A Celebration of Life for Hazel S. Treanor, 93, Lawrence, will be at 1 pm Saturday at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home & Crematory, with the Rev. Rob Baldwin officiating. The family will receive friends following the service. Mrs. Treanor died Wed., Nov. 12, 2014, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
She was born Sept. 7, 1921, in Council Grove, Kan., the oldest of ten children born to Louis and Nona Stover Snodgrass. She lived on the family farm in Wilsie, Kan. until 1936. The family moved to Diamondville, Wyo. after experiencing a series of natural disasters such as the seven year locusts and the dust bowl on the family farm.
After graduating from Kimmer High School, she traveled to Denver, Colo. to attend business college, then on to work for the Rocky Mountain Arsenal immediately preceding World War II. After the war, she and her husband, Mercer, moved to Nashville, Tenn. where they started their family. Eventually, Mercer’s business ventures relocated him to St. Louis, Mo.
Hazel spent a majority of her life in St. Louis. There she supported her husband with his business efforts. She was a landlord for their properties, a bookkeeper, and an accountant. She supported numerous causes that were important to her, including the Republican Party, her Episcopal Church, and Garden Clubs of America. She was a trained master gardener, and traveled all over the country to participate in, and judge, flower shows. She won hundreds of awards for her creative and artistic flower arrangements, and even had some published in national publications. Her favorite style of flower arranging was Ikebana – a Japenese style. She taught this style and promoted it throughout the community and country. She was also an avid bridge player.
She married Mercer L. Treanor on Mar. 22, 1945, in Nashville. He preceded her in death, as did brothers Bob, Leo, and Charles Snodgrass, and sisters Opal, Mary, and Fayetta. She is survived by two sons, Bob Treanor and wife Janet, and Mike Treanor and wife Teresa, all of Lawrence; a daughter, Martha Ann McNeal and husband Mike, Franklinton, La.; a brother, William Snodgrass, Greensboro, N.C.; two sisters, Arletta Croghan, Portland, Ore., and Mary, Loveland, Colo.; eight grandchildren, Mike, Lisa, Rachel, Joseph, Connor, Lauren, Christopher, and Travis; two great grandchildren & one on the way; and two great-great grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, 200 Maine St. Suite A, Lawrence, KS, 66044. Online condolences may be sent at rumsey-yost.com.
Please accept my deepest sympathies.