RITA COWARDIN

CARL JUNCTION- A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, at Central City Christian Church, for Rita Cowardin, 75, Carl Junction, who died Wednesday, June 19, 2019, at her home.

Visitation will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, at the church.

Cremation services were provided by Midland Cremation Services.

Memorial donations can be made to Ninos de Mexico, PO Box 309, Union, MO 63084 or Life of Hope, PO Box 223, Joplin, MO 64801.

Survivors include her husband, Larry, Carl Junction; five children, Jill Williams and husband Keith, Neosho, Michelle Baker and husband Alan, Carl Junction, Cheryl Sheat and husband Bruce, Lamar, Mark Cowardin and wife Amy, Lawrence, Kan. and Amy Graskemper and husband Doug, Carl Junction; nine grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents and one brother, David Spurgeon.

Mrs. Cowardin was born Nov. 27, 1943, in Lamar, to Sib (Mustang-Bass) and Herbert Spurgeon. She was a 1961 graduate of Lamar High School. She married the love of her life, Larry Cowardin, in 1961. She worked in the cafeteria at Carl Junction schools and at St. John’s in Joplin. She was a hospice volunteer for many years.

She was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, not just to her family, but to many extended “adopted” family.