Agnes O'Loughlin

Agnes O'Loughlin

Agnes Schmuke O'Loughlin passed away Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008, at her home in Jackson, where she had lived the last 54 years of her life.

Born Dec. 29, 1917, to Joseph and Mary Hunter Schmuke of Jackson, she was one of eight children: seven daughters and a son. At the time of her death she was 90.

As a child and young woman, Agnes received her education at Immaculate Conception Grade School, Jackson High School, Webster College in St. Louis and Southeast Teachers College in Cape Girardeau. At Southeast Teachers College, Agnes was a member of Clio Literary Society and in 1938 was nominated for and selected as the Sagamore Queen.

On Nov. 9, 1940, Agnes married Tom O'Loughlin of St. Louis, whom she met and fell in love with while attending college. Their wedding took place at Immaculate Conception Parish Church, followed by a honeymoon at the Peabody in Memphis, Tenn.

They lived in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., where Tom taught and coached football until they moved to St. Louis. When World War II came, they lived in both Blytheville, Ark., and Canal Winchester, Ohio, during the years that Tom taught pilots to fly bombers. Between the years of 1943 and 1958, she gave life to five boys and two girls, all of whom are still living. In 1954, the family moved to what, at the time, seemed like the frontier of civilized living -- a farm near Pocahontas that remains the family home.

The one true love in her life was her family. It was for family she lived, worked, nurtured, and to whom she was totally committed. The welfare of her children she placed above all else. She loved to go and do, taking her children everywhere with her, even when her life was made difficult and painful after she developed debilitating rheumatoid arthritis at a relatively early age. Always interested in the world around her and keeping in touch with it, she learned to use the computer when she 80 years of age.

Agnes Schmuke O'Loughlin is survived by her seven children, Thomas (Teresa), Michael (Donna), Timothy (Mary), Patrick, Martha, Mary and Daniel (Judy), as well as two sisters, Mary Hunter Schmuke and Jo Ann Hill. She has eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

In 2006, her husband of 66 years, Tom O'Loughlin, preceded her in death.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson.

The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Immaculate Conception Church in Jackson, with Monsignor Edward Eftink and the Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching officiating. Burial will be in Russell Heights Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Immaculate Conception School Building Fund or Southeast Hospice.