Rita Fern Mitchell, 98, of Marshall, MO, died Friday, March 21, 2025, at Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall.

A gathering of family and friends will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturday, June 7, 2025, at Jackson’s Event Center, 25000 Kite Ave., Marshall, MO, 65340.  Remarks and a devotion will begin at 11:30 a.m. with lunch and fellowship to follow.  Private family inurnment was held in Arrow Rock Cemetery.  Memorials are suggested to Arrow Rock Cemetery. Friends may sign the online register book at www.campbell-lewis.com

Born June 10, 1926, in Norborne, MO, she was the daughter of the late Bernie J. Barker and Olive Crockett Barker. She was a graduate of Marshall High School and Missouri Valley College graduating magna cum laude. On May 5, 1945, in San Diego, CA, she married Harley W. Mitchell who preceded her in death on June 28, 2004. Rita and Harley lived in Arrow Rock prior to moving to a farm north of Saline City in 1957 and moved to Marshall in 1992. Rita retired from Blackwater School in 1986 having taught in several area schools. Rita loved to quilt and was a member of Country Patchwork Quilters Guild. She won many local and national awards for her quilts and judged quilts at the Missouri State Fair. Rita was a member of the First Baptist Church in Marshall.

Survivors include three children, Dana Brown (Bill) of Surprise, AZ, Harley Dale Mitchell (Deborah) of Sherman, TX and Debra Mitchell of Warsaw, MO; daughter-in-law, Kit Mitchell of Slater, MO; eight grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; 11 great-great-grandchildren; one brother, Jake Barker (Jo Ann) of Wellington, MO; sister-in-law, Dixie Waters Barker of Waterville, MN; and several nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents and husband, Rita was preceded in death by one son, Chuck Mitchell; one daughter in infancy, Carol Ann Mitchell; one great-granddaughter, Caroline Ann Kelsey; three brothers, Roy, Merle and David Barker; and one sister, Rose Carolyn Oster.