MAGRUDER, Rebecca M. (1952-2022)

MAGRUDER

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 4/30/2023 at 15:30:18

Rebecca Marie Magruder
(April 29, 1952 - July 30, 2022)

Rebecca T. Magruder, MSW, JD, 70, of Indianola, died July 30, 2022, after a long decline living with Parkinson’s disease. Rebecca was born April 29, 1952 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the daughter of Anson Ray Neville and Agnes Marie (Graugaard) Trahan. Becky was an outstanding mediator and attorney practicing in St. Louis, Missouri, with a national reputation as a mediator trainer. She was an adjunct professor at the St. Louis University School of Law and a pioneer in conflict resolution. Becky provided the vision and training for collaborative processes – mediation, restorative justice, collaborative law - that treated people with dignity and compassion. Becky served as the Chair of the Family Section of Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) 2005 – 2006, was a founding member of the Collaborative Family Law Association and served on its board of directors. Becky was an Advanced Family Mediation Practitioner member of ACR. In 2011, she was presented with an Award of Appreciation by the Association of Missouri Mediators for her work as a mediator and a trainer, and in 2018 was nominated by her peers to win an ICON Award for her long-standing commitment to the Missouri legal community. Becky was just recently nominated by the CFLA Board and award the Missouri Lawyers Media Icon Award.
She is survived by her husband, Donald Magruder; siblings, Jeanne (Tom) Tunks of Texas, Renee (Tom) Spencer of Louisiana, Suzanne (Calvert) Sherard of South Carolina, and Michael (Betty) Trahan of Louisiana; step-brothers, Stephen (Gina) Pogue of Texas and Darryl Pogue of Florida; seven nieces and nephews, one great niece, and one great nephew. She was preceded in death by her parents, Anson Ray Trahan and Agnes (Graugaard) Trahan Pogue.
I will always miss my dear friend and training colleague who was trying to make the world a more peaceful and kinder place. She quietly and persistently moved her vision forward, persuading others to join her by her gentle approach. Her husband Don frequently said, “Becky was the kindest, gentlest person I have ever known and didn’t have a mean bone in her whole body.” She filled her world with patience, compassion, understanding, and ART!
Celebration of Life Services will be held 10:30 a.m., Saturday, August 27, 2022, at the Indianola First United Methodist Church, with burial following in the Indianola I.O.O.F. Cemetery. Memorials may be given to Suncrest Hospice. [This memorial is provided by Overton Funeral Home, 501 West Ashland Ave., Indianola, Iowa, http://www.overtonfuneral.com/]