Elizabeth Ann (Allen) Kim died peacefully February 17, 2022. Ann was born in 1937 to Francis and Norma Allen in Dawn, Missouri. Her father was a preacher whose calling took them through various communities around the Midwest. She remembered living in Dawn, MO, Sedgewick, KS, and Liberty, MO, with fondness.
Ann received an Associate’s degree from Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar. She completed her Bachelor’s degree at William Jewell College and received her Master’s degree from UMKC. While she taught second grade for two years, the bulk of her 33-year career was spent teaching kindergarten at Randall Elementary School in Independence. “I felt I never worked a day in my life. It was always a joy.”
She married J. Howard Kim in 1969 and took many memorable journeys to beautiful places all chronicled neatly in dozens of picture albums and scrapbooks.
Over the years Ann was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Independence and most recently the First Baptist Church in Oak Grove. She was a member of the Joy Sunday School class and greatly enjoyed visiting with all the friends from that class.
What most people will remember about Ann is what an encourager she was. Cards, letters, and sometimes very long phone calls were her tools. Her near-perfect penmanship crafted words to lift, heal and soothe. Her giving extended to people and groups far and wide and diverse as she had a passion for the education of local students along with the indigenous peoples in North America. Countless local charities, national foundations and many organizations in between benefitted from her generosity.
Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Francis and Norma Allen, her uncle Arthur Hughes, and her husband of 45 years, J. Howard Kim.
Survivors include her brother Robert Allen and his wife Bunny, of Las Vegas; one nephew, Shad, his wife Wendy, and stepson, of St. Charles, MO; stepson Chris Kim, Venice, California; stepson Bill Kim, his wife Jennifer and their daughters Katie and Jessica, Oak Grove.
A celebration of Ann’s life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, May 20th at First Baptist Church of Oak Grove. Memorials are suggested to the Oak Grove Community Services League.
The family would like to thank the staff of Ascend Hospice for their dedication to Ann’s care.
Arrangements: Royer Funeral Home, Oak Grove, MO 816-690-4441