MaryLou Wright
COLUMBIA — MaryLou Wright died Thursday Sept. 9, 2010 in her home. Her birth date is undisclosed.
Mrs. Wright was born near Joplin to Lester Marlatt and Juanita (Mead) Marlatt. She attended Joplin Junior College, now Missouri Southern State University, before joining the U.S. Army during WWII and training to be a physical therapist. When Mrs. Wright returned from the war, she continued her education at the University of Kansas in Lawrence and later transferred to Kansas State University in Manhattan, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in English.
After college, Mrs. Wright practiced as a physical therapist for many years. She later returned to school at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, where she earned a Master of Arts in Education and English Literature.
As a middle school English teacher, influenced people of all ages with her intelligence, tenacity, gracefulness, courage and integrity. She retired in 1995.
Mrs. Wright is survived by her three daughters, Megan Hess of Fayette, and Rebecca Pierce and Katherine Brigman, both of Mankato, Minn.; her brother, James Marlatt; six grandchildren and two step-grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; ten nieces and nine nephews.
Her husband, Dr. George Wright, died earlier.
Memorials and gifts can be sent to Howard County Home Health and Hospice, 101 Furr St.,
Fayette, MO 65248; the Organ Fund at the First Presbyterian Church of Boonville; the George W. Wright Scholarship Fund through the Agronomy Department of Kansas State University; or a charity of the donor’s choice.
Services will be held Saturday, Oct. 23 at 1:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 417 Vine St. in Booneville. Tributes may be posted at memorialfuneralhomeandcemetary.com.
