Myrtle Annis (Walker) Hoop Reeder
November 9, 1899 to May 6, 2002

(An eulogy dedicated to Grandma - Myrtle Annis (Walker) Hoop Reeder. May 10, 2002. Written by her family, spoken by her Grandson, Tom Compton Jr.)

Aunt Mrytle at Walker Cousins' 1997 Reunion

Sunday is Mothers Day. Over the course of the last few days I have pondered the lives of two mothers. I have, on more than one occasion either read or heard the story of a simple woman of great faith. The author of the story tells us that this woman married, at a young age, a poor carpenter. She lived in a society that thought of children as insignificant . . . as property. Yet, she loved children and she and her husband had a son who, also, became at least for a time a carpenter. We aren’t told a lot about this woman and her family. She watched her son grow with a great sense of wonder and awe. We know that she was widowed. And we know that she watched her son undergo great suffering and eventually die. But she kept her faith. Later, others would write about this mother and lift her up as a model for all mothers to follow. Her story is actually part of a larger story that is called the Good News - the Gospel. The author is the Holy Spirit. Her name was Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

The other mother that I have thought about was also married to a man who, for a time anyway, was a carpenter. Like Mary she watched her children with great pride. Like Mary, she watched her children undergo the trials and tribulations of life. And, as Mary stood in a garden before the tomb in which her son was laid by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, she stood in a cemetery named for one of her favorite flowers and watched as three of her children were laid to rest. This mother, I and those of my generation, know as Grandma. Some of you know her as mother or as Aunt Myrtle or as sister, cousin, friend. Born November 19, 1899 to Helton A. and Cora E. Burk Walker she was appropriately Christened Myrtle Annis after the Crepes Myrtle - because she was so beautiful. I wonder if Grandma Walker knew how much her daughter would grow to love flowers. I cannot imagine the house in Mulberry where Grandma and Grandpa Pete lived not being surrounded by flowers.

Grandma was the last of the Walker children to be Baptized into the Christian faith by her Grandfather Helton R. Walker. She was raised in a log cabin and went to school at Summersville, Mo. Her father who, like his father followed in the steps of Jesus, rode the circuit in the Summersville area. He used to rock Grandma and sing to her a little song he made up:

“You’re Daddy’s little curly head, your grandpa is a preacher. You like to go to Sunday School and listen to the preacher.”

In 1917, at the age of 18, Grandma moved to the Liberal, Mo. area with her cousin Ray Brooks and his new bride, her best friend, Gladys. She went to work for Mae and Charles Hoop. On February 8, 1919, she married Charles’ brother, Karl Watson Hoop in Lamar, Mo. Grandma was married to Grandpa Hoop for about 16 years and together they shared the joy of eight children. On September 20, 1935, in the middle of the Great Depression, Grandpa Hoop died. Almost nine years later, on January 17, 1944 Grandma married Bufford (Pete) Reeder in Kansas City.

I know from the family stories that Grandpa Pete did some farming, but, in my memories, I knew him as a carpenter and more importantly as a hunter and a fisherman. I remember spending the night on the “duo-fold” in the living room drifting to sleep watching the orange embers glow in the coal-burning stove. Grandma would wake me before dawn and serve us breakfast. After breakfast she would hand Grandpa a thermos of very black coffee and me a bag of cookies. Grandpa and I would crawl into the old gray Chevy and be off to hunt our quarry. Grandpa Pete died on September 12, 1967 and we laid him to rest on my birthday, September 15.

The trip to Grandma’s house was always a treat because she had a way of making each of us special. Recently, I was stunned to find out that Sissy had the audacity to think that she and not I was Grandma’s favorite grandchild. My world really started to crumble when I found out that Maricia, Kim, Connie, Nancy, well, just about all of us thought we were her favorite. And as those of us who are parents know that it was possible that through the miracle of God’s love that all of us were each in our own way, her favorite.

About 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, 2002 Grandma was rushed by ambulance to Mount Carmel Hospital in Pittsburg, Ks. We were told that she wouldn’t make it through the night. I’m not sure the hospital was ready for the ensuing invasion as at least 26 people ( by Maricia’s count) that crowded her room, the halls, and the waiting room. The staff marveled at what a great tribute of love this was and we proudly informed them that this was just the tip of the iceberg.

The night turned into a 49-hour vigil. As the Apostles watched and prayed with Jesus the night before His death, we watched and prayed with Grandma. About 7:15 p.m., Monday, May 6, 2002 Mom, Aunt Mary, Corky and Margaret Walker, my sister Becky, and myself gathered around Grandma’s bed, held hands and prayed that the Lord would receive Grandma into his loving care. It was as if Grandma had been waiting for her nephew to come and pray with her because she quietly surrendered her spirit at 7:25 p.m.

I am sure that she was greeted by a whole host of people which included her parents, her daughter Lorene Wilson; her sons Norman (Tuffy) and Robert (Bob) Hoop; sisters Edith Hart and Wilma Abiehl; brothers Othol, Hollis (who particularly looked after her in this life), Vester, Clyde, Raymond, and Kenneth Walker; 1 favorite grandson; and 6 favorite great-grandchildren.

Mary, through her son Jesus, left the world a legacy of love. Grandma’s legacy of love includes: Daughters Nadine Egender of Okarche, Ok., Deloris Goodloe of Claremore, Ok., Bonnie Compton of Pittsburg, Ks. and Mary Houghton of Mulberry, Ks.; one son, Carl Howard Hoop of Gainesville, Tx.; two brothers, Everett Walker of St. Joseph, Mo. and Howard Walker of Sequim, Wash.; 34 favorite grandchildren; 90 favorite great-grandchildren; 40 favorite great-great grandchildren; and two favorite great-great-great-grandchildren.

And, in a few short minutes we will go and lay her to rest in the garden named for one of her favorite flowers.

Thank you, Grandma. Go in Peace!


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