Tearo Lee Condit

Tearo Lee Condit was born in Papeete, Tahiti, on June 28, 1961. She left this life on May 11, 2020, in Independence, Missouri, where she had made her home for many years.

From her birth, Missie had the insight and determination to know she needed to survive. From a very early age, she was called Miss Lee, that name melding into the name by which most people knew her: Missie Condit. With the love of her forever family, Clayton and Joann Condit, and her two sisters, Jennifer and Laurie, Missie developed into an amazing person whose touch would reach far and wide. She adored her family: Mom, Poppie, Jennifer and Laurie.

Family and the traditions they created were important to Missie. She was stubbornly committed to these family traditions, as we learned after forty years when we suggested the long-held practice of Christmas stockings might go by the wayside. Through tears, she declared there would be no changing of the Condit traditions, ever! And so it was, and is, a continuing and important segment of our Christmas celebrations. Christmas was always and forever her favorite holiday, and she was an expert and choosing the most unique and perfect gifts for all those whom she loved. She gave generously, with both hands.

Missie graduated from South Plantation High School in 1979, and entered Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, in the autumn. Her declared major was Parks and Recreation. Between her junior and senior years, during the summer at home in Florida, she filled in at a children’s camp as a counselor. She returned to Graceland that fall and changed her major to Elementary Education. She worked extremely hard to fit in all the requisite coursework, and still remained on the Dean’s List. She graduated in May of 1983.

She began her teaching career in Kansas City in September of 1983, and remained there throughout her career. She began work and was close to the completion of a Master’s in Reading from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Because of her emerging leadership skills, she was asked to change her major to Administration. Following the completion of her M.S. in that field, she went on to earn an Educational Specialist degree in the same field, also from UMKC.

Her professional life was her passion. Teaching was truly her calling because of her deep desire to make a lasting impression on the lives of children. It was a natural progression for her to find another path to continue to educate, so Missie chose to be an administrator. She served and learned from all her educational friends, but it was more than professional. She created a family, a family that has remained close over many years.

Her first school as an administrator was Primitivo Garcia Elementary. She loved the school deeply and worked hard to help make it what became known as The Hidden Jewel of Kansas City. The small school had no playground, and so she researched, and wrote a grant for assistance from an organization called KABOOM! The request was granted and she spearheaded a project to build a playground, designed by the children and the community. It was highly successful.

Missie’s extended family consisted of her colleagues and her students. She showed her commitment to developing relationships through a program she created called the Heroes Project. Missie believed every child had the potential to do great things and to have an impact on the world in which they lived. She would always remind her students that a hero was just an ordinary person who chose to do extraordinary things. By highlighting individuals from the community, the students had months to study and learn their hero’s chosen path. She hoped this might inspire these young people to hear their own calling one day, and to make their community a better place in which to live and grow.

Missie loved parties and gifts and people. She loved her sisters, Jennifer and Laurie, and her sister of the heart, Karen Crabtree. She loved, honored, and cherished her extended family and was equally close in the heart of each of them. She stayed connected in ways most of us aspire to be, but she succeeded. We have not met a single person who, upon meeting Missie, was not enfolded into her family. We see Missie’s handprint on the hundreds of people who have become a part of our lives. She was stubborn, funny, generous, and courageous. We find ourselves wanting to be just like Missie. If you are reading this, you are her family.

Missie’s health began to deteriorate some years ago., She fought so hard; she did not give up hope; she continued to reach out to family and friends in beautiful ways. Tearo Lee Condit gave up the struggle on May 11, 2020. Even in her death,she continued to give, two persons were given sight through the gift of her corneas.

Missie’s mother wrote in her baby book these words she had found many years ago:

Not flesh of my flesh
or bone of my bone,
but still miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute,
you didn’t grow under my heart,
but in it.
These words not only are true for an adoptive mother, but absolutely true for the many, many people Missie touchedfor good in her lifetime. She will be nestled in the hearts of many forever.

No services are planned at this time of national distress, but will be announced at a later date.

Missie is survived by her parents, Clayton and Joann Condit, sister, Jennifer Montgomery(Dick), sister, Laurie Frank(Garry), sister of her heart, Karen Crabtree. Nephew Stephen Remington (Natasha), nephew Tyler Remington (Ellora) and 3 great nephews, Aiden, Shane and Austin. And 3 great nieces, Aryanna, Elsie and Claira.

Please click on this link to learn a little bit more about Tearo “Missie” Condit and the impact she had in her school communities and colleagues.
https://vimeo.com/420005507/0bb90d63e4