Carolyn Pendergrass

A fond farewell to a great local civic leader, Carolyn Joyce Pendergrass, who died Saturday, April 19, 2014.

Carolyn began her journey March 11, 1934, in Lima, Ohio. She was one of 13 children. She grew up in Van Wert, Ohio, and in surrounding areas. She spent her high school years at the Marsh Foundation, an orphanage for impoverished children. This experience most definitely shaped Carolyn's view of the world.

At the Marsh, Carolyn trained to be a stenographer, which led her directly to her beloved. She and George Washington Pendergrass of Beattyville, Ky., were married Sept. 5, 1953.

Carolyn graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Southeast Missouri State University in 1971. She received a master of education in 1985. She found her niche at the Oran School District in 1971, and retired in 1997. There she taught two generations of kindergarten and second-grade students. She was simply beloved by those students in Oran. She could literally remember every child that gave her a "teacher's gift" that dotted the house for all those years, as they were also beloved to her.

She took a vital role in the development of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau, where she served on the board and as president and secretary over a 40-year span. She also served as a member of Lutheran Church Women's Association. She later became a member of Sargents Chapel Lutheran Church at Sedgewickville, Mo. Her sultry, alto voice was always present in the choir every Sunday.

Carolyn was active in the Cape Girardeau Civic Center many years. Her role there enabled preschool education and housing for the poor in Cape Girardeau. She served on the board with KRCU National Public Radio for several years on the Southeast University campus.

In Scott City, Carolyn took responsibility for the edification of the city. Both George and Carolyn were instrumental in the development of Scott City Park. She was a longtime member of Kiwanis Club, Scott City Zoning Board as chairwoman, and as past president of Sunny Village Garden Club. Her legacy includes the trees and flowers lining the access road of the park and all along Main Street.

Carolyn's keen interest in local history began a long stint as president of the Scott City Historical Preservation Society and member of the Scott County Preservation Society. She brought into being the Box Car Museum on Main Street, a tribute to "boxcar children" such as Manny Jackson of the Harlem Globetrotters, who attended Scott City's Centennial Celebration in 2004. Sadly, the museum fell prey to arson.

She opened a second museum in Scott City, in what truly had to be Scott City's funniest moment. Carolyn and her preservation pals schemed to bring in the area's oldest one-room school house from 1858 (found full of hay outside of town!) to old Illmo on a platform in 2008. Families from the area sent in memorabilia of their ancestors' photos, trophies and desks and the preservation society primed, painted and created the old schoolhouse. It was Carolyn's pride and joy that burned through vandalism in 2008 just one day after opening. Carolyn remarked to her family, "I think Scott City is trying to tell me it doesn't want me to make another museum."

So Carolyn took her magnificent passion for life and others and entered into volunteering by tutoring at St. Joseph School, doing advocacy for children in crisis in the CASA program, becoming a hospice volunteer, and helping with the SCIP parks program in Scott City.

She became an avid Red Hat Society member and will be buried in her red hat and purple outfit.

Surviving is husband, George Pendergrass Jr. (founder of Pendergrass Inc.) of Scott City; children, Alma Joyce Fijardo Pendergrass of Portland, Ore., David Pendergrass of Overland Park, Kan., Alan Pendergrass of Chaffee, Mo., Kathy (Arthur) Marsyla of Cape Girardeau and an "adopted" daughter, Kimberly Eyer of Marina del Rey, Calif.; and grandchildren, Jonathan Pendergrass, Karen Pendergrass, Courtney (Michael) Haugh, Susan Pendergrass, Angela Pendergrass, Taylor Marsyla, Christopher Marsyla and Khaymanta Fijardo; and a week-old great-grandchild, Lilian Harper.

Also surviving are her siblings, Gaynella McGuire of Danville, Ky., George Brenneman of Sacramento, Calif., Ron Brenneman of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Iona Brenneman of Sacramento, Vicky (Sonny) Byers of Piqua, Ohio, Linda Thurston of Dayton, Ohio, Phillip (Nida) Thurston, Bruce Thurston and Timothy Thurston of Celina, Ohio; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Carolyn was preceded in death by her parents, Virgil A. Brenneman and Beulah Lewis Thurston; brothers, Virgil Brenneman and Gary Thurston; and a sister, Angela Thurston.

She is gone but can never be forgotten as her life is intertwined in ours and our community's life.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Amick-Burnett Chapel in Scott City.

The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the chapel, with the Rev. Jerry Bailey officiating. Burial will be in Lightner Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to Carolyn's service organizations that she served faithfully: Sunny Village Garden Club, Scott City Preservation Society or Sargents Chapel Lutheran Church.

Online condolences may be shared at amick-burnettfuneralchapels.com.