Patsy Hambelton, 62
A celebration of the life of Patsy Ann Hardgrave Hambelton, 62, of Theodosia, will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 3, 2018, at the Lilly Ridge Baptist Church in Gainesville. Mrs. Hambelton died peacefully on Feb. 8 at the family home. She had battled cancer since May 2016 but had kept teaching until a few months before her death.
She was born May 23, 1955, in Clarksville, Arkansas, the daughter of Frank and Louise Hardgrave. She grew up in Johnson County, Arkansas, and worked at a host of jobs, including working in a dress shop and as a school bus driver and rural mail carrier. She also owned and operated a feed store before deciding to finish her teaching certification in the early 1990s.
She met her future husband, Bill Hambelton of Ozark County, after she started teaching at Metro Business College in Rolla; they married in 1991 in Harrison, Arkansas.
Mrs. Hambelton continued her career at Phillips Junior College in Springfield and then began her public high school teaching career at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. She then taught at Lutie and at Cotter, Arkansas, before completing her teaching career at Gainesville, retiring in September 2017.
She was very active in the Future Business Leaders of America and DECA and was always raising money for her student organizations, whether it was selling Krispy Kreme donuts or spending endless hours in a concession stand. She traveled the country with students from the organizations she served as adviser, providing them with opportunities beyond the classroom. Mrs. Hambelton had district and state officers in her sponsored organizations and was a well-respected and loved adviser in both Arkansas and Missouri. She was also a member of PEO. She cared deeply about the welfare of her family, friends and students alike.
She is survived by her husband, Bill Hambelton, of Theodosia; her mother, Louise Hardgrave of Hagarville, Arkansas; her sister, Sharon Morris of Hot Springs, Arkansas; sons Zachary Hambelton of Theodosia and Shawn Freeman of Oklahoma; daughter Andrea Caygill and husband David of Collinsville, Oklahoma; grandson Jade Brewer of Tulsa, Oklahoma; granddaughter Taylor Caygill of Collinsville, Oklahoma; and a host of in-laws, nieces and nephews, and countless friends.
She was preceded in death by her father, Frank Hardgrave Jr., and her in-laws, Bill and Fern Hambelton.
Memorial contributions may be made to a scholarship fund that Mrs. Hambelton requested be established in her name. Donations may be made at any Century Bank of the Ozarks branch or mailed to Century Bank, P.O. Box 68, Gainesville, MO 65655. At her memorial service, friends and family members will be invited to share stories and happy memories of Mrs. Hambelton.
Arrangements by Clinkingbeard Funeral Home, Gainesville.