Mary Jo Pflumm

Mary Jo (Gepford) Pflumm, 86, of Shawnee, Kansas, passed away peacefully on Thursday, November 19th, 2020, at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission, due to complications from Covid-19 and Alzheimer's disease.

Her faith was always foremost in her life and she was an active member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church for over 60 years. She volunteered for many church events such as the St Joseph's Table, the Fall Festival and the countless hours she attended Adoration with Carol Nachbar Morgan, her neighbor of 57 years. She always looked forward to helping with the parish Blood Drives and visiting with donors and the parishioners that participated.

Her love of baseball and the Kansas City Royals was shared with a small group of ‘Loyal Royals' friends, at her home on Friday evenings during the season, as they hooted and hollered while enjoying conversation and snacks.  She loved her parish family so much, which was especially evident on New Year's Eve when she welcomed into her home numerous family, friends and priests, who had an entertaining night visiting, enjoying a variety of hors' d'oeuvres and drinks, and singing Christmas carols around her piano.

Her love of traveling took her to many places such as: Medjugorje, Rome, Palm Springs, California and countless other locations that she visited with a variety of family and friends.

Most of all, she adored her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  Through the years, she enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren, such as trips to the plaza for a day of fun and shopping, attending many sporting events of all sorts and the countless sleep overs, that ended with her special recipe waffles the next morning.  For more than 20 years, after attending 9:00 mass on Sunday morning's, a variety of family members would visit and cook breakfast at her home. Her center island in the kitchen was the congregation point for all family functions, where conversations of many subjects were discussed.  Summers were spent by her pool, as she enjoyed all of her family and friends that came over to enjoy the beautiful setting. She was meticulous about her flowers and constantly assuring they were well manicured and attended to.

She was a loving and caring, mother, grandmother and friend and was admired by so many, as well as her parish family.  Her wonderful smile will surely be missed and she will forever be in our hearts.

Mary Jo is preceded in death by her husband, Clarence Henry ‘Bud' Pflumm Jr., of 36 years, her mother, Marjorie (Sixta-Gepford) Hector, her father, Rolland T Gepford, Sr., brother, Rolland ‘Teddy' Gepford, Jr., and brother-in-law, Ron Pflumm.  She is survived by her sister in-laws, Clarine (Pflumm) Fox and Kathy (Pflumm) Hoelting, along with her children,  Steven M. (Rose), David M. (Leeann), Cynthia A. Pflumm and Daniel P. (Julie) Pflumm, 15 grandchildren, Rae (Cunningham) (Nathan) Law, Jill (Pflumm) Barrier, Adam (Kelly) Cunningham,  Dustin (Linzie) Pflumm, Christopher Pflumm, Michelle Pflumm, Arielle Pflumm, Cassie (Cunningham) Miller, Bernard ‘Bud' Pflumm, Austin Pflumm, Tanner (Regan) Pflumm, Caitlin Pflumm, Josh Pflumm, Taylor Pflumm and Tristan Pflumm. Ten (10) great grandchildren, Ivy, Edith, Emerson, Henry, Atticus, Wade, Mavis, Elliott, Lucy and Weston.

We would like to thank all of the Priests and parishioners of St. Joseph Catholic Church, that have touched her life with their prayers and support. We would like to thank AdventHealth Shawnee Mission doctors, nurses and staff for taking such wonderful care of our mother and our family through this difficult time.  We would also like to thank the countless caregivers that took care of our mother these past three years, specifically Carol Nachbar Morgan, Leroy Davis and Tammy Rieke.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, December 12th, 2020, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Shawnee, Kansas. To watch a livestream of Mary Jo’s service click here.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to her beloved church of 60 years, St. Joseph Catholic Church, 11311 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, KS 66203.