In Memoriam

Keith Jennings Keith Jennings, 79, of New Franklin passed away unexpectedly August 25, 2020, at his home in New Franklin. Funeral services were August 29 at the Immanuel United Church of Christ with Rev. Tim Fairley officiating. Burial followed in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.

Keith was born October 22, 1940, in Fayette, Mo., the son of Oscar C. Jennings and Marvel Struchtemeyer Jennings. He was a lifelong resident of New Franklin and a pillar of the community.

He attended Central Methodist University, where he continued his basketball career and fell in love with Carol Sue Harper. They were married during Spring Break of 1964 at the Immanuel United Church of Christ in New Franklin.

He finished his degree in secondary education and went on to teach and coach at Malta Bend schools. While at Malta Bend, he coached boys and girls baseball/softball and basketball and track and drove a school bus. Although he was there only three years, the students he impacted continued to reach out to him throughout his life. In 1968, his father convinced him to come back to New Franklin and join him at the New Franklin Locker Plant.

Keith’s ambitions led to several expansions of the plant in order to offer retail and wholesale services along with custom processing. In December of 1992, the plant burned and was a total loss. True to his character, Keith was determined to rebuild in New Franklin, and with the help of the plant’s staff and community, the plant was rebuilt as Jennings Premium Meats. Keith retired in 2006, but he continued to be ever-present at the plant, gladly lending a hand whenever help was needed. For those who knew Keith, he was always busy, whether coaching multiple youth baseball or softball teams, working in his yard, or walking his beloved dog, Oliver. Throughout his life, he was an active participant in the New Franklin community. He served as president of the New Franklin Businessmen’s Association and was instrumental in the first Santa Fe Trail Days. He served numerous terms on the UCC Church Council and was a long-term member of the New Franklin School Board. He was also active in the meat processing industry serving as President of the Missouri Association of Meat Processors in 1980 and inducted in the Missouri Association of Meat Processors Hall of Fame in 1996. Keith is survived by his wife, Sue, of the home, son, Jason (Stephanie) Jennings of New Franklin, and daughter, Reachel (Doug) Beichley of Prairie Village, KS. He will be dearly missed by his grandsons, Grant Beichley, and Tyler Jennings.

Everett D. Johnson Everett D. Johnson ’86, a former Central Methodist football player, passed away Friday, October 30, 2020. Visitation and services were Monday, November 9, 2020, at Layne Renaissance Chapel in St. Louis. He will be cremated.

1940s Marian March Kuster ‘43 of Jefferson City, Mo., died May 23, 2020. Stanley K. Thurston Jr. ‘44 of Virginia Beach, Va., died Apr. 3, 2020. Eva L. Hensley Steger ‘47 of Urbana, Ill., died Oct. 27, 2020. Helen L. Johnson Matkins ‘48 of Meadville, Mo., died Oct. 30, 2020. Patricia N. Sasse Kirby ‘48 of Columbia, Mo., died Oct. 15, 2020. Mary Emily Story ‘48 of Dodd City, Tex., died Apr. 19, 2020. Nora Hebel Brizendine ‘49 of Jefferson City, Mo., died Aug. 28, 2020. Gerald M. Hoxworth ‘49 of Pasadena, Calif., died Jul. 8, 2020. Ralph E. Knowles Jr. ‘49 of Pensacola, Fla., died Jul. 18, 2020.

