Ruth Pfefferkorn

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Ruth Ervin Pfefferkorn, 89, of Chaffee died Friday, June 4, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

She was born Dec. 31, 1914, at Cape Girardeau, daughter of Edward Marion and Mary Leona Crump Ervin.

She and E. "Mike" Pfefferkorn were married on Dec. 31, 1938; he preceded her in death on Dec. 17, 1986.

She was a member of the First Christian Church in Chaffee, Mo., where she taught both children and adult Sunday school classes for many years. She was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary Chaffee Elks Lodge 1810. She also belonged to the Ladies Auxiliary of the Cape Girardeau Eagles Aeries 3775. She regularly volunteered at the Chaffee Nutrition Center with the RSVP. She also volunteered as an ombudsman to the nursing home centers in Chaffee and Bloomfield, Mo. She was active in the LeBonheur Club, a women's community service organization. She was the leading spirit in the drive to raise funds to build the current Chaffee Library building. Her hobby of writing poetry provided the manuscript for the 1955 Chaffee Jubilee play and a series of anonymous tongue-in-cheek letters to the editor of the local newspaper.

She was a retired secretary for Florsheim Shoe Company in Chaffee, working from 1956 to 1976.

Survivors include a son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Sandra Pfefferkorn Sr. of St. Louis; two grandchildren and a granddaughter-in-law, Michael and Sharon Pfefferkorn, Jr., and Patricia Hutchison of St. Louis; three great-grandchildren, Molly Pfefferkorn, Sarah and Colin Hutchison, of St. Louis; and a sister, Joseta Barker of Trenton, Tenn.

She was preceded in death by a son, Donald Pfefferkorn; three brothers, Lawrence, Charles "Jack" and Hardin Ervin; two sisters, Lora Ervin and Hazel Moore.

Friends may call at the Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee after 4 p.m. Sunday.

Funeral will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the funeral home. The Rev. Dr. Vyron Yount will officiate and Father Raphael Moore will assist. Burial will follow in the St. Ambrose Catholic Cemetery in Chaffee.