Ruth B. Cropp

Ruth B. Cropp

Ruth B. Cropp, 83, Nevada, Mo., formerly of Normandy, Mo., passed away May 13, 2007, at the Barone Care Center. She was born Sept. 13, 1923, near Gordonville, Mo., to Alvin and Elsie (Graden) Grossheider.

Ruth was the third of eight daughters and grew up milking cows with her seven sisters on a dairy farm near Gordonville in southeast Missouri. She was the first in her family to complete high school, graduating salutatorian from College High School in Cape Girardeau, Mo., in 1941. When she wasn't milking or going to school, she was busy in the kitchen with her mom and sisters, making sure the men working the fields were properly fed. Her favorite stories were of the completion of the harvest when the neighboring farm families would get together and dance and sing and play cards. She cherished her memories of the farm but preferred the amenities of city living. And she never wore overalls again after moving to St. Louis.

She married a dashing Navy pilot named Ralph C. Cropp on Nov.18, 1950, in St. Louis, Mo., and lived 44 years in Normandy. Ruth was a lovely wife, mother and homemaker in the truest sense of the word. Ruth ran her house like a tight ship, only a lot cleaner. She sewed her family's clothes, cooked wonderfully and was especially proud of her 1985 state championship pot roast. She set the good example for her four children whom she firmly reared in the faith. She served Zion Lutheran Church of Ferguson, Mo., in the Women's Guild, Church Choir, Married Couples Club and various prayer groups. After moving to Nevada, she attended St. Paul's Lutheran Church as long as her health permitted.

Ruth is survived by her children and their spouses, Kenton A. Cropp and wife Sally, Edgerton, Kan., Cherie A. Kleinbeck and husband Mark, Poplar Bluff, Mo., Dr. Lance E. Cropp and wife Kelly of Mansfield, Ohio, and Joyce C. Denman and husband Bill of Nevada; eight grandchildren with one on the way, Kelsie Cropp and Trevor Cropp, Christina Kleinbeck and Alaina Kleinbeck, Nathan Cropp and Kate Cropp, and Lucas Denman, Emma Denman, and Jacob Denman (on the way); four sisters, Lorene Grossheider, Aiken, S.C., Eleanor Haman, Cape Girardeau, Audrey (Jean) McHenry, Cape Girardeau, and Barbara Venz, McCormick, S.C.; and numerous nieces and nephews, relatives and friends. Ruth was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Ralph; three sisters, Edna Flanigan, Francis McNeely and Roberta Robinson; and one beloved grandson, Douglas Kleinbeck.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, at Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada. Interment will follow in Newton Burial Park, Nevada. Friends may call now and until the hour of service and the family receives friends 7-8 p.m., on Friday, May 18, at the funeral home.

The family suggests memorial contributions to Barone Care Center or to The Douglas Kleinbeck Memorial Scholarship Fund in care of Ferry Funeral Home.

View obituary and send condolences online at www.ferryfuneralhome.com