Beatrice Arlene Emery

Beatrice Arlene (Wale) Emery of Merrill entered the glory of heaven on May 10, 2022, at the age of 102. Born in Porter Township to the late Ernest Earl and Lillie Esther (Moore) Wale on March 29, 1920, she was the oldest of nine children. Bea attended beauty school in Saginaw, Michigan when she was 17 and became a cosmetologist starting out her career in Midland County. She operated Bea's Beauty Shop for over 30 years, first in Midland County and then in Merrill. She married Theodore J. Emery, Jr. on May 1, 1940 and they were married 62 years before his death in 2002. After retiring from the beauty shop, she worked several years at Wetmore's Drug Store in Merrill. She was an active member of the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wheeler, and was a talented craft maker and created many items over the years for their bazaars. She painted, sewed, crocheted and had tubs full of crafts and material offering it to anyone who needed some. Her faith in God was very strong and she shared that faith openly. Her last contribution of love and faith was purchasing over 25 talking Bibles, giving them to friends, family and anyone who she heard may need one, even giving one of her last ones to a hospital roommate during a recent hospital stay in March.

Feeling so thankful to have her as a mother are her surviving children Emory Emery, Patti (Bob Monk) Emery, Pam (Mike) Miller, all of Merrill; Danni (Christina) Emery of St. Johns, FL and Steven (Tammy) Emery of Ashland City, TN. She also leaves a special Godson, John Klink and his wife Ann, Hemlock, and a Foster Son, Larry Sage of Vassar. Her daughter, Penny Rose Bell, and a great-granddaughter, Paige Emery, predeceased her. Also surviving her are one sister, Lilly James, sister-in-law, Mary Wale, and brother-in-law, Fred Wallin.

Siblings and their spouses who were waiting in heaven to greet her were Anita (Carl) Mudd, Dessie (Fred) Fall, JB (Lucy) Wale, Norma Bushre, LD (Faye) Wale, Larry Wale and Karen Wallin, a brother-in-law, Francis James. Beatrice leaves 13 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren as well as many special nieces and nephews.

Funeral service will be held at 11:00 am on Monday, May 16, 2022, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 10020 East Monroe Road, Wheeler. Pastor Michael Podeszwa will officiate with burial to follow in Ridgelawn Cemetery. Friends may visit with the family from 2:00-8:00 pm on Sunday, May 15, 2022, at W. L. Case & Company, 125 E. Saginaw, Merrill. Memorials may be made to the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wheeler.