Funeral services for Margaret Hess of Hume, Missouri will be 10 a.m. Monday, January 5, 2026 at Schowengerdt Funeral Chapel (660-679-6555) in Butler, Missouri. Visitation will be 4 - 6 p.m. Sunday, January 4 at the Schowengerdt Chapel. Burial in Underwood Cemetery, Hume. Contributions to Underwood Cemetery or charity of choice. Online condolences www.schowengerdtchapel.com.
Margaret Edith Hess, age 97 of Hume, Missouri died Saturday, December 27, 2025 at Freeman Hospital in Joplin, Missouri. She was born April 21, 1928 to Irvie Maxie and Maude Elizabeth Ewan Wilson south of Hume, Missouri.
Margaret attended grade school at Wolf and graduated from Metz High School in 1946. Following high school, Margaret attended secretarial school in Kansas City, Missouri–all the while, being a nanny for a family and spending a summer in New York with them. Following secretarial school, Margaret was employed by Western Insurance in Fort Scott, Kansas.
Margaret was united in marriage to Marvin Hess on September 9, 1953 at the Underwood Church. She was a homemaker and active farm wife, working with cattle and in the fields alongside her husband. Margaret enjoyed family, events that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren participated in, reading and fishing. She also served on the Underwood Cemetery Board.
Margaret is survived by two daughters, Marlene Clark and husband Gary of Monett, Missouri and Marthena Spainhoward and husband Scott of Uniontown, Kansas; five grandchildren, Ash Clark and wife Melanie, Garrett Clark and wife Cara, Mitchel Spainhoward and wife Brandi, Luke Spainhoward and wife Jayme and Kaitlin Spainhoward; seven great-grandchildren; and one brother, Marvin Wilson of Prairie Village, Kansas. Margaret was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Marvin (12-21-2013); and one sister, Maxine Henty.