Barbara Wright

Barbara Ann Wright, age 85 years of Niles, Michigan died peacefully at 1:10 p.m. on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 surrounded by her family at home following an extended illness.

She was born on March 31, 1932 in Gleason, Tennessee to Clyde and Somora (Webb) Stewart.  She was graduated from Gleason High School, and has lived in Niles since 1952.  She owned and operated the “Beauty by Barbara Ann” beauty salon for more than twenty-five years.  She then kept a chair for several years at the Four Flags Beauty Shop in Niles.

Barbara was a Charter Member of the Huntly Memorial Baptist Church in Niles, where she served in many elected and volunteer offices over the years.  She also served Hospice at Home as a volunteer for several years.  She enjoyed traveling with her family throughout the United States, usually camping in a pop-up tent-trailer, and eventually using an RV for the trip to Alaska.  She also enjoyed sewing, often for the foreign missions of the church.

On November 24, 1949 in Gleason she married Fred Marcus Wright, with whom she would have celebrated the remarkable Sixty-eighth anniversary of their wedding just two days after her death.  She was sadly preceded in death by an infant great-granddaughter, Faith Gibson on April 21, 2015; by a son-in-law, Jerry Esch on April 22, 2017; by her brothers, John Stewart and Joe Stewart; sister-in-law Dorothy (Mrs. John) Stewart, and brothers-in-law Marvin Fuller and Frank Lenox.

Surviving family includes her husband, Fred Marcus Wright and their daughters, Beverly (& Timothy) Foor of Bradenton, Florida, Marcia Esch of Gleason, Deborah (& Charles) Ruth of Buchanan, Michigan, and Hope (& Van) Simms of South Bend, Indiana; ten grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren; and Barb’s brother, Tom Stewart of North Port, Florida and sisters, Sue Fuller and Linda Lenox, both of Niles, sister-in-law Peggy (Mrs. Joe) Stewart, and many nieces and nephews.

The funeral service for Barbara Wright will be at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, November 27, 2017 at the Huntly Memorial Baptist Church.  Committal will follow at the graveside in Mission Hills Memorial Gardens.

The family will receive relatives and friends from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Sunday at the Halbritter-Wickens Funeral Home in Niles.  Contributions in memory of Barb may be made to the Caring Circle Hospice at Home, 4017 Chamberlain Road, Buchanan, MI 49107.  Online condolences may be left at:

www.halbritterwickens.com