Our mother, grandmother, aunt, friend, and neighbor, Mable Walkenhorst, passed away Thursday, July 11, 2019; she was 94 years old.

Mable was born on September 15, 1924, in Rural Ray County, the daughter of Jonathan Pollard "J.P." and Hester Elizabeth (Gardner) Herring.

Survivors include: three sons: Mark Walkenhorst of Oak Grove, Robert "Bob" (Michele Sewell) Walkenhorst of Kansas City, and Rex Walkenhorst of Oak Grove; one step-daughter, Jean (Michael) Barkoviak of Bloomington, IL; 13 grandchildren: Molly Walkenhorst, Joshua Walkenhorst, Gretchen Harris, Lauren Walkenhorst, Brennan Walkenhorst, Hannah Welsh, Una Walkenhorst, Jeffrey Barkoviak, John Barkoviak, Jacqueline Barney, Joe Barkoviak, Julie Sawyers, and Jennifer Beddow; a whole host of great-grandchildren and several great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers, Will T. Herring, Donald Herring, and Edwin J. Herring, and one sister, Phyllis LaPell.

Mable graduated from Central High School in 1942.  Her first job was running one of the rural telephone switchboards out north of Norborne.  With World War 2 going on, like many young women her age, Mable moved to Kansas City to work in the B-25 Bomber factory, where she worked until the end of the war in 1945.  When we asked her what her job was at the bomber factory, she said she didn't really know  -  she bolted something in place inside the airplane, wasn't sure if it was important or not.  Years later, at a reunion of the people who worked at the bomber factory, we found out she bolted the oxygen tank into the bomber, which was a pretty important job.

At the end of the war, Mable married Clarence Early, a local boy, just back from the war, but the marriage only lasted a couple of years.  Needing a change, Mable moved to Omaha, where her brother Edwin helped her get a job at Sears and Roebuck, in the hosiery department.  In the company lunchroom, Mable met what she described as "the handsomest man I'd ever seen in my life."  She and Ray Walkenhorst fell in love on the spot, and just a few months later, while driving down to Norborne for Thanksgiving, they took a detour through Hardin, interrupted a minister from his Thanksgiving dinner, and got married, right then and there, surprising everyone at the family Thanksgiving by showing up - a married couple.

Mable and Ray bought a very small mobile home, pulled it behind the car from Omaha down to Norborne, and parked in on a lot on 2nd Street, and started their life together.  Three sons came along  -  Mark in 1951, Robert in 1953, and Rex in 1956.  Ray also had a daughter from a previous marriage, Jean Ann, who spent many summer visits with Mable and Ray.

Over the years, besides all the work and joys and frustrations of raising three boys, Mable and Ray worked together running the Kansas City Star paper route through Norborne and Braymer, owning and operating the Town and Country Drive-In, where they served up Wimpy Burgers and anything you could deep-fat fry to all the hungry people of Norborne.  They really enjoyed that job.  They enjoyed working; they rarely took a vacation, didn't really socialize much, and went to Kansas City about twice a year.  Outside of those early years she spent in Kansas City and Omaha, Mable spent her entire life in Norborne, living just a couple blocks from her parents, with 2 brothers, several aunts and uncles, and lots of cousins living within a few miles.  Small town life was what she loved, and it was all she needed.  Life was full, life was good.

But Ray was diagnosed with cancer in 1979, and died in 1981.  His death really hit her hard; she was only 57 when he died.  It took her a while to get her bearings again, and realize that there was still a lot of life ahead of her, a lot of things to live for - friends, children, and a growing number of grandchildren.  For several summers, she lived and worked down at Lodge of the Four Seasons, hostessing at the restaurant there, living with her friend Shirley Forbes.  She started spending the winter months down in Tucson, AZ, and bought a mobile home down there with her friend Dorothy Kassen.  Along with her sister Phyllis, brother Donald, and his wife Genevieve, they enjoyed many happy winters there, going to casinos, yard sales, early-bird dinners, and card games.

Mable was very active in the Norborne Methodist Church during the 1950's and 60's and then our family joined Trinity Lutheran in 1967.  She and Ray loved this church  -  the sense of community, of common purpose, of social responsibility, the music, the people.  This congregation was very central to their lives.  After Ray was gone, Mable kept busy.  Some of her favorite activities were going over to Brunswick with the Lutheran Ladies to print and assemble Braille bibles, trips to Kansas City to deliver and sort goods for the Good Shepherd Mission, and, when she couldn't drive and travel those distances anymore, the cutting and wrapping of bandages, to be shipped overseas.

Mable was also a very active member of the Norborne PTA, the K&K Club, and - one of her proudest contributions to this community - she worked the sign in table at every single election from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Barack Obama, and every election in between.

In her later years, Mable enjoyed her family, her grandkids, and her early morning coffee at the Fire Barn with her circle of close friends; everybody pitched in a dime each morning.  She, Genevieve, and Phyllis took many bus trips and cruises together to see this beautiful country.  Mable's adventures included getting knocked down by a revolving door in New York City and sitting down on a very expensive piece of sculpture at the Los Angeles Art Museum, thinking it was a bench.

Mable's final years were spent at the Shirkey Nursing Home in Richmond.  She moved in there nine years ago this week.  At first, it was kind of hard on her, giving up her house and car and all, but so many of her friends were there: Vi Heil just across the hall, Helen Schweder a few doors down, Virginia Craig, Micky Raasch, and lots of others from Norborne and Hardin and Richmond that she had grown up with.  Eventually, she got used to it and enjoyed the programs and the music and the food and the events.  We can't say enough about the kindness and the care that the folks at Shirkey's showed to Mable during her years there; with one of the hospice nurses actually sleeping in the room and staying with her on her final night.

So, Mom, Grandma, Mable  -  we love you, and we're sure going to miss you.  I've already caught myself thinking about what we're going to talk about on our daily phone call.  Oh yeah - she's not there.

But, you won't be forgotten.  You taught us about love, family, and meaningful work.  About home, community, and service to that community  -  especially to those who are in need.  You had a man that loved you, you had children that loved you, you had grandchildren that loved you, and you had a town that loved you.  What more could you ask for?

The family suggests memorial contributions be made to the Trinity Lutheran Church in Norborne.  They can be left at or mailed to Thurman Funeral Home, 507 East Main Street-P.O. Box 190, Richmond, MO 64085.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Tuesday, July 16, 2019, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Norborne, Pastor Kim Scharff to officiate.  Burial will be in Fairhaven Cemetery, Norborne.  Please share your memories of Mable by visiting www.thurmanfuneralhome.com .