Earl Brewster, 92 of Adrian, Missouri passed away March 24, 2026 at his home in Adrian. A visitation will be held from 10:30 am to 11:30 am Saturday, April 4, 2026 at Mullinax Funeral Home, Drexel (816-657-4400). Memorial services will follow at 11:30 am Saturday, also at the funeral home. Messages of condolence may be left for the family at www.mullinaxfuneralhome.com.
Earl James Brewster was born June 3, 1933 in Drexel, Missouri, to James Oliver and Pearl Eleanor Brewster. He grew up in the very full house with his nine siblings: Raymond, Walter, Albert, Elsie, Dean, Shirley, Bert, Roy, and Patty. He was a graduate of Drexel High School. His upbringing helped to forge the traits that would be the foundation of his character throughout his life: hard work, quiet determination, and a strong moral compass.
Earl married the love of his life Margaret Jean Hartman in 1952 and together they had an incredible life full of love, devotion, family and hard work. Their seventy-three-year marriage reads like an epic tale and they survived many adventures along the way. There was a ton of laughter, and some tears. There were many births and graduations and weddings, a few trials and tragedies, but through it all they remained lovingly devoted to one another and to their growing family of children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. There were years spent dairy farming, crop farming, ranching – cattle, sheep, pigs. Earl also worked as a fork lift driver, a retirement home superintendent, and a road grader operator. Together, Earl and Jeanie raised a large and sprawling family, welcoming nine children into the world: Mike Brewster, Jim Brewster (Katie), Debbie Arnold (John), Mary Kendrick (Monty), Diane Ferguson (Jim), Becky Martens (Carl), Tom Brewster (Terri), Sara Vick (Jeff), and Sam Brewster (Candi).
His family was the entire universe to Earl, and Jeanie was certainly the center of that universe. He loved nothing more than working alongside his wife and his children on the farm. There were countless Sunday afternoon meals, Saturday morning breakfasts, birthday parties, weddings, holiday dinners and graduation parties and they were always big and they were always loud and there always seemed like a million people there and Earl wouldn’t have had it any other way. He cherished his role as a father and grandfather and loved nothing more than spending time with his kids and grandkids.
Earl had a lifetime love of baseball; he played on the traveling town league in Drexel in his younger years. He loved going to the stadium to watch his beloved Royals (especially if the Famous Chicken was going to be there!) and continued to be a devoted fan up until his final day. Earl loved working with his hands and building things. His idea of retirement was to fully outfit a woodworking shop and get to work, and he was a prolific woodworker. He lovingly built hundreds of toy boxes, children’s tables and chairs, laptop desks, portable arts and crafts desks, beautiful walnut side tables, and countless birdhouses, and he gave all of these away to people that he loved, because “giving” was most certainly Earl’s love language. Even after he retired from farming, being a farmer was still one of his defining traits. He seemed most at peace driving around on a John Deere tractor, whether it be a farming tractor or a lawn tractor. Earl was always ready to talk about tractors and tractor implements. He also loved to watch the birds and deer and turkeys in his back yard and back woods, the squirrels he could do without.
Earl
had a fantastic sense of humor. He loved
watching comedies on TV, he loved going to the movie theater to watch comedy
films, he loved seeing comedians, he loved funny songs, he loved slapstick, he
loved hearing and telling jokes, he was constantly teasing others in a
good-natured way and loved to be teased back.
He used humor as an icebreaker, he used it in a disarming way, he used
it to lighten the mood, he used it as a way to communicate with everyone that
he loved, and he loved nothing more than seeing a smile on the face of his
grandkids and great grandkids as he teased them. He joked with doctors, he joked with lab
techs, he joked with nurses in the hospitals and clinics, he joked with his
hospice nurses.
Often, the first pair of us that were allowed to see dad after a procedure or illness would report back to the rest of the group in the waiting room - “he’s already joking around!” We always knew that if Dad was joking around, then Dad was doing just fine.
His faith was very important to Earl. He was a deeply religious man, who had a close relationship to the Lord. He was baptized on January 20, 1985. He and Jeanie were devoted churchgoers and he served as a Deacon for many years at the First Baptist Church of Drexel. He also thoroughly enjoyed singing in the choir.
Earl lost the center of his universe this March. He stayed with us for another 17 days before joining her. Earl James Brewster died on March 24, 2026, in the home he shared with Jeanie and his family in Adrian, Missouri. He was also preceded in death by his parents and siblings as well as his son Mike, child Baby Brewster, and his great-grandchildren: Judah Arnold and Spencer Ferguson. Earl is survived by his children, twenty-seven grandchildren, fifty-one great-grandchildren and counting (three on the way), and many nieces and nephews. The family welcomes all who knew and loved Earl to join them in celebrating his wonderful life. Rest now Earl, you’re back home with Jeanie… right where you belong.
