Mary Elizabeth Fern was born on 7 Sep 1902 in Cle Elum, KittitasCounty , Washington. She married Clarence Coonrod, son of WilliamWoolery Coo nrod and Alice Elena Layne, on 31 May 1931 in Tulsa, TulsaCounty, OK. S he died on 19 Jan 1998 in Richmond, Wayne County,Indiana, at age 95. S he was buried on 21 Jan 1998 in Saint MaryCemetery, Richmond, Wayne Co unty, Indiana.
Donald Coonrod recalls: My mother, Mary, was the only girl in herfamil y. She was born Sept 7, 1902 in Elum, Washington. Her parentshad been i nvited to Washington by her uncle, Joe P. Fern, and hiswife Ellie. Her f ather moved to Washington State in July, 1902 hopingto improve his hea lth. However, he was injured in the mines and thefamily returned to Sc ammon about 1903. They lived for a time on thefarm of John Fern Sr nea r Scammon and Carona, KS. My mother took ateaching degree and taught g rade school in Corona. She then went toTulsa, OK to business college a nd worked for a newspaper. She met andmarried my father, Clarence Coon rod, in Tulsa. They moved toChicksaw, OK, and then to Oklahomas City. M y sister Mary and brotherJohn were both born in Oklahoma. The depressi on deepened, and myparents moved from Oklahoma to Anderson, Indiana ho ping for betteropportunities. My sisters Alice and Eileen were born in I ndiana, aswas I. My parents have resided in Richmond, Indiana for many y ears.
An obituary was in the Richmond newspaper: Mary E. Coonrod, 95,formerl y of 707 S.W. First St., died Monday, Jan 19, 1998, atHeritage Regency . She was born Sept. 7, 1902, in Cle Elem, Wash., toJames and Mary Ell en McCormick Fern and had lived in this area forthe past 63 years. She e arned an associate's degree from Kansas StateTeacher's College, attend ed business college and worked for anewspaper in Tulsa, Okla. She taug ht fifth grade at Saint Mary Schooland was a member of Holy Family Chu rch.
Survivors include two daughters, Sister Michael Mary of Abby of ReginaL audis in Bethlehem, Conn., and Alice Mlekush of Helena, Mont.; andtwo s ons, John F. Coonrod of Kettering, Ohio and Dr. Donald Coonrodof Lexin gton, Ky. She was preceded in death by her husband, ClarenceC. Coonrod , in 1991; a daughter, Eileen Gatz; and seven brothers.Prayer service w ill be at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Riggle-WaltermannMortuary followed by L iturgy of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. at HolyFamily Church. Friends m ay call 5 to 7 p.m. today at the funeralhome.
