Obituary of Michael Alan Gravens

A Mass of Christian Burial for Michael Alan Gravens of St. Paul, MO will be at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 8, 2025 at St. Paul Catholic Church in St. Paul, MO. Fr. Joe Post, church pastor, will officiate with inurnment in the church cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be his grandchildren, Breelyn and Tate Nixon, Owen, Gavin and Blake Hemmer, Audrey Ruediger, and great niece Allyson Moore. Mike, 73, passed away early Thursday morning, May 1, 2025 at his home. Born August 31, 1951 in St. Charles, MO, he was the son of Almond Ellsworth and Mildred Anna Skommesa Gravens. Mike was a graduate of Winfield High School and attended Missouri State University. Mike was united in marriage on September 20, 1975 in St. Paul to Ruth Ann Heppermann. This union was blessed with three daughters: Jacqueline, Mindy and Kristine. He worked as a computer technician for Hewlett-Packard, retiring in September 2014. He was a member of St. Paul Catholic Church where he was a member of the Knights of Columbus Council #6415. Mike was a gentle and caring man who took pride in all that he did. He will be remembered as an amazing husband, dad, and grandpa who loved spending time with his family. Especially boating on the Mississippi river and Table Rock Lake, and in his later years travelling the US camping with his wife Ruth. He had a difficult road to travel near the end, but he did so with grace and patience as he did with most things in life. Mike was preceded in death by his parents, Ellsworth and Mildred Gravens. Survivors include his beloved wife of 49 years, Ruth Gravens of St. Paul; their children: Jacqueline Nixon and her husband, Brian, Mindy Hemmer and her husband, Brad, and Kristine Ruediger and her husband, Clint, all of St. Paul; and six grandchildren: Breelyn and Tate Nixon, Owen, Gavin and Blake Hemmer, and Audrey Ruediger. Mike also leaves one brother, David Gravens of Old Monroe; other relatives and friends. Visitation will be held from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home near Winfield, MO. Mike always hoped for a cure for his cancer. And if it wasn’t to be for him, his hope was that the trials he participated in would help others. In lieu of flowers the family requests contributions be made to support the prostate cancer research of Dr. Pachynski at the following address: Siteman Cancer Center, MSC 1082-414-2555, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis MO 63130 or online at giving.wustl.edu/PachynskiLab. Please indicate the gift is in memory of Michael Gravens by writing on the memo on your check or noting on the online giving page.