Lois Ann (Hartnagel) Standing
Nov. 26, 1934 – March 9, 2020

Lois Ann (Hartnagel) Standing, 85, passed away Monday, March 9, 2020, at her home in Webster Groves, Mo., after a relatively brief battle with lung cancer. She was born Nov. 26, 1934, in St. Louis, the daughter of Wesley and Catherine Lang Hartnagel. She grew up in St. Louis Hills, attending Buder and Mallinckrodt schools and graduating from Southwest High School.
After high school, she worked at Ralston Purina and attended Washington University before transferring to the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where she studied advertising, which led to a long career in publishing at McGraw-Hill Book Co. Then, in semi-retirement, she worked as a bookseller at Brentano’s and Borders bookstores.
She met Godfrey R. “Kip” Standing, of North Kansas City, Mo., a business student and Air Force ROTC member, while they were students in Columbia. They were married Feb. 16, 1957, had two daughters, and celebrated their 60th anniversary before his death in late 2017.
She participated in the Coro Foundation’s Reinvest Program (1988) and volunteered with Edgewood Children’s Center, the OASIS Intergenerational Tutoring program, and the Probation and Parole Department, preparing inmates for release.
Lois loved books and book clubs, traveling, decorating and entertaining in her beautiful home. She could recite long passages of Shakespeare, Dickens, Lord Byron, Winston Churchill and Jane Austin from memory. For decades, she played the piano for family sing-alongs. She loved watching Turner Classic Movies, attending live theatre and solving the most difficult crossword puzzles with ease.
Survivors include two daughters, Catherine Standing Dunkin (Carter) and Kelly Standing; one grandchild, Elizabeth Joy “Libby” Regnier Pedersen (Jørgen); brother Robert Hartnagel (Joy) of Dallas, Texas, and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.
A celebration of her life will be scheduled in the near future. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Ignite Theatre Co., 3510 Giles Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63116, a non-profit youth theatre company founded and directed by Lois’ only granddaughter, Libby.