Mary Ellen Ray Holloway, age 72, of Lewiston, Idaho, passed away Monday, April 22, 2019, following an extended illness.
Born February 12, 1947, at Deer Creek, below Cass, she was a daughter of the late Woodrow and Violee Ray.
Mary lived in Lewiston, Idaho, for the past 28 years with her second husband, Darrell, who preceded her in death May 12, 2018.
Mary Ellen Ray’s first husband was John Benjamin “Benny” White, who passed away April 24, 2011. They were married in the fall of 1963, before she graduated from Green Bank High School in 1965.
Mary worked at various jobs in Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Idaho. She also prepared taxes for family and friends for many years. She recently had two hometown memories published in Coal Miners and Mountaineers, tales from the good old days in central West Virginia.
In addition to her parents and husbands, she was preceded in death by five siblings, Ernest Clarence Ray and Delbert Calvin Ray, who did not survive their infancy, and three stillborns; and a step-daughter, Debbie Holloway White.
She is survived by a daughter, Shawna Jean, and husband, Randy Sharp, of Elkins; two sons, John Shane White, of Belington, and Jeno Shannon White, and wife, Karla, of Lewiston, Idaho; five grandchildren, Dereka Petrice, and husband, Tim, Amy Sharp, Kelly Shomo, Lesley Sharp and Hannah White, all of Elkins; nine great-grandchildren, Haylee, Rachel, Paige, Taylor, Samuel, Jordan, Jace, William and Winter; 10 sisters, Helen Keegan, and husband, Donald, of Baltimore, Maryland, Margaret Corbett, Darlene Cassell, Sally Gibson, Ernestine Hannah and Barbara Mock, all of Marlinton, Della Ray, and companion, Joey Judy, of Bartow, Frances Tawney, and husband, Pete, of Buckeye, Virginia Wilcox, and husband, Calvin, and Nellie Ray, all of Twin Falls, Idaho; four brothers, Jacob Ray, and wife, Dianna, of Hansen, Idaho, Ronald Ray, and wife, Betty, of Twin Falls, Idaho, Charles Ray, of Marlinton, and Johnny Ray, and wife, Cindy, of Warm Springs, Virginia; a step-daughter, Heidi Brewer, and husband, Rick, of Missouri; one aunt, Oleta Scruggs, of Roanoke, Virginia; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Celebration of Life will be held Sunday, July 14, 3 p.m. at the Grandon House located at 249 Main Street in Cass. Her family and friends are invited to attend and share their memories.
