Mary Margaret Drackert, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, passed away on September 19, 2025, at the age of 99 at McCrite Plaza at Briarcliff. A visitation will be held at St. Gabriel Archangel Parish, located at 4737 N Cleveland Ave, Kansas City, MO 64117, on September 25, 2025, from 9:30 am to 10:30 am. Following the visitation, a Rosary will take place at the same location from 10:30 am to 11:00 am. The Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled to occur at St. Gabriel Archangel Parish on September 25, 2025, from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm.
Mary was born in rural Moniteau County, Missouri, to Malcolm E. Hickcox and Clara Slaton Hickcox on December 22, 1925. She lived on a farm and attended Harmony School where her sister Catherine taught her through the sixth grade. During this time her Aunt Annie taught her how to play the piano, a skill Mary went on to teach many others. Her family moved to California, Missouri as she began her 7th grade year. In 1943 she graduated from California High School. She went on to spend her first year of college in Springfield, Missouri, and then on to the University of Missouri in Columbia, studying piano and voice.
On May 8, 1948, she married Louis F. Drackert at Saint Andrew Catholic Church, in Tipton, Missouri. They made their home in Kansas City, where they raised five beautiful children. She also had eight lovely grandchildren whom she made feel special by attending all their events.
Mary began teaching private piano lessons in North Kansas City in the early 1950s and taught until she was 95 years old. She shared her love of music with hundreds of students over the years. Mary also worked as a bookkeeper for Ball’s Super Food Stores from 1969 until she retired from there in 1987. One of her greatest joys in life was being at the lake of the Ozarks water skiing and boating with her family.
Mary and Louis were founding members of Saint Gabriel Catholic Church. They were active members, with all five children attending Saint Gabriel Catholic School. Mary was an active participant in the Saint Gabriel Church Choir for twenty years.
She lived and witnessed many life-changing events over nearly 100 years, being part of the World War II Great Generation. Mary was a strong, quietly determined person, who cared deeply about her family, the entire Drackert-Hickcox-Heiman clan, and who fought to live independently for as long as she could. She was a beloved wife and mother. Mary will be dearly missed by her family and friends.
Mary was preceded in death by her husband Louis F. Drackert, both of her parents, her three sisters Ola Sutton, Catherine Scott, Asenath Stokes, her nephew Brent Scott, and two nieces Cynthia Nelson and Judy Stokes. She is survived by her five children Rita LeVota (Joe), Margie MacLeod (Jim), Louis J. Drackert III (Helen), Debby Lightner (Roy), Dolores Laubach (Larry), her eight grandchildren Dr. Louis M Drackert IV (Sabrina), David MacLeod (Liz), Mark LeVota (Janet), Mike Drackert (Lisa), Roy R. Lightner, Patrick LeVota, Robert MacLeod, and Melissa Louise Bock (Matt), and six great grandchildren Mischa Drackert, Louis Cole Drackert V, Fiona MacLeod, Eden Drackert, Louise Bock, and Blake Drackert.
The graveside service will be conducted at St Andrews Catholic Cemetery, in Tipton, MO 65081, on September 25, 2025, from 3:30 pm to 4:00 pm. The family suggests donations to the American Stroke Association or Saint Gabriel Catholic Church.
