Funeral: 4 p.m. March 25 at Adams Funeral Home, Ozark. Burial followed 10 a.m. March 26 at Hazelwood Cemetery. Donations may be made to The Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington D.C. 20090.
Charlotte Anne Bennett Mayberry of Springfield died Wednesday, March 21, 2018. She was born Jan. 26, 1940, to Lyman Lawrence Bennett and Nancy Fanetta (Roberts) Bennett. Charlotte grew up in Springfield and lived very close to the corner of Oak Grove Lane and Sunshine Street. Her grandparents, Bessie (Calkins) and Edgar A. Bennett, lived in the house right next door. These two houses were very recently torn down. Her father worked for the U.S. Medical Center in Springfield until he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and the family moved to Bremerton Washington in 1943. They lived in military housing at Port Orchard located near the Puget Sound, and they remained in Washington until Lyman shipped out on the U.S.S. Mifflin hospital ship. The family returned to Springfield where Charlotte walked to Oak Grove Elementary school every day. She then attended Central High School for two years until 1956. The family were members of the Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church in Springfield.
After a difficult job-related injury her father retired from the Springfield Medical Center and purchased a farm in Ozark in 1956. Charlotte attended Ozark High School during her junior and senior years and met Tom Mayberry on a blind date after a basketball game during her last year at Ozark High School. She graduated from Ozark High School in 1958, and attended the University of Missouri in 1958, hoping to pursue a degree in the medical profession. She returned to Springfield and worked in the laboratory at St. John’s Hospital. She married Tom Mayberry on Sept. 8, 1960. They had three children. Bennett Stuart was born April 1, 1961, Melissa Jaye was born December 19, 1963, and Mariann was born May 25, 1965.
Tom's mother Ruby (Handley) Mayberry taught first grade at Ozark Elementary School and she convinced Charlotte to pursue a degree in teaching. Charlotte attended SMSU and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1970. Charlotte taught in the Branson Elementary school district as a fifth-grade teacher from 1970 until 1976, while Tom worked as the Comptroller for Silver Dollar City in Branson. When Tom was hired by the Mariott Corporation to work at the Six Flags Great America theme park in Gurnee, Illinois in 1976, the family moved to McHenry, Illinois. Charlotte attended Northern Illinois University and received a certificate in special education. She worked in the Illinois state teacher's system in the public schools of Marengo, Highland Park and Grass Lake, and ended her career teaching at Larkin High School in Elgin. Charlotte retired in 1994. Tom retired from Six Flags in 1998, and the couple traveled in their RV to many destinations in the U.S.
Charlotte and Tom returned to live in Ozark and Springfield in 2000, and continuing to travel in their RV, often to south Texas. Tom and Charlotte were members of Schweitzer United Methodist Church in Springfield.
Charlotte is preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Handley Mayberry; son Bennett Stuart Mayberry; daughter Mariann Mayberry; parents Lyman Bennett and Nancy (Roberts) Bennett; mother-in-law Ruby Jaye Mayberry; father-in-law Rollin Mayberry; and nephews Billie Dale and Kevin Young.
She is survived by her sister, Nancy Carolyn (Bennett) Young of Ozark; daughter Melissa Jaye (Mayberry) Hollander with husband Andrew and grandchildren Madeline Elise and David Thomas of Simsbury, Connecticut; son-in-law Scott Jaeck of New York City, New York; nieces Carolyn Anne Summers of Hollister and Nancy Elizabeth (Beth) Coffer of Fair Grove; and nephew Stephen Andrew Young of Ozark.
