With daughter Kristin and son John holding her hand, Mary Lou (Samples) Cremeans peacefully entered her heavenly home on December 15, 2022 at the age of 83 years in Springfield, Missouri after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s. Mary was born October 14, 1939 in Strange Creek, West Virginia to (James) Curtis and Lucille Samples. She was the youngest in a very large family that included half brothers and sisters, most much older than she. She met Charles (Charlie, Chuck) Cremeans at a revival meeting and they became high school sweethearts. They married on December 21, 1957. 

They lived in Chicago, south Florida, the Philadelphia area, Atlanta area, Fort Worth and then Springfield and Republic Missouri. They had three children: Kristin, John and Buddy, all born in Florida and raised there and in Pennsylvania. 

Mary was a gifted administrator. When she was finishing high school, she was scouted out and selected to move to Washington DC for her incredible typing skills. There she worked for J Edgar Hoover of the FBI in a typing pool. In Florida, Mary worked outside the home for lawyers while still being a great wife and mom. When Chuck was transferred to Pennsylvania, she became the administrative assistant to the CEO of National Liberty Corporation, Arthur DeMoss, continuing to educate herself and expand her skills. She was always a learner and a highly trusted and valued employee.

God called Chuck and Mary out of the business world into full-time evangelism in their mid-forties. They traveled across the country encouraging pastors and leadership in churches large and small, traveling in an RV and eventually in a bus. Mary was often behind the scenes, running the sound board and handling scheduling and correspondence with excellence, without the accolades she’d received in the business world. They traveled beyond the US borders to Wales to fill in for some missionaries and twice to China to visit Kristin and Jerry.

She and Chuck were always involved in church, and after no longer being able to travel they moved their membership to Seminole Baptist Temple.

She liked decorating and creating – crafting, sewing, doing watercolor painting of beautiful Fall landscapes and decorating her Pennsylvania home in an Early American style. She loved nature and seemed to find beauty everywhere she went. Mary was a writer of poetry and prose, and enjoyed using her language creativity when speaking to ladies’ gatherings. 

Mary delighted in her children, grand and great-grandchildren. No mother could have been more proud of her children and grands or prayed for them more. She loved to play! She’d tell you she had a kid inside of her. She liked to beat her grandkids in ping pong. Even when Alzheimer’s had robbed her of her mental clarity, she still enjoyed playing with her great-grandbabies. She was a loving and dedicated wife, mother, grandmother and friend.

Above all, Mary loved her Lord Jesus Christ! That love was evident in the kindness she showed to others and was part of who she was even in her last years…and she would tell you, “He is good!”

She was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Chuck Cremeans, and all her brothers and sisters. She is survived by her children, Kristin and Jerry Donovan of Nixa, Missouri, John and Jeana Cremeans of Ozark, Missouri, and Buddy and Debbie Cremeans of Ballston Spa, New York; grandchildren, Kelley Donovan Spencer, Kristi Donovan Smith, Katie Donovan Gooch, Alli Cremeans Kirk, Emily Cremeans Lumke, Bailey Cremeans, Drew Cremeans, Grace Cremeans,  Devin Cremeans and Natalie Cremeans; great-grandchildren, Ella, Jack and Levi Spencer, Sawyer, Truman and Fletcher Smith, and Forrest Kirk. 

She will be greatly missed by her family, friends, and so many lives she has touched. We look forward to seeing her again, healthy with her vibrant mind and smile full of love.

Visitation will be Tuesday, December 20, 2022 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Greenlawn Funeral Home East. Celebration of Life service will follow at 2:00 PM.