The best grandma: Thelma Nations honored as one of Missouri's best grandmothers

While lots of grandkids think their grandmothers are special, Caitlyn Persch of Perryville, Missouri, took things a step further. She wrote an essay about her grandmother, Thelma Nations, and entered it in the "Show Me Missouri's 10 Best Grandmothers" contest.

Out of hundreds of entries, Nations was chosen as one of the 10 Best Grandmothers in Missouri by the Magic of Marceline Development Co. LLC, which conducted the contest.

Each winning grandmother received a $1,250 check, as well as a check in that same amount to go to a charity of their choice.

They also were invited to attend a celebration held in their honor on Sept. 26 in Marceline, Missouri.

Nations attended the celebration reception along with her granddaughter, Persch, and many other family members.

Thelma Nations stands in front of her wall of family portraits hanging in the living room of her Perryville, Missouri, home. (Laura Simon)

"Most of my family, including my granddaughter that entered the contest, went," says Nations.

When asked what she liked best about the celebration, Nations shares this: "I thought it was very well done. They didn't single any one grandmother out as being better than the others. And, they treated us to a wonderful dinner."

Contest winners were selected based on one-page essays written by their grandchildren and describing why they merit recognition among the 10 best grandmothers in Missouri.

"Grandmothers are foundational in transmitting values to their children and grandchildren," said Magic of Marceline CEO Mike Wrenn in a news release. "We named the search 'Show Me Missouri's 10 Best Grandmothers' as a tribute to the common-sense values of Missourians, and the foundational role grandmothers play in transmitting those values to their posterity. Hosting the celebration in Walt Disney's boyhood hometown was a further reminder of the compelling values that inspired Missourians such as Disney, and through him, children around the world."

The daylong celebration concluded with a dinner and awards ceremony. They keynote speaker at the awards ceremony was former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Anthony Davis, who was raised by his grandmother.

Of the 10 grandmothers who were chosen, Nations is the only one who hails from Southeast Missouri. Like her granddaughter, she also lives in Perryville.

Like most grandmothers, Nations enjoys spending time with her grandkids, doing the things they like to do.

"I like to fix their favorite foods, or I'll help them with their homework," she says. "Some like to come over and do puzzles or play board games. We've got one that loves to play Skip-Bo."

Nations has quite a brood, with 11 children and 15 grandchildren.

Her reasons for doing things for them are simple.

"I do it because I love them and I love our family," she says. "Plus, I try to set a good example for them."

In her essay about her grandmother, Persch shared how strong her grandmother was during a very difficult time for the family. Nations' oldest grandchild, Harlee, died this past year at age 20.

Persch wrote, "During the funeral, I never saw my grandma cry because she was there supporting her children and grandchildren. I am sure that she had, and will have, her moments, but she is the strongest woman I know ..."

Says Nations, "You just do what you've got to do. I know that I got my extra strength from up above. What a lot of people don't know is that two weeks later [after losing Harlee], my mother passed away."

Nations, who is 70, has spent a good part of her life volunteering at her children's schools when they were younger, and at her church, St. Vincent de Paul in Perryville.

"I've helped with the big church picnic and done fundraising as well as sewn alterations for school band uniforms," she says. "We were also the chairmen of the big school fundraiser for 13 years and our older kids pitched in and helped with that."

Nations was born in Longtown, Missouri, just a few miles south of Perryville. She and her husband, Clarence, will have been married 51 years on Nov. 28.

"We've lived in the same house the entire time," Nations says.

Her children range in age from 30 to 47, and her grandchildren are from ages 2 to 21.

On advice she would pass on to other grandmothers, Nations says, "Spend as much time with your grandkids as you can, especially when they are young."