Mary Rose Rimer Smith, 91, of rural Edina, Missouri, passed away Monday morning, November 20, 2023, south of Edina, Missouri.

She was born April 1, 1932, at the home of her maternal grandparents, Dave and Anna Fleak of Hurdland, Missouri. She was the fourth and youngest child of Thomas Jefferson "TJ" and Dora L. Fleak Rimer.

Mary Rose attended rural Schools in Knox County, namely Barnhill, Clancy and Kirk Rural Schools. She attended Kirksville High School and later graduated from the Moberly High School in the Class of 1949. She continued her education at the Kirksville State Teachers College, now Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, studying business.

She moved back to the family farm and raised cattle with her brother, Thomas Rimer and cared for her mother after her health failed. Mary Rose worked for the Edina Livestock Sales for nine years and also the Lewis County Auction, Kirksville Saturday Sale, Clark County Sale, and the Shelbina Livestock Sales. She had a gifted talent to tell cattle breeds apart. She delivered the Kirksville Crier for 30 years.

She loved cats and dogs and never turned away a hungry stray, she loved most all animals, nature and the outdoors. Mary Rose loved God and tried to serve him by the way she lived. She always tried to help people, believed in "Love Thy Neighbor" and "Return Good for Evil". She was a member of the Baptist Church of Edina.

On November 1, 1983, in Edina, Missouri, Mary Rose married Ronald Gene Smith, after meeting by chance, and he died in a tractor accident at their farm on April 30, 1990.

Also preceding her in death was her father, Thomas Rimer in 1958; mother, Dora Rimer in 1978; a sister Helen Rimer in 1964; brother-in-law, Francis Sweetman in 1983; a sister, Dortha Sweetman in 1994, a brother, Thomas Rimer in 2012; and a very special friend, Ralph Waggener in 2011.

Mary Rose is survived by several cousins, some very special to her; great nieces and great nephews; three step-children, all out of the area; and a host of neighbors and friends, several of which were very special to her.

Funeral Services will be at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, November 22, 2023, at the Doss Funeral Home in Edina, Missouri, with the family receiving friends from 10:00 a.m. Wednesday till service time at the funeral home.

Burial will be in the Maple Hills Cemetery in Kirksville, Missouri.

Pastor Reese Blain will officiate. Casket Bearers will be Eddie Hicks Jr., John Hicks, Keith Long, Freddie Bailey, Kevin Strange, and Bill Tom Hall.

An expression of sympathy in memory of Mary Rose may be left to the Knox County Cancer Fund. A memorial may be left at or mailed to the Doss Funeral Home 208 N. 4th Street, Edina, Missouri 63537.