Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Marie Hale

(From Parker Mortuary)

On Sunday, March 20, 2016, the full and interesting earthly life of Marie Hale came to a peaceful end at the Communities of Wildwood Ranch, Joplin. A remembrance service will be held Saturday, April 2 at 2:00 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Joplin.

Marie was born May 27, 1922, to Ruth Crocker Forman and Marvin H. Forman, and lived her first four years in Diamond, Missouri. After the Forman's divorce in 1926, Mr. Forman provided no further support. Marie and her young sister, Betty Nelle, resided for a time in the Joplin Children's Home. Betty Nelle died there of pneumonia. Ruth subsequently married a Joplin jeweler, Joe A. Reeves. Marie lived with them and, in 1937, Mr. Reeves legally adopted her. The Reeves family included an older stepbrother, Chester, and a younger, beloved half brother, Jody.

Marie attended Irving Elementary, South Junior and Joplin High. In February 1940, shortly after being elected Joplimo Queen, Marie and debate partner, Dorothy Lyden were champions, undefeated in nine rounds, in Oklahoma City at one of the nation's largest debate tournaments. A friend during those years described Marie as "popular, pretty and smart as a whip."

After graduation from JHS in 1940, Marie and a Joplin pal, Jeane Clinch attended MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois. Marie stayed one year before deciding to pursue a degree in nursing. She graduated in 1944 with a Bachelor of Science degree from Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing, in Boston. In early 1944, prior to graduation and unknown to the school which prohibited students from marrying, Marie wed Lt. J.G. W.E. Hale. She'd met and dated Bill Hale, an Iowa State engineering graduate, when he moved to Joplin to join the Empire District Electric Company. The Navy assigned Bill to Mine Sweeper test duty on Chesapeake Bay. That proximity worked well.

After WW II, Bill and Marie returned to Joplin, raised three children, (Janet, John and Diane) and pursued their careers. Marie's career included: eleven years as a pediatric nurse at St. John's Hospital, an equal number of years as a Clinical Instructor at Franklin Technical School of Practical Nursing, several years as a nurse in the Joplin and Webb City public schools and several summers as a Head Start program nurse in Joplin.

Bill and Marie Hale were active parents, golfers, bridge players, lovers of art, music, literature and theatre, and, after retirement, world travelers. In late 1994, after fifty years of marriage, Bill died of cancer.

In 1999, at the age of 77, Marie married Richard Snyder, a retired engineer and high school classmate, and she moved to Chesterfield, Missouri. For ten delightful years, she enjoyed a new family and developed a new group of friends -- in bridge clubs, a book club and birthday group. She and Richard also traveled frequently. When Richard passed away in 2010, Marie returned to Joplin.

Marie's survivors include: her three children and their spouses: Janet Tabin and husband Lee, John Hale and wife Carolyn, and Diane Humphrey and husband Lee; 10 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild. Survivors also include Richard's family: his daughter Anne Snyder, her brother Brett and his wife Becky, and Becky's sister Emily Harris and her husband, Byron.

Special thanks are extended to the staff at Silver Creek Assisted Living, the Communities of Wildwood Ranch, ADELMO Family Care and Dennis W. Smith, MD for their compassionate, kind and competent care of Marie.

Person wishing to make a donation in Marie's memory are encouraged to consider: Lafayette House-Joplin, The Joplin Humane Society or the First Presbyterian Church- Joplin.

Service arrangements are under the direction of Parker Mortuary, Joplin, Missouri.

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