Laura Jean West-Hennon, a resident of Webster Groves, Mo., died at age 57 at home in hospice care on Wednesday, October 29, 2008, of pancreatic cancer.

Born April 4, 1951, in Washington, D. C, she was the older of two children born to Maurice West (deceased) and Frances Klar West (deceased).

Laura grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, and graduated from Oak Park High School. She attended Northern Illinois University, Sangamon State University in Springfield, Illinois, and the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she graduated with a degree in cultural anthropology.

Since moving to the St. Louis area, Laura worked at the Missouri History Museum where she was in charge of scheduling. Prior to employment at the Museum, she worked as an early childhood educator. She operated her own licensed pre-school center in Richmond, California.

Laura was an active volunteer in church and civic groups throughout her life. She was a board member of the Tobin Hill Neighborhood Association in San Antonio and a PTA President in Richmond, CA. She was a religious education teacher with Unitarian churches in San Antonio, Texas, Berkeley, Calif., and Salt Lake City, Utah. She volunteered with Big Brother, Big Sister in San Antonio, Texas and was a Girl Scout leader in California and Utah. She was a member of the Webster Groves Garden Club, a volunteer with the Sheldon Concert Hall and a member of Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice.

She lived in Oak Park, IL, San Antonio, TX; Richmond, CA.; Salt Lake City, UT and Webster Groves, MO. Laura enjoyed gardening, camping, political volunteering, photography video production and music.

Laura is survived by her daughters Katharine Frances Knoll and Georgia Mariel Knoll, both of St. Louis; her step-sons John Alexander Knoll (Annapolis, Md.) and Nathaniel Martin Knoll (St. Louis); her brother Mitchell West of San Diego; her former spouses John Francis Knoll of St. Louis and Michael Hennon of St. Louis; as well as many cousins and friends.