Veronica Marie Schaffer Pickett

Veronica Marie (Schaffer) Pickett, 87, died Monday, April 8, 2013 after battling rheumatoid arthritis and its complications for years. A Kansas native, Marie was born in Beloit on October 25, 1925 to Fred and Julia Schaffer. She was one of nine children.

She graduated from high school there in 1943, became a cadet nurse, and moved to Kansas City, Kansas, where she earned an RN degree from St. Margaret’s Hospital. There she passed her boards and continued to work. One May afternoon in 1948 when she carried ice cream home from a grocery store nearby, she met her future husband, Lawrence (Larry) R. Pickett. The two of them shared their first date on Memorial Day 1948 and married on November 6, 1948. They remained together until Larry died in December 2004.

During those years, Marie birthed seven children within a little more than nine years, many times tending to three children in diapers at a time. She continued to work as a nurse at St. Margaret’s and later at St. Joseph Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, until the birth of her fourth child. Then, along with serving as dedicated mother (and cook, chauffer, homemaker, and so forth), she became an avid bowler and bridge player. She joined a local women’s club (titled simply “The Club”) and enjoyed a suburban lifestyle in a section of Kansas City near Raytown.

In 1977, she took a refresher class in nursing and worked at St. Luke’s Hospital near the Country Club Plaza. After working in pediatrics and then in oncology, she retired from that position in 1987, and became a homemaker again. By then, she and Larry had moved to South Kansas City, where she lived until 2010, when she sold the home and moved into Brookdale Place (formerly The Grand Court) in south Overland Park. There, she joined a new bridge club and made many new friends.

Marie’s quick smile and warm countenance drew people to her wherever she went. Even resident aides at Brookdale went into tears when learning of her death.

Along with Larry, her brothers Charley, Fritz, and Frank, and sisters Ruth, Helen and Verena preceded her in death. She leaves two sisters, Loretta Staab and Jean Schaffer.

She also leaves her children and their spouses: four sons, L. Richard Pickett (Sandra), Terence D. Pickett (Jill), H. Andrew Pickett (Debbie), and Clinton F. Pickett (Sheryle), and three daughters, Lindsey Martin-Bowen (Carl), Kathleen Pickett Brooks (George), and Rebecca L. Lucke (Jeff). She also leaves 23 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and a multitude of nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be Thursday, April 11, from 6-8 p.m. at Mt. Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home, 10507 Holmes Rd., Kansas City, Missouri. A funeral Mass will be held Friday, April 12, 10 a.m. at St. Thomas More, 11822 Holmes Rd., Kansas City, Missouri. Burial in Mt. Moriah Cemetery. Donations may be made to Friends of Clay County CASA or to St. Thomas More.