Emily Sparks, Cottonwood Falls
The Mass of Christian Burial for Emily R. Manion Sparks will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday in St. Rose Catholic Church at Council Grove. The Rev. Nicholas Voelker will be the celebrant. Burial will be in St. Anthony Cemetery at Strong City. The rosary will be held at 7 p.m. today at the Brown-Bennett-Alexander Chapel in Cottonwood Falls. Friends may call from 3 to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions to St. Anthony Catholic Church in Strong City may be sent in care of the funeral home, 201 Cherry, Cottonwood Falls, KS 66845.
Mrs. Sparks died Monday, Jan. 15, 2007, at Morris County Hospital in Council Grove. She was 89.
She was a retired homemaker and, earlier, worked for a billboard sign painting company in Kansas City. She planted and weeded flowers for many hours at several public flower beds. She also provided care for her nieces and nephews and others’ children.
The daughter of John and Margaret Duke Bechelmayr, she was born April 12, 1917, at Elmdale. She married Ludwig Manion on May 5, 1937, at Kansas City, Kan. He died Aug. 17, 1984. She married Herman Sparks on Sept. 7, 1985, at McClouth. He died April 29, 1995.
Mrs. Sparks was a member of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Strong City and the Ladies Altar Guild. She was also a member of the Rainbow Garden Club.
She is survived by many nieces and nephews. Her adopted daughter, Maria Bechelmayr; two brothers, William Bechelmayr and George Bechelmayr; and six sisters, Bertha Stubenhofer, Zella Haus, Alice Dillon, Agnes Pracht, Edith Talkington and Elta Bechelmayr, died earlier.