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Reva Munson
EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. — Reva Irene Munson passed away peacefully on Jan. 20, 2023, at the age of 95. She lived the first 91 years of her life in Mississippi County before moving to Austin, Texas. She was born in Crosno, Missouri, on Jan. 8, 1928, daughter of Nellie and Guy Woodard.
Upon graduating high school, she attended and graduated from the Cosmetology School in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. She then worked with her sister, Lucille, in a hair salon in East Prairie until her marriage to Robert Lee Munson. She always considered herself a farm girl and took on that title with honor. However, she did work for the East Prairie Independent School District for a number years as a teacher's aide at Dorena Elementary.
While Reva had many talents, most friends and family will immediately remark on her talents in the areas of sewing and cooking. There are many family members and friends who are fortunate recipients of her bed quilts, crib quilts and wall hanging quilts. She also made lap quilts for nursing home residents and was active with the quilting group at the East Prairie Nutrition Center. While a definite number of quilts cannot be determined, it is easily in the hundreds. She was also an accomplished seamstress. She made clothes for herself, her children and grandchildren. While not a fan of mending or altering garments, she cheerfully did so for her family and friends when requested. For sure, she was the go-to lady for all matters dealing with attire including one notable highlight of making her daughter's wedding dress. When it came to cooking she was a master of making everyday cuisine taste extraordinary. She was known for her pies, cakes and cookies. If anyone in her community was ever ill or if there was a death in a family, Reva would be at their home with comforting food. In the days of pot luck dinners at Dorena Baptist Church there were always requests for her specialties of chicken and dumplings, pecan pie, and fried corn to name a few.
For those who knew Reva, you also know she took great interest in her favorite baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals. She and her husband, Robert, attended games in St. Louis. When at games she actually kept stats and watched with piqued interest. But more often, she watched the Cardinals on TV and could tell you each player's name, where they were in the lineup, who was in the pitching rotation and how each player's season was going. She was also known to talk back to the TV and let Tony La Russa, the manager, know when she thought he had made a poor decision.
Reva was very civic-minded as well. For many years she was an election worker in Mississippi County, both at Wolf Island and at East Prairie. A member of Dorena Baptist Church for years, Reva was the secretary of minutes and took upon herself to prepare the elements for communion whenever it was observed. For years she was a Sunday School teacher to preschool children and there are many adults who remember "Miss Reva" for being such a positive influence in their formative lives. She volunteered at the E.P. Nutrition Center in the kitchen making foods (dumpling strips) to sell for fundraising as well as lending her talents to sewing quilts as raffle items for fundraising. From the beginning of Tour de Corn, she and Robert manned the rest stop located at Dorena Baptist Church. When the bike route was later changed, they oversaw the rest stop at State Road C. Reva continued making her homemade cookies for the participants.
Reva is survived by her children: Robert Munson Jr. (wife Sandee), Melinda Munson Simmen (husband Frank) and David Kelly Munson. She is also survived by grandchildren: Robert Munson III, Todd Munson, Amanda Hall, Adam Myers, Anne Marie Ratliff and Grant Munson. She is also survived by her great-grandchildren: Elizabeth and Griffin Munson, June and Emily Hall, Hudson Myers, and Hank, Will and Callie Ratliff.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Guy and Nellie Woodard, brothers and sisters and her beloved husband of 65 years, Robert (Bob) Lee Munson.
Services will be held at Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie on Monday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. Visitation will be from noon until 2 p.m.
Interment will follow at the IOOF Cemetery in Charleston, Missouri.
Online condolences may be shared at: www.southernfuneralservices.com.
Donations may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, or to the charity of choice.