Mary Lou Emery Carlton

Mary Lou (Louise) Emery Carlton 1930-2010 Mary Lou was born February 8, 1930 to Mert and Thelma Emery in Inglewood, California. She passed away at home September 14, 2010. During the Great Depression, all three lived with Mary Lou's grandparents, Hervey and Molly Webster. Mert Emery, a supervisor, worked and retired from McDonnell Douglas/Boeing in the early 1950's. At one point, Mert worked at the Tulsa Oklahoma plant for a year. It was during that time that Mary Lou experienced living with tornadoes. She told many times of seeing St. Elmo's fireballs floating through walls. After that, she was forever terrified of thunder and lightning. The Emery's moved to Long Beach California during Word War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the City of Long Beach and well as others on the West Coast were required to practice "black outs" at night in preparation for another enemy attack. After that, she was forever terrified of the dark. Mary Lou attended Excelsior High School in Norwalk and graduated in 1947. Three years later she was introduced by friends to her future husband, Ed. Thery were soon engaged and married a year later. Mary Lou was no longer afraid. They lived the American dream and bought a home on the GI bill in Bellflower where they lived until Ed's death in 1993 and Mary Lou's recent passing. She retired after 30 years from Boeing (a family tradition) in 1986. After Ed's death she began to travel with her friend Norma to many places like Hawaii, Las Vegas and Laughlin, NV and even the East Coast to see the fall foliage. Mary Lou is survived by her daughter, Denise and her two grandcats, Miss Ruby and Itty Bitty Kitty. Services will be held on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 11 am at Whites Funeral Home, 9903 E. Flower St., Bellflower CA (562) 867-2741. In place of cards or flowers you may choose to make donations in Mary Lou's name to the National Cat Protection Society at natcat.org.