Obituary of Wilma Fay Stamper

Funeral Services for Wilma Fay Stamper of Elsberry, MO will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, August 26, 2017 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home in Elsberry.  Rev. Paul Garven, pastor of the Elsberry United Methodist Church, will officiate with burial in the Elsberry City Cemetery near Elsberry.  Serving as pallbearers will be Jason Darren Burbridge, Joshua David Burbridge, Zachary Daniel Ladlie, Ryan Shane Ladlie, Charles Samuel Paneitz and Jonathan Eveler Paneitz.  Honorary pallbearers will be Lawrence Aaron Traw, Nathan Michael Smith, Nicholas Ryan Hanna and Jacob Matthew Hanna.

Mrs. Stamper, 91, passed away Sunday afternoon, August 20, 2017 at the home of her daughter in Elsberry.  Born May 2, 1926 in Hartage, MO, she was the daughter of William Melvin and Cora Alice Baker Smith.  Raised in the Bunker, MO area as a Southern Baptist, Wilma attended grade school in the one room school house.  She was a 1944 graduate of Bunker High School.  Wilma attended Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar, MO and became a teacher.  She was united in marriage on September 25, 1948 in Piggott, AR to Harry Loren Stamper, Sr.  This union was blessed with seven children: Harry Loren, Harriet Loraine, Linda Elaine, Maria Alexis, Alice Titania, Peter Michael and Victoria Anne. 

Wilma taught in the elementary school in Bunker and later worked for Drug Package, Inc. in O’Fallon, MO where she retired after 20 years.  She was a member of Caledonia United Methodist Church.  Wilma was a 50 year member of the Order of the Eastern Star.

Wilma was preceded in death by her parents, William and Cora Smith; five brothers: William Smith, Freddie Smith, Arnett Smith, Melvin “Bud” Smith and Dean Smith; three sisters: Thelma May Plank, who was her twin and best friend, Violet Smith and Ruthene Justis; one son, Peter Michael Stamper; and her husband, Harry Stamper, Sr.

Survivors include one son, Harry Stamper and his partner, Jeffrey Anderson, of San Diego, CA; five daughters: Loraine Burbridge and her husband, Kenneth, of Elsberry, Linda Foss and her husband, Wade, of Redmond, OR, Maria Hanna of Fredericktown, MO, Alice Ladlie and her husband, Dan, of Locust Grove, GA and Victoria Stamper of Wentzville, MO; thirteen grandchildren, sixteen great-grandchildren and one great, great-grandchild.  Wilma also leaves two brothers: Dwain Smith and his wife, Louise, of Manchester, MO and Gene Smith and his wife, Dot, of St. Charles, MO; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. until the time of funeral services at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, August 26, 2017 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home in Elsberry.  Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association in care of Carter-Ricks Funeral Home, 107 S. 5th Street; Elsberry, MO 63343.