Mathilde Margareta “Tillie” Compton

Mathilde Margareta “Tillie” Rupertus was born on August 20, 1929, in Landstuhl, Germany, the youngest of 5 children, to Heinrich and Anna Weidler Rupertus.

She is preceded in death by her parents, brother, Erich, and 3 sisters, Anni, Betty and Liesl, as well as her husband, Calvin Eugene “Tex” Compton, who passed away July 6, 1995. They had been married for 43 years. She is survived by her adopted and only daughter, Pam (Chuck) Treu, whom she always called Pamela, of Lee’s Summit, MO, two granddaughters, Ashley Callahan of Lee’s Summit, MO, Kaylen (Stuart) Dwyer, of Upland, IN, and two great-grandsons, Ashton and Dayton.

Growing up in Germany during the Great Depression, the family was relatively poor and it was a special treat if her mother would bring home a banana for her at the end of the week. Her sister, Liesl went to live with an aunt in East Germany, and they lost contact.  Her other two sisters, 8 and 9 years older than her, used to threaten to lock her up in the cellar "with the rats" if she did not behave and obey them. Whether or not there were any rats remains a mystery.  Her mother called her “Mathilchen” (Mah-TIL-shen), “-chen” being something that is small, so it was a cute nickname.

She lived through the rise and fall of Hitler’s Third Reich.  The children were raised Catholic like their father, instead of Lutheran, like their mother.  They, like most Germans, were unaware of Hitler's plans to eliminate the Jews.  However, she had her own war stories.  Once, a band of American soldiers were driving by in their Jeeps, and stopped and ransacked the house, robbing them, taking what they wanted.  They took Tillie's accordion, which she loved, that her father had bought her.  She had just started learning how to play it.  She never got another one.  Another incident happened when she and her sister, Betty, were home alone.  They heard war planes and huddled in the cellar together.  Tillie panicked and ran back up the steps and outside, while Betty yelled after her to come back.  Tillie ran across the street to the wooded hill, and a plane dove down and shot at her as she ran.  She found a place in the woods to hide, under a rock outcropping.  A search party was launched and she heard them, including her mother, calling out her name, but she was too afraid to answer, so she stayed under the rock until they found her.

Tillie was smart and tested into an advanced school in Kaiserslautern.  She had to walk to the train depot and catch the train to and from school every day.  She excelled in math, and was very interested in English, but did not enjoy German class. She thought it was boring. She didn't recall learning much science or Bible stories, either.  Their Catholic church services were in Latin, and nobody understood Latin.  She knew about God, and the Holy Mother, and God's Son, Jesus, who died on the cross.  She did not question those things.

At 17, while visiting her sister, Anni, in the town of Hof, Anni introduced her to a 21-year-old American soldier. Tillie risked getting in trouble with her father and hid the relationship as long as she could.  Five years later, they were married in her hometown of Landstuhl, on March 29th, 1952, before Tex was set to return to the U.S. with the Army.

Afterwards, Tillie set out alone, first stopping in Paris and visiting the Eiffel Tower, where she left her wallet with passport and ship ticket, at the top.  A worker picked them up and returned them to her when she went back to look for them.  She was so scared that someone would have stolen them, and she would have been stranded. She made her way to Le Havre and boarded the S. S. United States for its maiden voyage. It is known for setting a speed record at the time and is larger than the Titanic. www.ssusc.org.

Her first job was as a waitress in Dolores, CO as a young wife, which didn’t last long, once she was told to clean the toilets, went home in tears, and Tex marched back to the restaurant with her to inform the owner that his wife would not be cleaning toilets for 50 cents an hour.  She then remained a housewife for at least 25 years, until she got a part time job at a clothing sample shop close to the dance studio which Pamela attended.

She sacrificed her 40s and 50s to raising Pamela, whom she adopted at 36, with Tex, who was 40. She was the quintessential stay-at-home mom. She cleaned, cooked, did the laundry, paid the bills and watered the roses. She enrolled Pamela in all kinds of lessons, from roller skating lessons, ice skating lessons, tap, ballet, classical ballet, and acrobat lessons, guitar lessons, tennis lessons and even skiing lessons. They traveled together to Germany twice, when Pamela was 2 and again when she was 7.  Long family vacations were an annual event, in the RV trailer, where Tillie cooked and cleaned while everyone else enjoyed a fun, relaxing time.  She made sure Tex and Pamela were aware of this.  They visited sites from Canada to California to Florida, skipping the Northeast altogether.

She volunteered in the elementary school library for several years while Pamela was young. The neighborhood children loved her, as she was known for sewing eyes back onto teddy bears, making sandwiches, ordering pizza, taxiing them with Pamela to movies, the mall, the pool, Royals games, concerts and vacations, always paying their way, buying their tickets and handing them spending money.

She loved cats, but had to switch to the non-shedding Poodles, as Pamela was allergic to their long-haired cat, Mitzi.

Tillie was never shy and regularly made fast and dear friends wherever she went, from the church to the casino.  Her house in Merriam, KS, where she lived for 50 years, was a popular hangout place for neighbors and drop-ins.  She was always hospitable and made sure everyone was fed and comfortable, and always had a variety of beverages on hand to offer.

She prided herself on speaking her mind and “telling it like it is.” She was fiercely independent and generally had a dislike for people who had the need to be in charge of something.  She was stubborn and didn’t like to be told what she should do and always fought, til the very end, to have her way. She butted heads with anyone else who had a strong personality, including the CNAs whom she encountered more recently, in rehab and the skilled nursing unit, when they tried to have her get up, get out of her room, and be more active.  She insisted that she didn't feel good and that they couldn't make her do anything she didn't want to.

She was compassionate and caring with the less fortunate.  She cried when she saw a vanload of challenged adults and their caregivers at Antioch Park.  She always donated to MDA, the Salvation Army, and worked on the March of Dimes campaigns.  When she sold her house in 2016, she donated the entirety of her furniture to Syrian refugees in Kansas City, and all of her beautiful suits, dresses and shoes to the Salvation Army. She never cared about making money and was never interested in having garage sales.  She would rather donate.

She was a great babysitter and loved her granddaughters and grandsons very much, as well as her son-in-law.  She grew less able to attend family functions and outings, and accommodations were always made or attempted, to make sure she felt included. She appreciated others' thoughtfulness toward her, especially in recent years, as her newer, younger neighbors, as well as her granddaughters stopped by frequently with soups and babies for her to admire, as well as running errands for her.

Tillie will be missed by all who knew her and who called her Mom, Oma, Tillie, Mrs. Compton, Mrs. C or Tante Tillie.

A visitation will be held Wednesday, June 20 at 10:00 am with a Funeral Service to follow at 11:00 am at Amos Family Funeral Home, 10901 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, Kansas 66203. Burial will follow at Maple Hill Cemetery.