Conwell, Ruby Louise October 14, 1938 - August 14, 2013

Ruby Louise “Bunny” Conwell was born October 14, 1938 in Kansas City, Missouri to William N. and Pearl I. (Elliott) Bloom. She passed away August 14, 2013 at her home. Left behind to honor her memory Bunny leaves 4 children, a daughter, Pamela Bushdiecker of Osceola, 3 sons James Mart, Roy Mart and Tracy Conwell of Osceola, 9 grandchildren., Joseph DeJesus of Osceola, Kristy DeJesus of Calif., Marie Neilson of Columbia, Mo, Jeremy Mart of Osceola, Skylar Mart of Clinton, Mo, Monty Isaac of Osceola, Roy Lee Mart Jr. of Calif., Ruby Cashell of Warrensburg, Mo and James Cashell of Osage Beach, Mo along with 7 great grandchildren. Because Bunny had a very special gift in a son named Tracy she dedicated many years to helping people with disabilities.  In Calif. she worked tirelessly with the Harbor Foundation where Tracy attended schools and workshops and soon was elected president of the Parents Assoc.  She worked constantly on activities and fundraisers to help the Foundation. She not only gave a lot of her time but she was always a contributor of any money she could afford. She was always very involved with the Special Olympics. Bunny was one of the most generous people we know.  She couldn’t stand to see people in need and gave to most every charity that sent her a piece of mail.  She had the softest heart for a sad story.  Her greatest gift was her generosity.  She was never one to brag but we knew how she asked the mailman to bring her letters from local kids to Santa.  She would fulfill those lists and anonymously deliver the gifts to the children before Christmas.  She adopted a couple of families each year at Christmas and tried to make total strangers happy.  Many times she bought school supplies for children she didn’t even know but heard of their need.  Bunny was also very giving to her family…all of her family, even the extended family.  She helped out never expecting to be re-paid.   The holidays were all very special to Bunny.  She made it sound like she was doing all the decorating and preparations for Tracy but she never fooled anybody.  We all know she loved it as much as Tracy did.  Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween… it didn’t matter.  She made a big deal out of them all.  Christmas was especially important to her.  She put out more decorations, bought more gifts, invited more people for a huge dinner than anybody else.  Her living room would be so full of people and gifts and chaos but that was the way she loved it.  She also loved to cheer people up with cards.  She always had numerous cards on hand to send for any occasion or for “just because”. It was one of those very thoughtful things she did for people all the time. It was always nice to get a card in the mail from Bunny for no particular reason other than to say I love you. One of her biggest legacies is the work she did to start a workshop for the disabled people in and around Henry County, Mo.  She worked many months getting the money, volunteers, supplies, government approval, contracts, etc to get her dream off the ground.  When they were finally ready to open she was so proud of the accomplishment of starting Henry County Industries in Clinton.  After more than 15 years it is still going strong and providing work for people with varying disabilities so that they can have a sense of self-sufficiency in earning their own money and also to have the camaraderie of friends like themselves.