Ruby "Darlene" Hammett

Ruby "Darlene" Hammett passed away Sunday, April 19, 2020. She was born August 8, 1928 in Corso, MO to Guilford and Virgil York Zumwalt. She was also the great-great granddaughter of Jacob Zumwalt from Fort Zumwalt in O'Fallon, MO. She was always so proud of her heritage and would talk in great depth to anyone about the Zumwalt history and their contributions to the area's settlement and expansion. Darlene grew up the baby of the family in a rural setting and often told tales of her girlhood. She met a handsome young man and they fell in love at the Millwood Dances. She married Merritt Hammett on Christmas Eve 1943, and their firstborn was a son, DeLane, born in 1945. Darlene told how they would ride the train to Virginia where Merritt was stationed in WWII and how the soldiers all wanted to fuss over her little baby because they missed their own families so much, but it still made her a little nervous being a first time mom. Then after the war, they finished their family with a daughter they named Bonnie in 1947. They worked hard to make a good life and Darlene worked in a bakery shop, a restaurant, and for a number of years she and Merritt ran a public fishing lake on their 60 acre farm. She sold supplies and snacks, and made cheeseburgers at "the Little Shack." They were lucky enough to take many trips in their retirement and went to all the places they had talked about over the years. When the time came, they sold the farm and moved closer to town where Merritt passed in 1992 and she carried on alone. When asked why she didn't find someone to share her life with and make it a little easier, she replied, "why would I waste my time? I'll never find another man to fill Merritt Hammett's shoes." Darlene passed some of that time making quilts. Everyone in the family has their own beautiful quilt and many have her unique Christmas quilts to treasure. She also spent time with her niece, Margaret Shoults Blattner. They were more buddies than aunt & niece! They went antiquing and hit all the yard sales (getting ready for her annual yard sale in the fall) just having a ball. Those who are left to mourn her passing are her children: DeLane & Debbie Tinsley Hammett and Bonnie & David Oney; grandchildren: Dan & Holly Cleveland Hammett, Lori Oney Tilley, David Allen Oney; grandson-in-law: Mark Tilley; great grandchildren: Taylor Hammett & Mark Urhan, Evan Hammett & Arica Purler, Andrew Hammett, Jake Tilley, Jesse Tilley & Sarai Jorgenson, David Lloyd Oney, and her step-grandchildren & their families that were welcomed into her fold - Christopher Bantz and Sunny Tilley Bange. She leaves many nieces, nephews, and friends, including special neighbors that looked after her after Merritt left, Greg Horton, David & Bonnie Moody and Sam & Charlene Bockhorst. Darlene was preceded in death by her husband, parents, three brothers: Wilmer, Earl, and Joseph Richard Zumwalt; four sisters: Stella Mae Beck, Florence Shoults, Helen Wendlendt, and Catherine Thompson; three grandsons: twins Dean and Darren Hammett and Donnie Joe Oney; daughter-in-law, Sharron McCloud Lovelady; and special cousins Earl & Shirley Ulrich. Services will be held private. Private interment will be held at Sulphur Lick Cemetery. Officiating will be Pastor Chris Bantz. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made to Sulphur Lick Cemetery in care of Kemper-Millard-Keim Family Funeral Chapel, P.O. Box 222 Troy, MO 63379. Arrangements are under the direction of Kemper-Millard-Keim Family Funeral Chapel; 351 Monroe Street Troy, MO 63379. Online condolences may be made at www.kempermillardkeimfamilyfuneralchapel.com Phone 636-528-8221.

Ruby "Darlene" Hammett

August 8, 1928 - April 19, 2020