Amelia G. Grose

Amelia G Grose went home to the arms of her Savior on Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at the age of 93. Beloved mother of Glen Grose, Elin Grose Tucker, Dale Grose; loving grandmother of Elisabeth Burkett, Amelia Tucker, and Nathaniel Tucker; Amelia is preceded in death by her husband Gordon, her parents Eugenio and Bernadina Marza Castiglione, her son Glen, her sisters Flora and Julia, and her brother Freddy.

Named at birth, Amelia Guiseppina, she grew up as Amelia Grace in a foster home with her sisters in Bridgeport Connecticut.

She was a spunky tomboy always thinking of ways to help others and daring to do things well that some might think dangerous, especially for a girl. Although she had to stop formal education at age 16 because the state no longer would pay for foster care, she had a natural talent for seeing how things could be made and plenty of common sense. She was a genuine "Rosey the Riveter" during WW2 working at Remington Arms as a bullet sizer.

Her belief in the Bible as God’s word led her to a church where "We speak where the Bible speaks and are silent where the Bible is silent" and there she met Gordon. The company he worked for moved to Texas, but those who moved there wrote about it being hard to grow things there. Amelia was such a lover of nature and gardening that he found a job with McDonnell Aircraft in Missouri. They soon were lifelong supporters of Overland Church of Christ.

She dedicated her front and back yards to her love of birds and squirrels and children. When her own children were growing up she built a two story tree house, on the ground, that stretched between two trees. Neighborhood children from blocks around would often come over to play in it. As Jesus said in Matthew 19:14 "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." and Mark 10:15 "Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." People would often write her letters telling her how much they loved her and reminiscing about things she did for them in their childhood. She was always helping strangers in need. A song she was often heard singing out in her yard was "O Happy Day".

She worked for the Happy Day Preschool at Overland Church of Christ where the little children called her grandma Amelia. Once Amelia learned to drive, she was taking all the widow ladies at church wherever they needed to go. Her motto as an adult was from James 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." Some of those widows became surrogate grandmothers for her children.

Her love for others was unconditional. She was never afraid to tell others about her love for Christ and to try to get her neighbors and strangers to be baptized.

She worked hard all her life. As a senior citizen, her hobby was collecting cans around the city of St. Ann, so she could recycle them and give the tabs to the Christian Academy.

A funeral service will be held at Alexander-White-Mullen Funeral Home on Tuesday, December 27th at 11 A. M. Visitation will be on Monday from 4-8 P. M. Interment at Mount Lebanon Cemetery.

In honor of Amelia, please make memorial donations to Christian Family Services or Christian Academy or Camp Ne-O-Tez.

Scripture references from Revised Standard Version (RSV).