Posted: Monday, July 7, 2008 12:00 am
Nov. 4, 1911 - July 4, 2008
Rennie Lunette Mulkey, 96, of Albany passed away Friday.
She was born in Wetumka, Okla., to Exa and Lorenzo Shawhan.
She grew up in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri, where her father was a U.S. Marshal, carpenter and home builder. Lunette attended school in Kansas City, Mo, and graduated with honors at the age of 17. When the depression of 1929 struck, she went to work to help support her family.
Lunette married William I. Mulkey on Oct. 20, 1934. They lived in Kansas City, where she taught herself to make slipcovers and draperies, while William learned the upholstery trade. In 1939, they moved to Moberly, Mo., and established a business. Between 1947 and 1965 the business expanded to three Ethan Allen franchises in Moberly, Columbia, and Jefferson City, Mo. During those and subsequent years, Lunette was a wife, mother, accountant, business woman, seamstress, decorator and Sunday School teacher. Despite all of her duties she always found time for her three sons; teaching them the value of hard work and education. She believed she was capable of doing anything she set her mind to and taught her children to hold the same belief.
While raising her family in Missouri, she contributed articles to the local newspaper about family life, church, gardening and other topics. She loved to write prose and poetry, which she continued to do after moving to Albany in 1988. She and her husband gave their children the gift of an education. All three graduated from college and two have received doctorates.
Lunette was a member of a local book club, Daughters of the American Revolution, a bridge club and the United Presbyterian Church. A letter written to her children before her death speaks to the strength of her character: "God did not give us a spirit of fear. He gave us a spirit of power - the Spirit of Love - and granted us a mind to use this gift to benefit ourselves and others."
She is survived by her three sons and six grandchildren.
Lunette was preceded in death by her three sisters and her husband of 67 years, William I. Mulkey.
The family will attend a graveside memorial service at the Liberty Methodist Cemetery in Monett, Mo. Contributions in honor of Lunette Mulkey can be made to the Friends of the Library Association in care of Fisher Funeral Home, 306 Washington St S.W., Albany, OR 97321.
Fisher Funeral Home is handling arrangements (www.fisherfuneralhome.com).