Mary Elizabeth Becker-Newlan was born in Carmi, Illinois to Homer and Mary Elva "Mollie" (Harvey) Becker. She was an angel of a woman who was sweet and kind, and always had words of support and encouragement for others, including a World War II veteran with whom she wrote letters to. With those pen pal letters, a romance blossomed between Mary and Clarence Newlan. They were married in April of 1942 and Mary moved to Kansas. Mary and Clarence, side-by-side, worked hard to raise a family, helped to build the Osawatomie, KS Church of the Nazarene, and along with their faith in God, were successful in hard times. Mary loved to garden, always canning and freezing her harvest, and was a fantastic cook. She had a green thumb, knew the names of what seemed like all flowers, and spent most of her time outside making her yard and flower beds beautiful. She made most of her own clothes, sewed clothes for others, and made beautiful quilts every winter. She really could do almost anything. She loved country music and St. Louis Cardinals baseball. She said she when she was a little girl, her job for her dad was to listen to the Cardinals on the radio and then tell him the play-by-play of the game when he got back from farming in the fields. More than anything, her Christian-walk was most important to her. She was always busy in the church as long as she was able. After her husband passed, Mary moved back to Carmi, IL and attended the Church of the Nazarene there. She helped to raise several of her grandchildren and was absolutely the best grandmother (and mother) in the world. At the time of her passing, she was in the hospital having carcinoma removed from her foot along with some skin grafting. Her heart gave out there. She is still loved, thought of every day, and sorely missed, but we know she is in Heaven with her Lord and Savior.

This Bio was provided by her loving granddaughter Cynthia "Cinnie" Kelly for me to post and I'm most appreciative.