Nora Ruth Mammen, age 93, of Springfield, MO, passed away on Sunday, March 1, 2020 while recuperating from the heart surgery that was going to give her many more years of playing pinochle and bridge at home with her friends.
A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, March 9, 2020 at Schweitzer United Methodist Church in Springfield, following a private family interment service at Missouri Veterans Cemetery, where she will be reunited with Howard Dudley Mammen, her beloved husband of 62 years.
Also, on Monday, March 9, there will be a visitation and reception—with lots of cookies, we hope—following the memorial service at Schweitzer. For anyone considering a memorial donation, Nora Ruth most appreciated the American Heart Association for its good work when Howard needed them and the Shriner’s Hospital in St. Louis for its life-enhancing treatment of her great-grandson Silas. Online condolences may be made at www.gormanscharpf.com.
Nora Ruth was born to Robert Emmet Kinnick and Mary Ruth (Snadon) Kinnick on December 17, 1926, in New York City, though she was always quick to point out that when she was two years-old they moved to Lockwood, Missouri, where she grew up. Nora Ruth was the second of four children, all of whom eventually preceded her in death: Jeane Thompson (Dave), Robert Kinnick (Martha), and John Kinnick (Nowetta).
An early graduate of Lockwood High School, Nora Ruth immediately returned to school, but this time for a two-year stint as the teacher of a nearby one-room schoolhouse where she began to hone her prodigious classroom management skills.
Nora Ruth and Howard married on July 12, 1946 and spent the first decade of their life together in Lockwood before moving to Springfield. They had three children: Derinda King (Hank), Derius Mammen (Adrienne), and Delisa Sims (Jerry).
A stay-at-home mother for many years, Nora Ruth believed that life was both sweet and short, so one should eat dessert first, which she often did in later life. Her entire Thanksgiving meal last year was hot apple pie a la mode. When her children were older, she went back to school and earned her teaching degree from Southwest Missouri State University, then spent 17 happy years teaching 2nd grade at Disney Elementary School.
Nora Ruth was an enthusiastic grandma to Todd King (Hope), Tiffany King (Gary), Megan (Mammen) Nicholson (Tracy), MacKenzie (Mammen) McKinney (Jon), Jordan Sims, Logan Sims, and Micah Sims (Hannah Beth) and an adoring GeGe to ten great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
In addition to her love of family and dessert, Nora Ruth was a fondly-connected lunch bunch friend, deeply competitive card player, dedicated bird watcher, and loyal fan of both the St. Louis Cardinals and LA Lakers. We are thrilled to report that the bluebirds came back this week to peek in her breakfast nook windows.
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