- Date Of Birth: February 12, 1911
- Date Of Death: July 9, 2007
- State: Missouri
Maurice Reyburn Cape, 96, was born on February 12, 1911 and died on July 9, 2007. He was the son of Jesse M. and Amy P. Cape and a lifelong resident of Crawford County. He was predeceased by a brother, Wilber, and a sister, Brenda Riebel. Maurice was united in marriage to Kathryn White in 1935 and to that union, were born Donna Eaker, now of Brookfield, Connecticut, and Kay Marik of New Hope, Pennsylvania. Kathryn pre-deceased Maurice in 1986. He then married Winnie McMillan who passed away in 2005. Considering the combined families, Maurice is survived by his sister, Wilma Earls of Steelville; daughter, Donna and her husband Thomas, daughter Kay and her husband Jaromir; and a step-son, R. Bruce McMillan and his wife Virginia of Springfield, Illinois. He leaves to mourn his passing, 8 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren; and a number of nieces and nephews.
Maurice was a member of the Steelville Presbyterian Church for more than 80 years and served the congregation in many capacities including clerk of the congregation, treasurer, elder, and was one of the original gGroundhogs. During the 1960¡¦s, he envisioned and coordinated the Lord¡¦s Herd Project which was instrumental in funding the rebuilding of the Presbyterian Church. He was employed by the First Community National Bank in 1935 as a teller and janitor and ended his employment in the bank 45 years later serving as Vice President and Senior Loan Officer. Subsequent to his retirement in 1980, he became a member of the Bank¡¦s Board of Directors culminating in a total of 67 years service with the bank. Maurice¡¦s avid interest in farming began early in his life and he always spent any available hours in the development of his farming projects. During World War II and for a period of years thereafter, he operated a dairy farm{milking, bottling, and delivering milk. He then transferred his operation to beef cattle and maintained a large cow-calf herd for many years staying active in its management until recently. He was a charter and active member of the Crawford County Farm Bureau, a charter and lifetime member of the Ozark Trail Blazers, a charter member of the National Cattlemen¡¦s Association, the Missouri Cattlemen¡¦s Association, and the Crawford County Cattlemen¡¦s Association. Maurice was an active participant in a wide variety of Missouri Agriculture Extension and Crawford County Extension activities. For many years Maurice served on the Board of Directors of the Interstate Producers Livestock Association, a marketing association that served farmers in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. During that time he was instrumental in the development of IPLA¡¦s auction marketing center located in Cuba, Missouri. He has been honored with many awards from the University of Missouri for his achievements and contributions furthering agriculture.
A service of celebration of the life of Maurice Cape was held Friday, July 13, 2007 at the Steelville Presbyterian church with Rev.
