Maria Denise Armour LeDuc died Tuesday, May 25, 2021 in the Manor at Elfindale, after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

She was born on April 23rd, 1951, in Springfield, Missouri, the only child of Jack Bruce and Mary Louise (Lee) Armour.

Maria attended Springfield public schools Delaware, Jarrett, and Parkview High School, graduating in the class of 1969. She then attended Southwest Missouri State College, now MSU, majoring in English and Library Science.

As a young woman she worked in retail clothing sales at The Village Shoppe, and as a model there for local fashion shows, and also modeled for McDaniel Furs. She was employed by the F-Stop Photo Lab in Quality Control before relocating to Memphis, Tennessee, in the mid 1970's where she would begin her life's work in banking at Union Planter's Bank.

She returned to Springfield in 1979, and shortly after her return, she was employed by Empire Bank, now Central Bank of the Ozarks, where she would remain until her retirement in 2015, after more than thirty five years of service.

The years following her return from Memphis would be her happiest and most rewarding. She met and married the love of her life, Charles Kent LeDuc, and together they shared countless good times. A love of the outdoors, nature, and fishing took them to area lakes for numerous weekend getaways, and they had great memories of trips to Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, New Orleans, Natchez, and many other beautiful and interesting places. They were blessed with a special closeness and enjoyment of each other until his death in 2004.

Maria was an accomplished skater, an excellent cook, a dedicated homemaker and collector of antiques, and a voracious reader. For over twenty years she exhibited her baking talents and her antiques at the Ozark Empire Fair, winning many ribbons and showing her support for the fair. She loved her family and her many friends and the wonderful times they had together, movies, music, researching her family history and Springfield local history, having a good laugh, and life itself.

She was a member of Elks Lodge #409 (Charles LeDuc), Greene County Historical Society, Ozarks Genealogical Society, and a lifelong member of St. John's Episcopal Church.

Maria was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and all of her closest relatives. She is survived by her cherished and supportive friends Wanda and Myron Morgan of Nixa, MO, Jessica and Kurt Chamberlain of Springfield, Karen Chandler, Judy Sherrard, Pam McDaniel, Marianna Mazzella, and Mike Hume also of Springfield.

Funeral services will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church, 515 East Division Street at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 1, 2021 with Father David Kendrick officiating under the care of Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home. Interment will follow in Hazelwood Cemetery. If desired, memorial contributions may be made to Ozarks Food Harvest.