Emma Belle (LaBarr) WRAY

WRAY, LABARR, NORTON, WHITE, KREIN, MAIER, POULSON

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/31/2007 at 11:12:42

Emma B. Wray, age 79, of Clarion, passed away on Thursday (February 13, 2003) at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City, Iowa. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the United Church of Christ Congregational in Clarion with Rev, Curt Miner officiating. Burial will take place in the Evergreen Cemetery in Clarion. Visitation will be held 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at the Willim Funeral Home, 602 North Main Street in Clarion, and will continue one hour prior to services at the church on Tuesday.

Emma Belle (LaBarr) Wray was born to Ralph and Cecil (Norton) LaBarr on December 25, 1923, in rural Galt, Iowa. She received her education in Galt, graduating with the class of 1941. Emma loved sports, and to this day she is known as the basketball star of Galt High School. On August 15, 1942, Emma was united in marriage with Howard Wray in Tallahassee, Fla. During that time, Howard was serving his country in the United States Air Force, and shortly after their wedding, he was stationed overseas to serve during the European war. In 1943, Emma went to work for the FBI in Washington, D.C., where she held many positions doing clerical and administrative tasks. Upon Howard's return to the states in 1945, the couple settled in Clarion to raise a family. Emma was an active member of the United Church of Christ Congregational, where she participated in Women's Fellowship, was on the Search Committee, and always helped with the annual church bazaar. She was also a member of the Eastern Star and frequently volunteered at Gift and Thrift in Clarion. During her free time, Emma loved to take one-day outings with her sisters and friends. In addition, she enjoyed working in her yard, tending to her vegetable garden and flowerbeds, and chasing her cat, Muffin.

Those left to cherish her memory are two daughters, Leanne White and her husband, David, of Plano, Texas, and Nancy Krein and her husband, Richard, of Forest City; two grandsons, Bill and Daniel, both of Mason City; two great grandchildren, Brendan and Emaray; and two sisters, Lorene Maier of Eagle Grove, and Irene Poulson of Clarion. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Howard, in 1955; a sister, Phyllis, and a brother, Ralph Jr. Willim Funeral Home.

Mason City Globe Gazette
FEBRUARY 16, 2003