Mary E. Sparks (88) of Effingham
Published on June 9 2016 2:33 pm
Mary E. Sparks, 88, of Effingham, Illinois passed away at 2:08 a.m. Thursday, June 9 at HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital in Effingham.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Monday June 13 at the Barkley Funeral Chapel in Toledo. Visitation will be on Sunday from 5-7 p.m. at the funeral chapel. Burial will be in the Toledo Cemetery. Memorials, in lieu of flowers, may be made to diabetes or to the American Heart Assoc. Online condolences may be expressed at by clicking here.
Mary was born in Spring Point Twp. September 11, 1927, the daughter of Henry and Stella (Oakley) McClain. She married Ben Sparks in 1944 and he preceded her in death in 1968. Mary was a homemaker and worked 25 plus years at the Brown Shoe Company in both Mattoon and Charleston. Mary was an avid St. Louis Cardinal fan, always tuning in either on TV or the radio.
Surviving is her son Terry (wife Trena) Sparks of Bennett, Colorado; daughter-in-law Nancy Sparks of Effingham; grandchildren Trisha (husband David) Katt of Effingham, Travis Sparks of Effingham and Brittany Sparks of Bennett Colorado; three great-grandchildren Drake, Vincent and Sophia Katt; brother, John McClain of Shelbyville; sisters, Lela Kroenlein of Effingham, Dona Light of Mattoon and Marilyn Ray of Toledo.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents, son, Richard Sparks; brothers, Howard and Orville McClain; sisters, Carolyn Nelson, Reba Shaw and Josephine Boswell.