Rita Lovelace, the namesake of the levee that protects Festus and Crystal City from flooding, soon will be inducted into the Festus R-6 School District’s Hall of Fame.
Her induction ceremony is scheduled for approximately 5:45 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, at Festus High School, 501 Westwind Drive, Festus. She also will be honored before that night’s Festus homecoming football game at 7 p.m. when the Tigers host the Pacific Indians.
Festus Board of Education president Doug Wendel said Lovelace is “an excellent choice” for the hall of fame.
“She’s well-deserving of the honor. She’s done a lot of good things for the community,” he said.
Festus R-6 Superintendent Nicki Ruess agreed.
“I think she’s a great inclusion into our hall of fame,” Ruess said. “She played a huge part in the construction of the Twin City levee. She’s definitely worthy of the honor.”
Lovelace, 86, who has lived nearly her entire life in Festus, said she appreciates the recognition. She will be the 30th person inducted in the school district’s hall of fame.
“It is awesome,” she said. “It was a surprise to me.”
Lovelace, a 1955 Festus High School graduate, led the effort to get the 3,400-foot levee built near County Road in Crystal City. The levee protects about 200 acres of Crystal City and Festus, including the Festus/Crystal City Wastewater Facility, from floodwaters from two small creeks that back up when the Mississippi River gets too high.
After a long, ultimately successful effort, construction of the levee began in 2002. It was essentially completed in 2005, although it was not up and running until 2006.
Numerous civic leaders have credited Lovelace with leading the levee effort, which included a campaign for citizens of the two cities to pass 1/4-cent sales tax measures in 1996 to help pay for the levee’s construction and subsequent maintenance.
Lovelace said she wishes the structure had not been named after her since she believes the levee was a collaborative effort.
“I call it the Twin City Levee,” she said. “There are so many people who helped. They built it, not me.”
She credits former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt for his work in the levee effort.
“Thank God I had Congressman
Gephardt to help push it through,” she said.
Lovelace went to Festus High School after attending grade school at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Crystal City.
“I just had a very happy time at Festus High School,” she recalled. “I played volleyball and basketball my freshman and sophomore years. I was a majorette, I think, all four years. I enjoyed high school.”
She said one teacher in particular stands out in her memory.
“My math teacher was awesome, Mrs. Lucille Holmes,” Lovelace said. “It was my favorite subject with her. A lot of students would disagree with that because she was tough.”
Lovelace said she worked on a high school project that foreshadowed the levee campaign.
“In high school, as a sophomore, I was on a planning committee,” she said. “It wasn’t a class, but a committee. We were supposed to go out and find things we thought needed to be improved. Of course, at that age, I thought we needed a pool.
“I don’t know if I thought of a levee then. But, it may have planted a seed.”
She said she keeps up with the Festus R-6 School District and appreciates its excellent reputation.
“From what I see in the newspaper and hear, I think (Festus R-6) is terrific,” Lovelace said. “I think people move here because of the schools. My kids were all prepared for college.”
She and her husband, Tom Lovelace, have been married 65 years. They have three children – Mary, Jeanne and Jim.
“Jeanne taught at Festus Elementary for 30 years,” her mother said.
Lovelace said she worked outside the home a little over the years, but considers herself a homemaker.
The only time she didn’t live in Festus was when she went to Rolla with Tom when he attended the University of Missouri-Rolla, now the University of Missouri S&T. He would become an engineer.
“We dated a couple of years and he went off to college,” she remembered. “He brought me the ring the first time he came back from college. He said he couldn’t get through it without me.
“We got married at the end of his sophomore year. I worked on campus while he finished school. Mary was born the day (Tom) was supposed to graduate.”
Tom said he is thrilled the Festus R-6 Hall of Fame Selection Committee picked his wife to join the district’s hall of fame.
“It’s fantastic,” he said. “She deserves it.”