Belinda S. Branson

Belinda Branson, 73 of Belle, gloriously traded holding the hand of the love of her life for holding the hand of her Savior as she triumphantly walked through the gates of heaven on Monday, December 2, after a short, but hard-fought battle with cancer. 

Belinda was born on February 3, 1951, on the family farm in Vichy, Missouri. She was the third daughter born to Alvin and Maxine (Moreland) Spurling. As a child, she attended school in Belle and would often share stories of her walks to and from school where she’d stop in the stores on Main Street to window shop or warm up. She was a proud member of the class of 1969 and always spoke highly of all the friends she made while in school. 

On April 18, 1969, she married her forever sweetheart, Delmar Branson, in a simple courthouse ceremony. From this blessed union, three children were born: Dale Branson and his wife Angela of Rolla, Susanne Eoff and her husband Derek of Jefferson City, and Amber Hendrix and her husband Jeff of Belle. They also have one sweet baby who never saw this side of Earth, but was waiting anxiously to be reunited in heaven. Throughout her life, she was blessed to be able to stay at home and make being a homemaker her full-time job. She took great pride in providing for her family in this way and had a gift for paying attention to the smallest of details that allowed her house to become home to all who visited. She found great joy in gardening and had the ability to get anything to grow and thrive. 

Over the years, Belinda had many various occupations. As a child, she helped her mother Maxine care for her siblings along with other children of family friends. She also helped with the in-home laundry service that Maxine had and could fold a fitted sheet like no one else. For several years she was employed at Brown’s Shoe Factory and made many lifelong friends and memories during her time there. During various seasons of life she cared for numerous children, and their families, in her home. She drove a bus for the Gasconade Co R-2 Schools, was a paraprofessional for the Maries Co R-2 Schools, taught preschool for the Head Start program, and earned her real estate license just to name a few. Her favorite job though was being a seamstress. For a while she owned her own shop, The Special Occasion Shop, in downtown Owensville, where she altered and tailored clothing along with making anything anyone would bring her, even wedding dresses. She was a talented seamstress and took so much pride in being able to create treasures for others. 

Belinda accepted Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior at a young age and spent the rest of her days serving Him and his Bride, the Church. Nothing brought her more joy than to be able to use her talents to serve the church. If she wasn’t at home working in her beautiful flower beds you could find her at church working on some type of project to bring glory to God. She knew what a gift salvation is and would share that gift through everything she did. Because of this faith, her family takes so much comfort in knowing that she is in heaven worshipping God for all of eternity. 

In addition to her husband and children, Belinda is survived by one sister, Alivina Dittman, her sister and brother-in-law, Sharon and Jim Howard, her grandchildren Blake Branson, Tanner Branson, Abby Payne, Kristofer Eoff, Kolton Eoff, Spurling Hendrix, and Espyn Hendrix, and five great-grandchildren. 

Belinda is preceded in death by her parents, siblings Vivian Russell, Eugenia Frey, and Gary Spurling, and her beloved grandson, Trevor Branson. 

Visitation for Belinda will take place Thursday, December 5 from 5-8 pm at Faith Baptist Church in Belle. Funeral services will be Friday, December 6 at 10:30 am at Faith Baptist Church, followed by graveside services at Liberty Cemetery in Belle. 

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that expressions of sympathy be made to Faith Baptist Church or the Gasconade Valley Baptist Association camp fund.