Velma Lorene Mull

<p class="p1">Velma Lorene Mull, 90, of Tucson, Arizona, died at 12:07 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2015, at Cooper Canyon Alzheimer's Special Care Center.</p><p class="p2">She was born on March 27, 1924, at her home near Anna, the daughter of Ernest and Leona Irwin Bartruff. She was one of the five children who were raised on a farm in Union County and graduated from Anna-Jonesboro Community High School in 1942.</p><p class="p2">She married Harold Fount Mull at the Truth Center Church in St. Louis, on Sunday, July 25, 1943. Velma first met Harold, who was in the Navy, while he was saying goodbye to his brother, Bob, who had just joined the Army. They celebrated 71 years of marriage July last year at St. Matthew's United Methodist Church in Annandale, Virginia.</p><p class="p2">She is survived by her husband; three children, Sue Ann Olsen (Arthur Mack), Linda Kay Alcivar (Patricio Antonio) and David Leon Mull (Sherry Lynn); four grandchildren, Julie Ann Florendo (Amante John), Jennifer Lynn Alcivar, Ellen Lorene Mull and Kristen Louise Mull; one great-grandchild, Connon Samuel Florendo; one sister, Norma Conant; and many nieces and nephews.</p><p class="p2">She was preceded in death by her parents, Ernest and Leona Bartruff; and three brothers, Merrill Blaine, Ralph Leon and Ernest Lowell.</p><p class="p2">She was a tireless worker and volunteer. She worked first as a telephone operator in Anna prior to her marriage. In later years she worked for State Farm Insurance agents in Mascoutah, and Fairfax County, Virginia as a licensed insurance secretary.</p><p class="p2">She was deeply involved in her Methodist Church. She served on the Altar Guild and in various offices in her circle of United Methodist Women, and was an active member of her Sunday School class. She assisted with the Meals on Wheels program in Fairfax County and was a volunteer driver for children who needed transportation to choir practice.</p><p class="p2">Her hobbies included quilting, sewing, ceramics and researching family history. She researched her Bartruff family line back to its mother country, Germany.</p><p class="p2">She loved to travel and from her early days on the farm was always ready to go. In Harold she found a kindred spirit and together they explored the world. As a family they made many trips across the United States to visit sights and family. Later they took many trips abroad to every continent except Antarctica. Their last adventure was to Africa in 2010 to see Victoria Falls and African wildlife.</p><p class="p2">A Celebration of Life memorial service for Mrs. Mull will be held later this year at St. Matthew's United Methodist Church in Virginia. Memorials can be made to the Alzheimer's Association or to St. Matthew's United Methodist Church in Annandale, Virginia. Burial will be in the Anna Cemetery at a later date.</p>

Velma Lorene Mull