Mabel "Mim" Inboden

Mabel "Mim" Inboden, 89, of Robinson, IL, passed away on November 22, 2025, at Lake Regional Hospital in Osage Beach, MO. Born on June 12, 1936, in Robinson, she came into the world as the eighth child of eight. With that many kids running around, Mim learned to be independent early on. Those early years were shaped by the tail end of the Depression, a time when kids learned how to make their own fun. Mim found hers on the back of a horse named Major. She showed him proudly, winning ribbons (and probably winning hearts, too). She graduated from Robinson High School and promptly married the love of her life, George Inboden, on September 11, 1954. They built a house from the ground up soon after. They filled that house with children and with work and with the kind of grit that comes from choosing to build a life together, brick by brick.

Mim never had one "career," not in the traditional sense. Marathon Pipeline moved George from place to place, and Mim moved right with him, turning each house into a home and then turning that home into profit. She could look at a broken thing and see possibility. She was handy, resourceful, and endlessly creative. They lived in Crown Point, IN, and later in Champaign, IL, where she took a job at one of the very first Arby's locations in the country. They returned to Robinson in 1974, and eventually, Mim and George poured themselves into their business, G & M Oil Company. With a sharp mind and a careful hand, she kept the books until the business was sold in 2006.

Along the way, Mim gave her time and heart to the Lawrence Crawford Association for Exceptional Citizens. She loved the people served by the association. She saw their worth clearly, and she loved the way they were reminded of it. She also served as the secretary at Highland Church of Christ, and even earned a real estate license at one point, though she never brokered houses professionally. After all, her calling was always to tend to her own house and those who called it "home". She was endlessly talented with her hands. Mim could sew anything. Clothes, curtains, suits, quilts. If she could picture it, she could make it. In her later years, a quilting group became a joy to her, right up until her eyesight faded and forced her to stop. What she could no longer do with fabric, she kept doing with her presence. She stayed warm, funny, and engaged with the world around her.

And she cooked. Oh, how she cooked. Mim canned everything George grew. She raised her kids on the kind of food people try to replicate but never quite achieve. She peeled more potatoes than anyone could count and turned them into fried potatoes that disappeared almost as fast as she could make them. Her desserts became legend. Her pies and cobblers, made with berries grown on her own property, tasted like love baked into pastry. She fed her family, her friends, and more funeral dinners at Highland Church of Christ than anyone kept track of. And for Mim, the church was never just a place she served. It was a place she sang. She knew the hymns by heart, possibly every single one. So when fear crept close or sickness pressed in, it is no surprise that she returned to an ancient song: Psalm 23. She prayed it time and again, and it became the place she went when she needed comfort, and the words never failed her. And we hold to those same ancient words now, knowing with confidence that she will “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Mim is survived by her children, Tim & Vicki Inboden, Teresa Burge, and Evan & Julie Inboden; her grandsons, Alex & wife Lauren Burge, Adam Burge, Keegan Inboden, and Brendan & wife Brianna Inboden; by her great-grandchildren, Alease Burge and Matthew Burge; as well as several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, George Inboden; her parents, Harvey & Ethel (Bennett) Mullins; her son, Mark Leon Inboden; her son-in-law, Jeff Burge; her brothers, Everett Mullins, John Mullins, Earl Mullins, Danny Mullins, and Bill Mullins; and her sisters, Maxine Bradbury and Louise Shimer.

A graveside service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 25th, at the Robinson New Cemetery, with Celebrant Curt Goodwine officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to the Lawrence Crawford Association for Exceptional Citizens, with envelopes available at the cemetery. The Goodwine Funeral Home in Robinson is assisting the family at this time.