Naomi Lorene Vance

Naomi Lorene Vance, (nee Lewis) of Saint Charles, Missouri, passed away Friday, September 6, 2019 at the age of 96. She is the loving mother of Jack L. (Maria) Vance and Dan C. (Kathleen) Vance; and treasured grandmother of Lauren, Stephanie, Jason, Sarah, and Michael.

Naomi was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Joseph E. Vance; her parents, George W. Lewis and Minnie B. Lynch; and her sisters, Ruby Hines and Vivian Hartman, and her brother, George Lewis, Jr.

Naomi was a wonderful woman who led a fulfilling life in a fast-changing world, and whose greatest trait was her ability to face life’s adversities with strength, perseverance and grace. A farm girl from southern Missouri, she worked with her sister in a munitions factory in St. Louis during the Second World War. Naomi’s first teaching position was in a one-room (grades 1-9) schoolhouse where she rode her horse to school and chopped firewood for the potbellied stove. After accompanying her husband Joe to Colorado during his tour with the Air Force, she and Joe moved around southern Missouri to Kansas City, Springfield, Crocker, and Rolla, before locating in St. Charles in 1968. There, Naomi became involved in real estate, becoming an award-winning agent, before returning to education as a teacher’s aide at St. Charles High School. Naomi found great joy in her family, her faith, her many friends at St. Charles High School and St. Charles First Baptist Church, and, of course, her beloved St. Louis Cardinals. May she rest in peace.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association or  Joseph E. Vance Scholarship Fund for St. Charles High School Graduates.