02/05/2026
🇺🇸 Mr. Carl Russell McGeorge, 76, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, January 28th, 2026. Carl was born September 10, 1949 in Bonne Terre, Missouri to Willa Mae (Koen) McGeorge and Carl William McGeorge, both deceased. Carl attended elementary school through the fifth grade in Elvins, where, in addition to school and church, he was active in scouting and played Little League baseball.
In the summer of 1960, the McGeorge family moved to Potosi where Carl continued his education. He was active in the Student Council and National Honor Society and sang in the glee club while participating in football, basketball, and baseball. In these small rural towns, Carl grew to know everyone and made many lifelong friends.
Shortly after graduating high school, Carl was drafted into the Army and he honorably served his country at the height of the Vietnam conflict. After his discharge in 1971, Carl began attending Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri where he received a business degree in 1976. While raising his family in Troy, Illinois, Carl worked in sales for RJ Reynolds for several years before deciding to pivot to a career in teaching.
After receiving his teaching certificate from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Carl taught business and typing at New Bloomfield R-III School District where he coached baseball and basketball. At New Bloomfield, Carl taught the prescribed curricula, but he also imbued his students and athletes with wisdom and character lessons as he drew on his own experiences and took a holistic interest in the kids and their lives that would last long after graduation.
Carl’s final professional endeavor was starting Mo-Fun.com, a full-service inflatable company that still delivers bounce houses, obstacle courses, and other party supplies across mid-Missouri. With his background in marketing and gift for gab, Mo-Fun was a natural fit for this man who never met a stranger. Carl retired in 2021, but the business stayed in the family.
Carl is survived by his wife of fifty years, Cathleen (Altheuser) McGeorge. Carl and Cathy met in the Fall of 1974 and Carl had the good sense to marry her soon thereafter. What followed were many moves, a few career changes, two new business ventures, two sons and their beautiful families, and countless friendships cultivated from California to Canada, from Florida to Maine, and everywhere in between. They ventured to England and Hawaii to see family, they biked the rim of the Grand Canyon and camped in the Great Smoky Mountains and Yellowstone, they hosted foreign dignitaries and soon-to-be friends at their bed and breakfast, and they happily attended every conceivable sporting event and extracurricular activity that their boys and their grandchildren participated in.
Carl is also survived by his twin sons Arthur and Russell. Arthur and his wife Elizabeth (Hunger) McGeorge blessed Carl and Cathy with four grandchildren: Sam (16), Carl “Jack” Jackson (13), Luke (10), and Charlotte (7), while Russell and his wife Danielle (Ritchie) McGeorge blessed the family with Nora (5) and Owen (1).
Carl was immeasurably proud of his sons, their wives, and each of his grandchildren. Family always came first and Carl loved his family to his final breath.
He is survived by an older sister: Cynthia (Mathwick) and younger siblings: Art, Lydia (Ostberg), and Eric: four lifelong sources of fellowship, strength, and love. The close-knit family also included many cousins who were “siblings of the heart.”
Lastly, Carl is survived by an incredible array of friends and extended family. In the final months of his life, Carl and Cathy had calls with and entertained former neighbors, co-workers, students, B&B visitors, golfing partners, and lifelong friends.
Carl’s doctors kept in close contact well after the course of his treatment was completed and Carl created even more friends as hospice workers began providing services in the family home.
At the time of his passing, Carl was surrounded by family, in his home, and he traveled to that undiscovered country while listening to a live performance of Elvis Presley’s ‘Love Me Tender,’ with its final refrain: “Love me tender / Love me true / All my dreams fulfill / For my darlin' I love you / And I always will.”
As we follow his dictate to never quit, Carl will be remembered fondly as we all live out our days devoted to our families and to preserving his legacy.
On Sunday, February 22nd, a Celebration of Life will be held at the American Legion Post 5, 1423 Tanner Bridge Rd, Jefferson City, MO. Prepared remarks will begin at 11 AM with lunch to follow at 1 PM.
Carl’s remains will be interred in a private ceremony at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis. An additional memorial service and dedication will be held at the Potosi, Missouri Elk’s Lodge in late-April; details to follow.
Those desiring may make memorial contributions may dedicate donations in Carl’s memory to the Mid-Missouri Fisher House.
Arrangements for Mr. McGeorge are under the direction of TYLER M. WOODS FUNERAL DIRECTOR, 611 E. Capitol Ave. Jefferson City, Missouri 65101. (573) 636-2424. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.WoodsMemorialServices.com
