior at Gainesville High School, she married R.G. Landers in Mountain Home, Arkansas. After the wedding, the newlyweds both went back to their parents' homes.

Later R. G. returned to his factory job in Detroit. Mrs. Landers joined him there after graduation, and for a while she too was employed in one of the factories there – as a riveter in an aircraft manufacturing line. Later they moved back home to Ozark County and settled on a farm on Lick Creek. After a fire destroyed their small frame house, they moved to a house on High Street in Gainesville across from her parents.

Her life revolved around her family and friends. When her three children were all in school, she followed them there, working as a cook at Gainesville High School, where she and the other mom-cooks served real meals like those from home. In 1959, the Landerses moved to a house on Highway 5 south, and later they moved to a home on their cattle farm near Mammoth. In 2004, when her husband's health failed and he was moved to the Raymore Health Care Center in Raymore, Mrs. Landers moved there too, living near two of her children in that area. She cared for her husband until he died in 2005 from Parkinson's disease.

After her daughter Debbie's retirement, Mrs. Landers moved with Debbie to St. Charles. Although she sometimes lived far away, Mrs. Landers' heart and spirit never left her beloved Gainesville and Ozark County. She kept in touch with her many friends here and came home to visit at every opportunity. She never forgot a birthday or a friend who was going through illness or loss. Cards, phone calls and attendance at funerals were always a priority for her. In recent years, she sent birthday and Christmas cards early and then would call the recipient to be sure the card had arrived. She was always concerned about the welfare of others.

She was a great source of family history, always remembering who was related and how. Hootin an Hollarin was her favorite time to catch up on all the goings-on. Her 90th birthday was celebrated in 2014 with a surprise party at the Ozark County Historium, which now occupies the building her father Alva McDonald once operated as a general store.

Mrs. Landers loved life and everyone she knew. Her favorite foods were pinto beans, cornbread, chicken and dumplins, chocolate pie and Coca-Cola. She was a great cook and served the family many meals with a special dish for everyone. She was happiest when she and her family gathered. She was a lifelong Christian and a member of the Gainesville Christian Church. She made sure her children attended church and Sunday school every week and that they became Christians themselves. She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.

Survivors include her son Stacy Landers and wife Linda of New Haven; daughters Deborah Ann Landers of St. Charles, and Mary Gay Oxley and husband Ray of Texarkana, Arkansas; grandchildren Christopher Newton and wife Bonnie of St. Charles, and Shannan Robinson and husband Andy of Washington, Missouri; six great-grandchildren, Violet Newton, Wyatt Newton, Macy Robinson, Olivia Robinson, Kailey Robinson and Paige Robinson; brother-in-law Benton Breeding of Gainesville; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, R. G.; sisters Alma Luna, Beulah "Toots" Carter, Genelle Breeding; and one brother, Mearl McDonald.

Burial was in the Gainesville Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to First Christian Church or the Gainesville Cemetery. Clinkingbeard Funeral Home, directors