Kasten honored with Spirit of America award

When Mary Kasten decided to leave the Missouri State Legislature in 2001, then-U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson addressed the assembly to recognize Kasten's service, even referring to her as the "Grandmother of the Missouri House of Representatives."

But Kasten's public achievements go beyond a reputation in the Legislature. Before and after her 18 years of service in the House, she worked tirelessly to improve Cape Girardeau, where she has lived since 1954.

She said she staunchly believes the basis of a healthy community is a responsible citizenry, and education is the best way to achieve that end.

"That's why I worked really hard on education," she said. "It helps build a foundation for a better place to live."

Whether it was by teaching Sunday school at St. Andrew Lutheran Church, organizing community services through the Community Caring Council or serving in the General Assembly, her conviction and dedication to individual empowerment through education remains a guiding principle.

In recognition of Kasten's contributions to the Cape Girardeau community and beyond, she is the 2014 recipient of the Southeast Missourian's Spirit of America Award.

Holly Lintner, treasurer of the Cape County Republican Women's Club, nominated Kasten, whom she calls "Mother Mary." Why?

"Because it's Mary Kasten," she said. "She's amazing."

Lintner first met "Mother Mary" in 1999 when she was a junior in college. Kasten and her husband, Mel, were involved with the College Republicans and often had them to their home.

As a like-minded Republican woman, Lintner grew to revere Kasten and her work.

"I've often said, as far as someone living that I would like to be more like, it would be her," Lintner said. "She's just a great Christian woman. Who wouldn't want to be like her?"

Over the years, Lintner got to work with Kasten on a number of occasions, but she holds one memory especially dear. When a representative was needed to fill an unexpected vacancy in the state Legislature in 2008, Kasten's experience made her an ideal candidate.

"So I got to call 'Mother Mary' and asked her if she would be interested in going back and serving in the majority for a change," Lintner said.

Though in her late 70s at the time, Kasten was delighted by the prospect. True to form, she used the 11-month stint to work on the education system.

Since Kasten first arrived in Cape Girardeau, she and her husband have been involved in the community.

"We love Cape Girardeau. It's the greatest place in the world to live and it has the greatest people you could ask for," Kasten said. "I just saw that we could be beneficial and give back to our community. Since then, I've been involved in just about everything."

It's true. The list of organizations Kasten has worked with around town is longer than some of the bills she authored in Jefferson City, Missouri. But creating the Community Caring Council remains one of her most prized achievements.

"I saw that there were a lot of different agencies that were doing good things for people, but they weren't exactly coordinated, so I was instrumental in forming the Community Caring Council," Kasten said.

The organization works to encourage local service agencies to collaborate, and has been so successful it has branched out into other states.

"The effort was to get people to be more self-reliant and get people to work together for the good of the community," Kasten said.

Tom Davisson, executive director of the Community Caring Council, also nominated Kasten for the award and said she's an inspiration. Though she was out of office before he joined the council, Davisson said he recognizes how much change Kasten is responsible for.

"I nominated her because of the years of collective impact she's had in the Cape Girardeau community," he said. He explained how her brainchild, the council, has grown from a Missouri Mentoring partnership for teen moms to an early childhood program in conjunction with Southeast Missouri State University. Their community partnership meetings provide a platform for collaboration among the 20 to 30 representatives in attendance from local service agencies.

"We were the first ones to do that, but now there are 20 other community partnerships across the state," Davisson said.

Although she has eased back her responsibilities in recent years, Kasten's past work continues to propagate and she still teaches by example.

tgraef@semissourian.com