Ramona Lehman, the longtime co-owner of the Route 66 landmark Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon, Missouri, will receive a Community Achievement Award from that city’s chamber of commerce in November.
According to the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society, Lehman will be honored on Nov. 3 at the chamber’s annual Wall of Honor Banquet.
She was one of five recipients announced Thursday by the chairman of the Wall of Honor Committee. The honor celebrates “extraordinary lifetime achievement.”
Lehman has owned the Munger Moss for 52 years.
An Iowa blizzard was the impetus for Bob and Ramona Lehman to move to Missouri and buy Lebanon’s Munger Moss Motel on June 1, 1971. During their tenure, the Munger Moss became an internationally known destination, its distinctive neon sign pictured in countless Route 66 books and travel magazines. While Bob busied himself with the motel’s upkeep, Ramona became one of the foremost Route 66 ambassadors in the United States as well as Lebanon’s Queen of Route 66. Bob died in 2019, but in her 52nd year of ownership, Ramona still greets guests with wide smiles, warm hugs and generous advice on what to see next on Route 66.
Ramona has been active in promoting Route 66 since her arrival in Lebanon, serving on the Route 66 Association of Missouri board and as founding secretary of the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society in 2002. She currently serves on the Route 66 Society board and is a Rotarian.
The Munger Moss Motel office is full of Route 66-related awards the Lehmans have received, including a Missouri House resolution honoring them on the motel’s 75th anniversary in 2021 and a plaque for their induction earlier this year to the Laclede County Route 66 Wall of Fame.
(Image of Bob and Ramona Lehman at their Munger Moss Motel by the Missouri Division of Tourism via Flickr)
A well deserved award for a very nice and very friendly lady.
The Munger Moss is a great place to stay overnight, a real classic.
Fred from The Netherlands