Hazel Margaret Runciman Putnam was the oldest child of John and Ivy Pittams Runciman and was born November 9, 1924 in the Otunui North valley 13 miles from Taumarunui, New Zealand. She died on April 26, 2022 @ 5:30 AM.
She grew up on the farm known as “Dunbar”, attended the Rangi Grade School, and received her high school education through the New Zealand Correspondence School. In February 1943 she entered Teachers Training College in Auckland, New Zealand. In February 1944 at the beginning of her second year she met Elbert James Putnam in the military police, 43rd Infantry Division, US Army, who was on leave after serving in the Pacific Theater WWII. They became engaged and two years later she came to the United States on the SS Mariposa, arriving in San Francisco on February 25, 1946. They were married on August 4, 1946 at the old First Baptist Church in Unionville, Missouri, by Rev. Willis Putnam, an uncle of the groom. Her faith in the Lord Jesus was a very real power and had been since she was 13 years old. She was baptized in 1943 at the Mt. Eden Baptist Church in Auckland, New Zealand and moved her membership to the First Baptist Church of Unionville, Missouri in 1946. She helped her husband Elbert in his farming and did all the black and white printing in the Putnam Photographic Studio from 1963 to 1989 when they retired. She was a photography leader in 4H for 22 years, and was active in many community programs, taught Sunday School for many years, and was very well informed on the wild flowers of Putnam County. In 1992 Hazel and Elbert retired from the farm and moved to Kirksville, Missouri, where they became members of the Hamilton Street Baptist Church.
She will be missed by a large family in New Zealand, and many loved ones and dear friends in the United States. She asked to leave this with you “If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, I’ll see you in the Morning” – Psalm 30:5.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Elbert, who died November 29, 2005, her father, mother and two sisters, Elsie and Bessie. She leaves behind six children, Ray and wife Vicki, Wayne and wife Miriam, Craig and wife Robin, Perry and wife Kathleen, Sharon Putnam Marti and husband Peter, and son Keith, Hazel’s brother Phil and sisters Avis, Rosalie, and Gloria, all of New Zealand, 17 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.
Public visitation will be held Saturday, April 30, 2022 from noon to 1:00 p.m. with funeral service following in the chapel of Travis-Noe Funeral Home in Kirksville, Missouri. Pastor Garrett Trunk will officiate the service. Interment will follow at Wyreka Cemetery in Powersville, Missouri.
In lieu of flowers she requests donations to the Baptist Children’s Home and may be left at or mailed to Travis-Noe Funeral Home, P.O. Box 306, Kirksville, MO 63501.