Laveta Mollus peacefully passed from this earth on January 18, 2025. Her life began in Fillmore Missouri on November 5, 1934. Raised on a farm with three older brothers to watch over her, Laveta quickly learned the importance of family, and hard work.
Being small in stature, but huge in personality, Laveta found favor with others because of her kind spirit. She was loyal and trustworthy, a huge reason that she had friendships that lasted a lifetime.
After graduating and leaving the farm, she moved to the “big city” of Saint Joseph, Missouri, renting her first apartment with her two cousins, Phyllis and Beverly. The three socialites got fancy jobs, wore fancy clothes, and were living a busy social life, when fate came knocking on her door. A random blind date with a tall handsome, polish man named Eugene Mollus, changed her path completely. That risky gamble ended up producing a loving marriage that lasted until his death in 1989.
That union blessed LaVeta with her greatest joy, her three children, who then brought her nine grandchildren, followed by twenty-one great-grandchildren.
Laveta loved to serve and feed people, opening her home to total strangers on multiple occasions if they did not have a place to go for the holidays. Many times, friends of her grandchildren would appear at mealtime, and Laveta would welcome them with open arms, telling them to call her “grandma“, and that they did. Food was one of the many ways she connected to her family and friends, her house always filled with delicious foods, some of her signature recipes still being replicated by her grandchildren, and we know, someday, great-grandchildren. Annual apple and peach picking to make homemade pies, candy making at Christmas, and legendary corned beef cooked for St. Patrick’s Day were just a few of the ways she would go the extra mile to make her people smile. Laveta was a hard worker, nothing frustrating her more than having to take a day off of work, and if you ever walked in and caught her napping, she would always say, “I’m not sleeping,“ because she hated feeling non-productive. This work ethic served her well in her employment at Heartland Hospital, slowly working her way up the career ladder to her coveted position as a dietary aid. This job was not only fulfilling for her, but she also loved the bonus of being able to walk around the hospital every day, greeting each patient personally with a smile, a job she was really good at. After retiring from Heartland, she kept herself busy serving at her church, and cheering on the local Mink league baseball team as a member of the Saint Joseph Diamond Club, for many years. Laveta was an avid reader, and a fierce lover of any and all games. From card games, to board games, to miniature golf, she would fight to win like she was competing for an Olympic medal. After winning, which she most often did, she would boast and trash talk, bringing her adversary to their knees, so they would always remember she was the champion.
Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis as a young woman, she never complained, even though the pain was sometimes so intense she could barely move. As she got older, her eyesight dimmed, her hearing became limited, and she was met with many medical challenges, but she refused to let it stop her from being her kind, feisty, sassy, funny self. That sense of humor lasted, even on her deathbed, bringing great laughter to her family and friends even as her last breaths were being breathed. Laveta was a sweet and compassionate person, honest, and was like a steel vault when it came to keeping a secret, and had a strong moral base. Getting baptized as a child in 1948, this set Laveta on a path of faith that lasted her until that faith took her home. Because her love of God was so strong and so real, her last days were filled with hope, peace, and longing to be with those who had already preceded her in death. She spoke freely and with joy, as she shared with her family that she did not want them angry with her that she was leaving, but that she really wanted to go and see her mama and daddy. The family takes comfort in knowing that that’s exactly who was greeting her when she left this earth.
Laveta will be greatly missed by those that knew her and loved her. Her life was spent, loving and serving others. As her light began to dim, she made it very clear that her purpose here on earth was to love God, and to love others. Those that surrounded her in her last days saw firsthand the life lesson that she taught us all, that those two simple things is what really makes a person successful at the end of their lives.
Laveta is proceeded in death by her parents, Lloyd and Ermile Proffit, her brothers, Charles, Dean, Gerald, a sister Mary Lou, and her husband, Eugene Mollus.
Survivors include: son, Rodney (Stacey) Mollus; daughter, Linda (John) Kennedy; Dawn (Matt) Andrews; and as previously mentioned many beautiful grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A Celebration of Life will be at Heaton-Bowman-Smith-Sidenfaden Chapel, Wednesday, January 22, 2025. Visitation will begin at 10 am, followed by funeral proceedings at 11am.
