Sheila B. Plumb

Sheila B. Plumb, of Greenfield, Missouri, world traveler, proud Greenfielder and a pioneering female dispatcher for the Frisco Railroad, died Saturday, July 23, 2016, at the Dade County Nursing Home, after a long illness. She was 68.

Sheila Belle Plumb was born in Greenfield at the home of her maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Hargis, on August 1, 1947. She was the devoted daughter of Mark and Frances Plumb, who predeceased her. The youngest child in the family by eight years, she was doted upon by her parents and by her older sisters, who cared for her with great love for the last five years, after she became ill.

Miss Plumb graduated from Greenfield High School in 1965, and attended SMS for a time.

In 1968, she made the first of two extended trips abroad, living in Germany and Israel for some years.
This period of her life was full of interest and adventure, ranging from an Irish pub to a Yugoslavian train to the kibbutz in Israel where she lived and worked for a year. That time she spent helping to rebuild the ancient home of the Jewish people sparked an abiding affection for Israel, and she "prayed for the peace of Jerusalem" all her life.

When Miss Plumb returned to the United States in the 1970’s, she followed in her father's footsteps as an employee of the Frisco Railroad, working at the rail yards in Springfield and Kansas City. She became one of the Frisco's first women dispatcher. She agreed with the poet Edna St Vincent Millay who wrote "There isn't a train I wouldn't take/No matter where it's going."

Later she was an independent businesswoman, owning a doughnut shop in Springfield and a convenience store in Baxter, Missouri.

Miss Plumb spent the last period of her career as a civil servant, employed by the IRS in Kansas City. She moved home to Greenfield after she retired in 2007.

During her school days, she was baptized at the First Christian Church in Greenfield. During her retirement, she was a member of the Dade County Library Board.

Miss Plumb is survived by her sisters, Jo Ann Kramer and her husband Rod, of Miami, Oklahoma, and Cora Beth Wright and her husband J.C., of Greenfield, Missouri; her nieces, Kelly Kramer, Kim Scheerer, and Kristen Kramer; her nephews, Kirk Kramer and Mark Wright; an uncle, Charles Hargis; and a large extended family. She had a gift for rich and affectionate friendship, and leaves many beloved friends to mourn her death.

Besides her parents, she was also predeceased by a brother, Jimmy.

Funeral services were held on Wednesday, July 27, 2016, in Greenfield Funeral Chapel. Burial followed in Greenfield Cemetery.
The family received friends Wednesday morning until service time in the funeral chapel.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Dade County Library or to the Dade County Nursing Home.
Online condolences may be shared at www.greenfieldfuneralchapel.com. Services were under the care of Greenfield Funeral Chapel.