Thanks to members of the Carnell family, a small McDonald County schoolhouse has been memorialized.
Shady Grove School was located about six miles east of Pineville, on Big Sugar Creek Road. It is one of many schools where early settlers and their descendants got their first educational experience. Among those who attended Shady Grove were Thomas Alton (Bill) Carnell and his wife, Thelma Bunch Carnell.
Bill Carnell did more than attend school there, he returned to teach at Shady Grove in the 1920s, and he had even more responsibilities at Shady Grove when he became McDonald County Superintendent of School in 1932. This made him responsible for all the country schools, a position he held until 1965.
Unlike many of the small schools in rural Missouri, Shady Grove has survived the wrecking ball and is now situated near Big Sugar State Park.
According to Marilyn Carnell Williams, the old school has been moved across the road from its original location. It is in private hands and is used for storage.
Shady Grove School was a wooden structure but a woodshed, located not far from the school was made of native stone. That woodshed also has survived and is in its original location. Unlike the school, the woodshed is located on state land inside the boundaries of Big Sugar State Park.
After the death of Thelma Bunch Carnell, her daughters, Zella Mae Collie and Marilyn Williams used money in a memorial fund to commission a painting of the school. McDonald County artist Marilyn York was given the commission. On Wednesday, July 14, 2010, the two sisters and the artist delivered the painting to the Crowder College Library where librarian Mary Largent accepted it on behalf of the college.
The commission of the painting by the two sisters was done not only as a tribute to their late mother, but to all the people in that region of McDonald County who have connections with Shady Grove School.
