Viola Marie (Shrum) Webb of Perryville, MO, passed away peacefully at Independence Care Center in Perryville, on Sunday, June 11, 2023 at the age of 91, just four days prior to her 92nd birthday.
She was born June 15, 1931, in Bollinger County (Lixville), MO, to Ralph Ramon and Bertha Ethel (Lix) Shrum. On August 31, 1952, she and William C. “Bill” Webb were married at Crossroads Methodist Church in Bollinger County, by the Rev. Fred Shrum.
She was baptized at Crossroads Methodist Church by Rev. Hopkins, attended Crossroads School for eight years and Perryville High School for one year. In June of 1955, three years after marrying Bill, Viola transferred her church membership to Reagan’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Patton, MO, where the two attended regularly until Bill’s death in 1995.
Viola worked in the Kiefner Branch of International Shoe Company from March 1948 until July 1951. From October 1951 to January 1952, she worked in St. Louis at Puro Greeting Card Company and Vickers Electric. Not liking big city life, she returned to Perryville in 1952, where she began working at the Magnolia Branch of International Shoe Company where she was employed as a topstitcher until May 1961. In March 1962, she went to work at Prince Gardner in St. Mary, MO, working as a topstitcher on billfolds for 19 years until the plant closed in 1981.
She was a Charter member of Perry County Writers Guild, and reorganized the Perryville Garden Club, of which she was President for three years and Secretary for two. Her hobbies were crocheting (which she learned at age 14), sewing and quilting. She wrote many poems, of which several were published, as well as a book entitled, “Bountiful Harvest.” Other writings included an unpublished song called, “Life,” which can be sung to the tune of “The Rose.”
Viola is survived by a son, Danny Webb of Perryville; two daughters, Bonnie (Calvin) Ehlers and Cindy (the late Dale) Kertz, all of Perryville; a granddaughter, Alyssa Stahr of Chicago, IL, whom Viola and Bill adopted and raised as their own; three grandsons, Shane (Jenna) Christisen, Jake (Chelsie) Christisen and Caleb Kertz, all of Perryville; four great-grandsons, Jake Jr, Kane, Kai and Hale; and three great-granddaughters, Taleya, Halle and Kit.
