Mary Lou Pragman

In the early hours of May 12, 2024, Mary Lou Pragman entered her heavenly home with family at her side.

Mary Lou (Thomas) Pragman was born November 8, 1933, the eldest daughter of J.W. Thomas and Blanche (Brand) Thomas of Odessa, MO.

After graduating from Odessa High School with the Class of 1951, Mary Lou attended college for two years. She took a break from education while raising her children, later returning to earn her bachelor’s degree then master’s degree in education from CMSU. After teaching Kindergarten for one year, Mary Lou went on to teach Remedial Reading for 26 years before her retirement from the Odessa school district. Many will remember Mrs. Pragman bringing books to life in her Viola Swamp costume.

Mary Lou met the love of her life, Donald Dean Pragman, her freshman year of high school and they were married on October 4, 1953. Their family grew when they were blessed with their son, Steven Dean and then their daughter, Marilyn Jo. They built their home and life together on the family farm on the outskirts of Odessa. 

As the family grew, Don and Mary Lou built a legacy of faith, love and family. They lived their lives with a deep love of the Lord, which was evident in the way they cared for everyone around them. Mary Lou’s very deepest values centered around her love of God, faith in His goodness, love of family, hard work, integrity, and living every day well.

Just like they tended the thriving garden behind the house, they nurtured and loved those around them. Whether it was teaching Sunday School, delivering meals, or faithfully sending personalized birthday cards to loved ones, Mary Lou had her own special ways of demonstrating the love of Jesus in the ways she loved others. 

Family was precious to Mary Lou, and she is fondly remembered as loving a little too forcefully sometimes. No one could sit at her table without being offered far too much food, and no grandchild could visit without being over-bundled in cool weather and covered in Vicks at the first sign of a cough. But that was Mary Lou.

She loved apples. It must have started with her grandparents’ orchard, Brand’s Apple Orchard. Apples, applesauce, apple crisp, apple butter…you name it, she loved it. The annual apple butter weekend became a well-known Pragman family tradition. In its heyday, the kids and grandkids all piled into the little one-bathroom farmhouse for the weekend, which kicked off with apple-peeling and a hayride Friday night. Saturday began with the smells of Mary Lou’s bacon and eggs before the sun came up, then the day was spent with family and friends while Mary Lou kept everyone on task, fed, and out of her kitchen.

And then there was the annual family Christmas pageant. Mary Lou was the ramrod, and she made sure every man, woman and child present had a costume and a part. There was a lot of silliness over the years as everyone donned old pink bathrobes and sheets with holes in them, but it was her way of bringing the story of Christ’s birth to life for the youngest family members.

Mary Lou’s family members often reflect and tease each other about a couple of traits that she seems to have passed along. Her need to always be moving was a testament to her work ethic. If she didn’t have a job to do, she found one. If you didn’t have a job to do, she gave you one too. She also had a true appreciation for a good cookie break, which she has apparently passed along as well.

Mary Lou lived in Odessa for 80 years. She resided on the family farm in rural Odessa until moving to Clinton in 2014 to be near family. She found special joy in her great-grandchildren, and they will miss her dearly.

An active member of the First Baptist Church of Odessa, Mary Lou devoted many years as a Sunday School teacher and church librarian. After moving to Clinton she was active in the First Baptist Church there.

She will be fondly remembered for her special combination of sweetness and spunk. Mary Lou enjoyed playing games, especially Joker, and regularly hosted friends to play games; she treasured these special times. She had an ornery streak, which has given loved ones an abundance of laughter and memories to treasure for years to come.

Mary Lou knew she would spend eternity in the presence of the Lord, and with her loving husband Donald, who left this life February 3, 2000. Over and over in the things she wrote and expressed, she reiterated her dearest prayers and wishes for those she leaves behind. Her prayers were endless that her loved ones would come to know Jesus, and that those around her would strive to live life to its fullest.

Mary Lou leaves behind loved ones who will miss her dearly, but her life does not end here. Today she lives in the kingdom of heaven. While we mourn our loss, we rejoice for her. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you.” -1 Peter 1:3-4

Surviving are her son, Steve Pragman (Linda) of Aurora, CO; daughter, Marilyn McCoy (Bill) of Clinton, MO; grandchildren Stephanie Ptacek of Prairie Village, KS; Craig Wood of Santa Maria, CA; Megan Asbill (Dan) of Clinton, MO; Jillian Burke (Matt) of Blue Springs, MO; Hannah Pitts (Collin) of Denver, CO; Drew Pragman (Christina) of Denver, CO; six great-grandchildren: Blair, Marie, Samantha, Emery, Teddy, and Eloise; a sister, Ardith Dyer of Independence, MO; a sister-in-law, Jeanne Soendker (Calvin) of Higginsville, MO; and many nieces, nephews and friends.

In addition to her husband Donald of 46 years, Mary Lou was preceded in death by her parents, and a brother who died in infancy.

Memorials are suggested to First Baptist Church, Odessa, MO or First Baptist Church, Clinton, MO.

Visitation will be held from 10:00a.m. to 11:00a.m., Saturday, June 8, 2024, at Ralph O. Jones Funeral Home 306 South Second Street Odessa, Missouri 64067. A Funeral Service will be held at 11:00a.m., Saturday, June 8, 2024, at the funeral home. Interment to follow at Odessa Cemetery in Odessa, Missouri. Memories of Mary Lou and condolences for her family may be left at www.LedfordFamilyFH.com or on our Facebook Page.   Arrangements have been entrusted to Ralph O. Jones Funeral Home, 306 South Second Street, Odessa, Missouri 64076, 816-633-5524.