MILLIE'S FRIENDS RECALL HOW EVERYONE INSTANTLY BECAME HER GOOD PAL

Millie Limbaugh was such an extra-special person that I wanted to collect reminiscences from friends. Herewith, a sample from Friday-morning interviews.

Kitty Rueseler, longtime neighbor, friend and bridge partner:

"Millie was a ray of sunshine wherever she went. She entered a room and you would begin to see smiles on every face. She knew every rule in bridge and never forgot any of them. We would tell her she could see through our cards, and all the time she'd be clowning around like she didn't know what was going on. If she lost a hand, she would kick back and holler out, in her exaggerated voice, 'Now what's goin' on here?' We would just laugh so hard.

"Of course, in all this, Millie had no idea of her effect on others... She was just such a natural."

Babe Naeter, who met Millie at the Limbaughs' 1949 wedding, a friend and bridge partner for 50 years:

"A wonderful friend and bridge player, she was always gracious and funny. Millie was the wittiest gal I ever knew. She could always make you laugh. She was generous with everything -- herself, especially. She remembered everybody's birthday! Every time you were with her you took away something good."

Pam Spradling, friend and contemporary of the Limbaugh boys, recalls Millie's special charm:

"Some of my earliest memories are of going with my mother over to the Limbaughs' coffee clatches. There were always lots of and cats and dogs and kids running around. It was such an idyllic and innocent time, in the '50s and early '60s. In remembering Miss Millie, I remember her always smiling and laughing or trying, usually, to help a child. Millie was one of many who were such role models for me to try to model my life after. She had such an air of gaiety, an air of innocence about her. People nicknamed her, affectionately, 'Sillie Millie.' But it wasn't really that. She had her own unique inside music that made her always see the light side, the brighter side. I guess I'll say she preferred to turn away from the dark side in favor of sort of dancing on the mountaintops. Everybody walked away feeling just a little bit better."

Ervin Arnzen of Scott City, friend and fellow aviation enthusiast:

"When Maj. Larry Packer of the Blue Angels arrived in June 1995 for the air show, he expressed an interest in meeting Millie. We called her and she said 'Sure, come on by. I'll be at home, I may not answer the doorbell but I'll have the garage door open. Just holler and you'll find me somewhere.' We visited her and had a great time. Then three years later at the '98 air show, the pilots had heard about Millie and wanted to meet her. We were able to get her out there, and she was such a big hit. Among the pilots that year, she was the star of the show, charming everybody. Then last year, the same pilots were here looking for her, and when we had to tell them she was terminal, you could tell how deeply sad they were because they wanted to see her again. And all this when they had met her only once. These people would stay after her and she would correspond faithfully with many of these people she had met only once."

~Peter Kinder is assistant to the president of Rust Communications and a state senator from Cape Girardeau.