Tina King, 79, of Springfield, MO, passed away on November 11, 2023, surrounded by loved ones.

Born to Nicholas and Ethel Mae Zarras, Tina was the oldest of two children. Tina attended Central High School in Springfield, MO. She married Ronald King (deceased) in 1961. Upon their divorce in 1972, Tina worked herself to the bone to provide for her three children. She worked for Dillon's Grocery Store for decades, eventually retiring in 1999. Having worked so hard for so long, Tina had a hard time staying retired. She found a renewed joy in her part-time work at her family's flower shop, doing the books for Fantastic Caverns, and preparing taxes for H&R Block.

Tina's grandparents emigrated to the United States from Greece in the 1910's. Although her family was proud to become Americans, they had a strong and undying love for their Greek heritage that Tina carried on and passed down to her own children. She loved cooking Greek food and made sure that each of her daughters and granddaughters were taught the recipes that had been passed down to her from her Yaya.

Not only did Tina love cooking and eating Greek food, but you could see her eyes light up when she got the opportunity to feed it to others. And she fed others often. There was never a Thanksgiving or Christmas where she didn't have at least one stranger seated at the table—if anyone knew someone who was going to be alone for the holidays, Tina welcomed them with open arms and sent them home with more leftovers than they could eat.

Tina believed in the spirit of giving, which inspired her immense passion for democratic politics. She was a die-hard warrior for the Democratic Party until the day she died. She believed in equality, democracy, fairness, and, most importantly, she believed in taking care of each other. She had a tremendous reverence for Joe Biden that came from decades of watching him serve the country and she never got over "what they did to Hillary." Her final wish was for Joe to be re-elected and for Donald Trump to end up in prison.

She is survived by her sister, Cynthia Graybeal, of Springfield; her children Laura Elwood of Jefferson City, Lisa Doran (and husband Lee Doran) of Nixa, and Keith King (and wife Tonya King) of Springfield; her grandchildren Ashley Dye (and husband Eric) of Nixa, Lindsey Phoenix (and wife Caitlin) of Jefferson City, Kainon Bouldin (and wife Tiffany) of Ozark, Houston King of Springfield, MaKennon Doran (and wife Karah) of Ozark, and Hailey King of Springfield; her great-grandchildren Kaylee Steelman (and husband Hayden) of Republic, Raelyn Dye (age 12), Kaison Bouldin (age 8), Brynn Phoenix (age 7), Tate Phoenix (age 3), Jackson King (age 3), and Walker Doran (age 3).

Services will be held at Maple Park Cemetery (300 W. Grand, Springfield, MO) on November 21, 2023, at 10 AM. In lieu of flowers, Tina would want you to make a donation to one of two organizations that she cared deeply about: the Missouri State Democratic Party or the American Cancer Society.