On June 2, 2020, with family and friends at her bedside, Marilyn Lanning, enveloped in love, died at home at age 92 to leave this life for admittance to the mystery and Elysium of God.
Born in Holstein, raised in Marthasville, and resided in the St. Louis area, she was a farm girl with a city cut and style.
She was a lifelong member of the United Church of Christ (UCC), confirmed and attended St. Paul’s UCC in Marthasville, later Calvary UCC in Overland, and finally St. John UCC in Manchester.
She attended Brinkman Elementary School, (destroyed by flood), graduated in 1945 from Marthasville High School (now Marthasville Elementary), and Miss Hickey’s Business School located in the St. Louis area in 1946 (Hickey College, closed 2018).
Her employment was the following:
Missouri Legislature for the Republican Representative of Missouri Elroy C. Kehr;
Art Metal Manufacturing 1947;
Veterans Administration 1947-50;
Veterans Administration Guidance Center 1950-51;
Aeronautical Chart Plant (now National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) 1954;
Famous Barr in Clayton, part-time retail sales in the 1960s;
Northwest County YMCA in late ’60s to 1977;
Retired 1997 from Forest Hills Country Club as membership director and secretary to board of directors.
Her household was loving and had a come-at-able door. No kid was unwelcome. She hosted Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations for decades, and reunions at her parents’ former house in Marthasville. She held Girl Scout meetings, boarded her nephew Dan for a summer, a student from Germany for a school year, and a close friend’s daughter attending Logan University.
She had a deep social network and was a “what do you need” person. If she asked someone for help, they didn’t answer with a “well maybe” or provide an excuse. They answered with a simple “what do you need?”
Her primary interest was her family. She took care of her parents in their old age and her uncle Elmer in his last years. Each of her grandchildren had a special shopping trip on their birthday. She was on call at all times for babysitting except when she traveled.
She enjoyed traveling, genealogy and gardening. She was a patient woman who grew impatiens. Until her health declined, she picked strawberries every year. You could consider yourself special if she gave you some of her pickings as a gift. Both her cardiologist and oncologist qualified for strawberries.
She was married to Livingston (Libby) Lanning. They met while working at the Veteran’s Administration. She shared her sandwich with him at lunch which led to sharing life for 66 years. He said he knew she would make an exceptional mother but also “had great legs.”
She is survived by three children, Wendy Kammer (Denny), Melissa Miller (Doug), and Byron Lanning (Leslie Sutphen); six grandchildren, Joe and Mary Clare Kammer, Emily Coleman (Ollie), Bridie Smith, Molly Strauman (Matt), and Lydia Lanning; six great-grandchildren, Ella, Eliza, Jase, Leela, Elizabeth (Libby), and Devin.
She was wife to Livingston Lanning (deceased), sister to Hazel Eichmeyer (deceased), daughter to Lawrence and Emily Wessel (nee Ruwe) (both deceased).
Visitation will be held on Sunday, June 7, 2020 at Martin Funeral Home in Marthasville, 3-8 p.m.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, June 8, 2020 at St. Paul’s UCC in Marthasville, beginning at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at the Holstein Cemetery.
A link will be posted on the Martin Funeral Home website, www.martinfuneral.net, to view a recording of the memorial service.
In place of flowers, send donations to St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Marthasville, Immanuel United Church of Christ, Holstein, or Warren County Historical Society. C/O Martin Funeral Home, 510 East Main St. Warrenton, MO 63383. Online condolences may be made at www.martinfuneral.net