1950s Margaret Rich Cook ‘50 of Wilmington, N.C., died Apr. 6, 2020. Robert L. Sears ‘50 of Fennville, Mich., died Oct. 18, 2020. Mary E. Brady Smith ‘50 of Ozark, Mo., died Sep. 16, 2020. Marshall William Gillette ‘50 of Middletown, R.I., died Aug. 24, 2020. Mary E. Brady Smith ‘50 of Ozark, Mo., died Sep. 16, 2020. Rosemary Vineyard Richardson ‘51 of Desloge, Mo., died Apr. 3, 2020. Dorothy Storer Schnell ‘51 of Fayette, Mo., died Aug. 29, 2020. Robert Edward Swafford ‘51 of Richmond, Mo., died Apr. 27, 2020. James Lanier Byrd III ‘52 of Charleston, Mo., died Oct. 9, 2020. Doris Wilkerson Viertel ‘52 of Boonville, Mo., died Oct. 31, 2020. Robert R. Zahnweh ‘52 of Kirkwood, Mo., died Jul. 16, 2020. Cleo Robert Colville ‘53 of Amazonia, Mo., died Oct. 11, 2020. Robert L. Hemmerla ‘53 of Wentzville, Mo., died Jul. 1, 2020. Lloyd Oliver Summers ‘53 of Huntsville, Mo., died Sep. 12, 2020. Eugene Joseph Westhues ‘53 of Jefferson City, Mo., died May 15, 2020. Velma Fae Ragsdle Felt ‘54 of Saint Charles, Mo., died May 17, 2020. Paula Moore Ludwick ‘54 of Kahoka, Mo., died May 1, 2020. Barbara A. Steele Bregant ‘55 of Manchester, Mo., died Sep. 18, 2020. Mary Lu Graves ‘55 of Wellman, Iowa, died Apr. 29, 2020. Henrietta June Marshall ‘55 of Pilot Grove, Mo., died Aug. 13, 2020. Lorene Joan Tappmeyer ‘55 of Owensville, Mo., died Aug. 19, 2020. Donald K. Lemon ‘56 of Tampa, Fla., died Jun. 22, 2020. Alvin Lee Mershon ‘56 of Kansas City, Mo., died Apr. 25, 2020. Robert D. Hunsaker ‘57 of Gainesville, Fla. ,died May 5, 2020. C. Alan Brueggemann ‘59 of St. Louis, Mo., died Aug. 19, 2020.

1960s Daniel R. Omer ‘60 of Jefferson City, Mo., died Sep. 22, 2020. Patricia R Burdick Falkenrath ‘61 of Rolla, Mo., died Jun. 6, 2020. Barbara Madden Wright ‘61 of Tulsa, Okla., died Jun. 3, 2020. Kenneth Paul Heltibrand ‘62 of Union, Mo., died Aug. 17, 2020. William Paul Totty ‘62 of Independence, Mo., died May 13, 2020. James Eric Haddock ‘63 of Neosho, Mo., died Apr. 17, 2020. Leslie Ray Grimes ‘65 of O’Fallon, Mo., died Oct. 10, 2020. Keith Jennings ‘65 of New Franklin, Mo., died Aug. 25, 2020. Larry Leo Buck ‘68 of Saint Joseph, Mo., died Jun. 24, 2020. Larry K. Duren ‘68 of Great Falls, Mont., died Jul. 20, 2020. Connie Heimsch Orear ‘68 of High Ridge, Mo., died Apr. 10, 2020. Thomas J. Hopkins Jr. ‘69 of Russellville, Mo., died Jun. 21, 2020.

1970s Muriel Frances Caldwell ‘70 of Columbia, Mo., died Jul. 14, 2020. Thomas W. Kimberlin ‘70 of St. Louis, Mo., died Oct. 5, 2020. John McElyea Nash III ‘71 of Seguin, Tex., died Aug. 8, 2020. M. E. Bartholomees ‘72 of Overland Park, Kan., died Jul. 22, 2020. Levern Gaskins Jr. ‘72 of Bridgeport, Conn., died Oct. 19, 2020.

1980s Cynthia Moon Garrett ‘80 of Fayette, Mo., died Aug. 17, 2020. Henry G. Steinbrenner ‘81 of Tampa, Fla., died Apr. 14, 2020. Karen A. Marshall ‘82 of Angola, Ind., died Jun. 17, 2020. David P. Springmeyer ‘86 of Blue Springs, Mo., died Jun. 30, 2020.

