Emma Maria Wilson, 84 of Mtn. Grove/Cabool passed away on Oct. 11, 2024 at her home. She was born on April 2, 1940 in Larrabee, IA the daughter of Robert Daniel and Velma Maria Emma (Bern) Phillips.
Emma worked with her father from a very young age on the farm helping attend the various animals and working the crops in the fields. She always enjoyed fishing and roaming the countryside. She attended Larrabee Consolidated School, first grade through part of her Junior year in high school.
After two years of drought on the family farm, they relocated to the Troy, MO area in 1956; close to where her father was raised. She then finished her high school education at Buchanan High School in Troy, graduating with the class of 1958.
Blessed with three children, Dennis Dean, Darla Jean and Dale Wayne Colbert, she worked at various jobs to support them- Harper Row Book Warehouse, department store, waitressing and cleaning house for a friend.
On Nov. 13, 1979, she was united in marriage to Richard Douglas Wilson at Cabool, MO and was blessed with three more children, Jesse Lee, Quince Dee and Fay Ann Wilson. She worked at Brown Shoe Company, was a cook at the Kabul Nursing Home and several years as a cook and cafeteria worker for Cabool Schools. During all these jobs she was also working on the family farm and hosting many family and friends get togethers and meals. In her free time she enjoyed crocheting, quilting, painting landscapes, working in her flower beds, playing her accordion and singing and dancing over the years.
Emma was preceded in death by her father in 1981; her son, Dale Wayne Colbert in 2008; her mother in 2010 and her husband, Richard in 2023. She is survived by her children, Dennis and Nettie Colbert of Eolia, MO; Darla and Denby Brazell of LaPorte, TX, Jess and Debby Wilson of Mtn. Grove, MO, Quince and Minerva Wilson of Mims, FL and Fay and David Mayes of Sneedville, TN; 16 grandchildren, Ryan Colbert, Jared Colbert, Justin Colbert, Kelly Colbert, Amber Colbert, Erin Colbert, Jessica Mudd, Brenna Mattox, Colton Wilson, Mercedes Bradley, Wiseyda Indira Rodriguez, Francesca Wilson, Matt Mayes, Samantha Hoffner, Caitlyn Buhr and Addison Mayes; 26 great grandchildren; sisters-in law, Marie Griffin of Oak Hill, VA and Nancye Akers of Tullahoma, TN; brother-in-law, Bill Brown of Springfield, MO; as well as many cousins and friends.
