Obituary of Ima Dean LaRue

Funeral services for Ima Dean LaRue of Elsberry, MO will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, November 24, 2008 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home in Elsberry. Rev. Lance Long, pastor of First Baptist Church of Crestwood, Missouri, will officiate with burial in Elsberry City Cemetery in Elsberry. Serving as pallbearers will be JoEllen "Jodi" LaRue, Allen Siders, Wayne Lovelace, Dennis Hammack, Larry Lake, Ronald Vaughn, Billy Lee Collins, and Jimmy Lovelace. Dennis Lovelace will serve as honorary pallbearer. Mrs. LaRue, 91, died early Friday morning, November 21, 2008 at the Elsberry Health Care Center in Elsberry. Born December 8, 1916 in St. Louis, MO, she was the daughter of John Will and Ida Sophia Woodson Kelly. She was united in marriage on November 3, 1934 in Elsberry to Alwin Lee "Johnnie" LaRue. This union was blessed with two children: Jack Kelly and Judith Ann. Mrs. LaRue worked for several years at Wells Lamont Glove Factory. She and her husband ran LaRue's Lunch Room across the street from the old Elsberry High School from 1957 until 1968. She later worked as a presser for Warrenton Manufacturing, retiring in 1977. She was a long-time member of the Elsberry First Baptist Church in Elsberry. She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Ida Kelly; two brothers: Cecil Kelly and Kenneth Kelly; one sister, Opal Lovelace; one daughter-in-law, Marian LaRue; and her beloved husband of 68 years, Johnnie LaRue who died November 28, 2002. Survivors include one son, Jack LaRue of Kirkwood, MO; one daughter, Judy Palmer and her husband, Keith, of Elsberry; four grandchildren: Lisa Donald and her husband, Carlos, of Ballwin, MO, Mark Palmer of Estes Park, CO, Chad LaRue and his wife, Amparo, of Phoenix, AZ, and JoEllen LaRue of Kirkwood, MO; and five great-grandchildren: Jordan LaRue, Sophia and Matthew LaRue, and Rachel and Andrew Donald. She also leaves four sisters: Doris Cannon of St. Louis, MO, Ida Mae Simpson and her husband, Derwood, of Independence, MO, Melba Galloway of Elsberry, and Lois West of Troy, MO; one sister-in-law, Ruby Kelly of St. Charles, MO; several nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends. Visitation will be held from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. Sunday, November 23, 2008 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home in Elsberry. Memorials may be made to Elsberry First Baptist Church or the American Kidney Foundation in care of Carter-Ricks Funeral Home, 107 South Fifth Street, Elsberry, MO 63343. Online condolences may be made at www.carterricksfuneralhome.com.