1990s Anton J. Gerke ‘92 of Brunswick, Mo., died Oct. 17, 2020. Vicki Kahler Spence ‘93 of Brunswick, Mo., died Jun. 18, 2020. Marilyn Eloise Fry Hurt ‘94 of Salisbury, Mo., died Jul. 27, 2020. Cristina Lynn Nelson ‘98 of Boonville, Mo., died Apr. 9, 2020. Shawn Douglas Sanders ‘98 of Fayette, Mo., died May 8, 2020.

2000s Tammy Jean Fischwick ‘00 of Union, Mo., died Jul. 25, 2020. Jeremy Lynn Hodges ‘08 of Jefferson City, Mo., died Apr. 22, 2020.

2010s Karen K. Strait ‘11 of Farmington, Mo., died Jul. 12, 2020. Matthew Milton Cross ‘16 of Park Hills, Mo., died Jul. 28, 2020. Alyssa Nicole Webb Schell ‘16 of Higbee, Mo., died Apr. 14, 2020.

CMU Friends, Former Faculty, Staff Marjorie K. Baskett of Columbia, Mo., died May 24, 2020. William E. Brame of Warrensburg, Mo., died Sep. 15, 2020. Wanda Sue Carr of Fayette, Mo., died May 20, 2020. Veronica M. Cox of Bartlesville, Okla., died May 24, 2020. Edward M. Emery of Brentwood, Mo., died Apr. 12, 2020. Jean Glauert of Rockford, Ill., died Sep. 1, 2020. Ruth R. Handy of Brentwood, Tenn., died Jul. 20, 2020. Winston E. Harrison of Columbia, Mo., died Jun. 18, 2020. Nora L. Hulse of Columbia, Mo., died Jul. 24, 2020. Jane Jacobs Inglish of California, Mo., died Aug. 1, 2020. John R. Lewis of Lee’s Summit, Mo., died Oct. 17, 2020. David J. Malmo of Goodyear, Ariz., died Apr. 20, 2020. Lucille Mounter of Fayette, Mo., died Aug. 16, 2020. Mary Pannier of Cape Girardeau, Mo., died Oct. 7, 2020. Ina Schowengerdt of Saint Joseph, Mo., died Sep. 16, 2020. Emily Sheets of Annapolis, Md., died Apr. 17, 2020. Frederick C. Spiegel of Columbia, Mo., died May 20, 2020. Ruth L. Svoboda of Saint Paul, Minn., died May 27, 2020. Donald Ralph Sipes, M.D. Donald Ralph Sipes, ’56, M.D., 85, passed away Saturday, October 17, 2020. He was born November 3, 1934, in Ottawa, Kan., to Rev. John Ralph Sipes and Mary Laona Sipes.

He is survived by a sister, Lily May Klase (Longmont, Colo.), his son and daughter-inlaw, Donald R. Sipes II, M.D., and Jennifer Sipes (Green Bay), and five grandchildren: DJ (Monica) Sipes of Stoughton, Wis., Alyssa Sipes (Chicago, Ill), Isabella Bartel (Orlando, Fla), Noah DeBruyn (Chicago, Ill), and Elizabeth DeBruyn (Ellensburg, Wash.). He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Sharon (Mark) Patterson of Scottsdale, Ariz., and his families, who adopted him as their own: the Smits Family (Pat, John, Tracy, Johnny, and Robby) and the owners and staff at Tender Hearts Assisted Living, especially Nikki, who came in for him even when she wasn’t working on the weekends. Also, thanks to Jen from Heartland Hospice, who helped in his transition to eternal life.

His family stayed at one church for the four years he was at high school in Holden, MO. He lettered for four years in football, three years in basketball, and three years in track before graduating in 1952. He continued at Central Methodist College in Fayette, Mo., where he lettered in football as a guard and punter. He was the eighth best punter in the nation among smaller schools with a 40-yard average. After college, he attended the University of Missouri Medical School. That is where he met Janet, who was at a research position in dietetics at the same hospital. On their first encounter there, she taught him to draw blood. After seven months of courtship, they were married on July 19, 1958, and remained married until Janet’s passing in 2016.