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Rita Carol Costello
11/27/1934 - 04/06/2023
Advance, Missouri
| Visitation: | 04/10/2023 |
| Service: | 04/10/2023 |
Rita Carol Costello died April 6, 2023 at Cypress Point Skilled Nursing in Dexter, MO. She was born November 27, 1934 in Dongola, MO to Norman Robert Shell and Rita Mae (Sample) Shell, and was preceded in death by her parents, all eleven of her brothers and sisters, and her son and daughter-in-law Steve and Shandra Costello. She is survived by her daughters: Maura (Jimmy) Cluck, Kathleen (Rick) Slagely five grandchildren: Liam (Kristi) Costello, Bobby Ranschburg, Caleigh (Sam) Sulcer, Ty Costello, and Claire Costello three step-grandchildren: Jason (Mercedes) Cluck, Justin (Jen) Cluck, and Tonya Kennedy six step-great grandchildren: Paxton and Kimmi White, Dawsynn Kennedy, Bryan, Marissa, and Landon Cluck one brother-in-law Edwin Beaver VanGennip dear friends: Mary Canney, Shabie Bird, and Darla Bohnsack, as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. She asked that her honorary pallbearers be her nieces LaDonna Juden, Denise Gatto, Marie Kohler, Jeanie Baumgardner, Monica Rhodes, Sissy VanGennip, and cousins Sandy Long and Debbie VanGennip.
Carol loved to travel and always appreciated opportunities to live close to family. After high school, she moved to Houston, TX, to be near two of her sisters, then to several cities in Missouri before joining the Air Force and eventually starting a family in the San Francisco bay area. She returned to Advance in 1977 to be near family and lived there for the final 46 years of her life. No matter where she lived, she was a source of support, love, and affection for not only her own kids and grandkids, but also served as a maternal figure to her extended family and anyone else they would bring around.
Carol credited the one-room schoolhouse in Dongola for instilling in her a love of reading. A lifelong learner, after graduating from Advance High School, she often took college courses at nearby institutions. She was also actively involved in the education of her children and grandchildren, helping them with homework and always encouraging them to read, read, read.
As a child, Carol tended to her family and their farm, doing laundry in the creek and helping her mother with the chickens. As an adult, she worked as an operator for the telephone company, delivered mail for the post office, and knocked on doors for the census bureau, among other things, but she retired from Bollinger and Stoddard County Real Estate and Insurance where she was a secretary for more than two decades.
Carol Costello had profound appreciation for family and community, an unwaveringly kind and generous spirit, and an unparalleled capacity for love. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her.
A visitation will be held Monday, April 10, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Morgan Funeral Chapel in Advance, MO. A memorial service will be held at 12:00 p.m. Burial will follow at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, MO.
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