Eva Marie Hickerson McClarty, age 87, of Lilbourn, passed away May 20, 2013, at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Born Sept. 2, 1925, in Clifton, Tenn., to the late Herschel Hillard Hickerson and Leby Leona Ray Hickerson, Marie grew up in Dunklin County where she worked in the cotton fields from a young age. Her family farmed land there until her father's death in the early 1940s. On July 13, 1941, she married Thomas Jefferson McClarty and moved to St. Louis. After 70 years, he preceded in her death March 24, 2012. During World War II, she was a "Rosie the Riveter" who assembled airplane wings for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation in St. Louis. An exceptional athlete, she played for "The Helen Stephens Olympic Co-Eds," a women's semi-professional basketball team, throughout the war years. In 1948, she, Tom and their son Larry moved to Lilbourn where they owned and operated a restaurant. During the mid-1950s, she and her husband added three more boys to their family and purchased a grocery store located on Main Street in Lilbourn to begin her long career in the grocery business. She worked in the family grocery store until age 85 when she fully retired due to ill health. Her faith, work ethic and dedication to her family have made it possible for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be extraordinarily blessed. Marie will be lovingly remembered as one who sacrificed her own comfort and possessions to invest in the lives of her loved ones. She is survived by: four sons and daughters-in-law, Larry and Bettye McClarty of Tulsa, Okla., David and Donna McClarty of Lilbourn, Pat and Sandy McClarty of Nashville, Tenn., and Jeff and Lisa McClarty of Houston, Texas; two sisters, Shirley Henderson and Sue Mantei of St. Charles; seven grandchildren, Tom (Laura) McClarty of Siloam Springs, Ark., Susan McClarty of Broken Arrow, Okla., Joseph (Tricia) McClarty of New Madrid, Dr. Philip (Erin) McClarty of Dothan, Ala., Megan (Brian) Beaubien of Nashville, Ryan McClarty of Jackson, Tenn., and Chase McClarty of Houston; and 15 great-grandchildren. In addition to her parents and husband, she was also preceded in death by her brother, Hillard Hickerson, and three sisters, Pearl Hickerson Johnson, Robin Nell Hickerson and Magdalene Hickerson. The family will receive visitors from 6-8 p.m. Friday, May 24, at the First Baptist Church of Lilbourn where services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 25. Pallbearers will be: her five grandsons, Tom, Joseph, Philip, Ryan and Chase McClarty, and her grandson-in-law, Brian Beaubien. Burial will follow in Mounds Park Cemetery. Marie's family wish to expressly thank her special caregivers, Doris, Ruth Etta and Kaleigh, and offer special recognition to David and Donna for the loving care they gave her on a daily basis for many years.