Melanie M. Larkin

Melanie Margaret Martin Larkin of Moberly died Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at her home, surrounded by family, after a lengthy illness. She was born in Marquette, Michigan, the ninth child of 11 born to Wilfrid and Marie (Cabocel) Martin. She admitted to being over 60 years old. Melanie graduated from Bishop Baraga High School in Marquette with exceptional skills in shorthand and typing, and worked for many years as a secretary. In Marquette she worked for the Duluth, South Shore, and Atlantic Railway. In Moberly she worked for the Moberly Vocational School, Moberly Area Junior College, and St. Pius X Church. Melanie met Jack Larkin in Marquette, and they married November 12, 1949. They moved to Merrill, WI, then Moberly. They had five loving and devoted daughters - Tamsen, Colleen, Melanie, Merrill, and Robin - in 11 years. Jack was a newsman on KWIX and KRES in Moberly, and Melanie participated in a morning show with him called Four Queens and a Jack. Melanie was a member of St. Pius X Church in Moberly. There she taught CCD, participated in the prison ministry with her husband, a deacon, played the organ and sang in the choir, coordinated the St. Vincent DePaul food baskets program, served on the school board, and was active in the Home and School Association at St. Pius X School. In 1993 Melanie read the obituary of a US Senator who wrote a letter each week to his grandchildren, and began the tradition herself that year. Over the next 20 years she wrote 938 of the letters to her 11 very proud grandchildren who called her Grandmama. She told stories of her childhood, their mothers’ lives growing up, news of Moberly, and her thoughts and lessons that all appreciated. Each grandchild eagerly awaited the mail when Grandmama Letters were set to arrive each week. Melanie was preceded in death by her father Wilfrid, her mother Marie (who lived to 102) and eight beloved brothers and sisters - Gus, Jack, George, Ange, Francis, Mary, Everesta, and Dick - and her husband, John Day Larkin, III. She is proudly survived by her siblings Vickie and Philip, those five blessed daughters, their husbands (The Larkin Boys), 11 grandchildren plus two granddaughters-in-law, and countless wonderful nieces and nephews. Her daughters and their families are: Tamsen and Tom Kiehnhoff of Houston, TX, and John and Daniel; Colleen Larkin and George Coates of Berkeley, CA, and Grace; Melanie and Tom Holtzclaw of Moberly, MO, and Emily, Nathan and Jordan, Brennan and Christa, and Caitlin; Merrill and Dave Koenig of O’Fallon, MO, and Tyler and Phillip; Robin and Alex Labrunerie of Columbia, MO, and August and Lark. A visitation will be held in her honor Friday, April 10, 2015, from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the St. Pius X Church. An additional visitation will be held Saturday, April 11, 2015, from 9:30a.m. until10:30 a.m. at Million Taylor Funeral Homes. A mass of Christian burial will be held at 11:00 at St. Pius X on Saturday, April 11, 2015. Burial will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery. Her family hopes all who loved her will attend. Donations may be made to the St. Vincent DePaul Food Basket Program, the St. Pius School Foundation, or the Alzheimer’s Association. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Melanie M. Larkin please visit our Sympathy Store.