Flossie Parke

(From Walnut Lawn Funeral Home)

Flossie Marie (Wright) Parke, aged 92, passed away November 5, three months after her beloved husband of 67 years, Nelson. They met when she was teaching in Weaubleau, Missouri, and got married at the First Baptist Church with her first graders as attendants.

If you are one of hundreds of lucky first graders who had Mrs. Parke teach you to read, chances are that you also like to read because she delighted in making her classroom a colorful place where books came alive. She lived to help children love to read for 30 years, beginning in Lewisburg when she was 18, before teachers were required to have a college degree.

Throughout her life, Flossie was an example of the woman who did it all, intensely multitasking before the word was ever coined. After she fell in love and had three children 18 months apart, all while still teaching first grade, she carpooled with three other teachers to Springfield an hour away to complete a four-year teaching degree. Then, Flossie went on to teach children to love to read in Willard, Carl Junction, Camdenton, and in four Springfield schools, Pepperdine, McGregor, Campbell, and Bowerman, where she retired.

Flossie’s talents didn’t extend only to the classroom. She loved to bake and made homemade bread every Saturday. If you taught with Flossie, or you were lucky to be one of her nieces, nephews, neighbors, or friends, you know about and loved Flossie Bread. She loved making it for you.

For many years, Flossie provided Sunday afternoon deliveries of altar flower arrangements to shut-ins and delivered meals to the bereaved. She was a member of the ladies’ Bible class and loved planning women's tea parties and preparing special little gifts for everyone she met.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Nelson; her father and mother, Clarence and Ruby Wright; her sister, Esther King; and her three brothers, Paul, John, and David Wright.

Flossie is survived by her three children and their families: Bradley, Diana, Stephen, Jason, Nicole, Jackson, and Reagan Parke, Springfield; Brent, Kay, Caroline, and Emily Parke, Texas; and Beth (Kevin), Joe, and John Hurst, Lawrenceburg. Flossie leaves many nieces and nephews who enjoyed a stick of gum in birthday cards for years.

A graveside service will be held at Butcher Cemetery near Weaubleau at a later date.

Care has been entrusted to Walnut Lawn Funeral Home DeGraffenreid-Wood Crematory.