Wrenshall "Wren" Vancel McKemy, 82, of Huntsville died Saturday at Huntsville Hospital after a brief illness.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today with services to follow at Berryhill Funeral Home in Huntsville. Her body will then be taken to Berry Funeral Home in Knoxville for visitation and burial in Lynnhurst Cemetery.
Born in Tazewell, Tenn., Wren was the first of two children of father, Harley Vancel, and mother, Shirley Whitaker Vancel. She and her husband, Jim, moved to Huntsville in 1968 where they raised two children.
First and foremost, Wren was a devoted wife and mother. She loved her family and would do anything for them. She also loved politics and the Republican Party. She served on many local, state and national committees, including five years as president of the Alabama Federation of Republican Women, 20 years on the Board of Directors of the National Federation of Republican Women, Vice Chair of the Alabama Republican Party and serving as Ronald Reagan's campaign manager for Madison County.
In recent years, she devoted herself to the care of people with mental retardation through membership in the South Huntsville Civitan Club, serving on the board of Civitans Care, Inc. and the Madison County Mental Retardation board, and supporting the UAB Civitan International Research Center.
Wren is survived by her husband of 57 years, Jim McKemy of Huntsville; two children, John McKemy of Laurel, Md., and his partner Frank Giuliano of Westfield, Mass., and daughter, Mary McKemy and her husband John Whiteside of Rock Hill, S.C.; one grandchild, Jonah Whiteside of Rock Hill; and her brother, Bill Vancel and his wife Jenny of Maynardville, Tenn.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Civitan International Research Center, 1530 Third Ave. S., Birmingham, AL 35294-0021, or to the Arc of Madison County, 1100 Washington St., Huntsville, AL 35801.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today with services to follow at Berryhill Funeral Home in Huntsville. Her body will then be taken to Berry Funeral Home in Knoxville for visitation and burial in Lynnhurst Cemetery.
Born in Tazewell, Tenn., Wren was the first of two children of father, Harley Vancel, and mother, Shirley Whitaker Vancel. She and her husband, Jim, moved to Huntsville in 1968 where they raised two children.
First and foremost, Wren was a devoted wife and mother. She loved her family and would do anything for them. She also loved politics and the Republican Party. She served on many local, state and national committees, including five years as president of the Alabama Federation of Republican Women, 20 years on the Board of Directors of the National Federation of Republican Women, Vice Chair of the Alabama Republican Party and serving as Ronald Reagan's campaign manager for Madison County.
In recent years, she devoted herself to the care of people with mental retardation through membership in the South Huntsville Civitan Club, serving on the board of Civitans Care, Inc. and the Madison County Mental Retardation board, and supporting the UAB Civitan International Research Center.
Wren is survived by her husband of 57 years, Jim McKemy of Huntsville; two children, John McKemy of Laurel, Md., and his partner Frank Giuliano of Westfield, Mass., and daughter, Mary McKemy and her husband John Whiteside of Rock Hill, S.C.; one grandchild, Jonah Whiteside of Rock Hill; and her brother, Bill Vancel and his wife Jenny of Maynardville, Tenn.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Civitan International Research Center, 1530 Third Ave. S., Birmingham, AL 35294-0021, or to the Arc of Madison County, 1100 Washington St., Huntsville, AL 35801.
Wrenshall "Wren" Vancel McKemy, 82, of Huntsville died Saturday at Huntsville Hospital after a brief illness.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today with services to follow at Berryhill Funeral Home in Huntsville. Her body will then be taken to Berry Funeral Home in Knoxville for visitation and burial in Lynnhurst Cemetery.
Born in Tazewell, Tenn., Wren was the first of two children of father, Harley Vancel, and mother, Shirley Whitaker Vancel. She and her husband, Jim, moved to Huntsville in 1968 where they raised two children.
First and foremost, Wren was a devoted wife and mother. She loved her family and would do anything for them. She also loved politics and the Republican Party. She served on many local, state and national committees, including five years as president of the Alabama Federation of Republican Women, 20 years on the Board of Directors of the National Federation of Republican Women, Vice Chair of the Alabama Republican Party and serving as Ronald Reagan's campaign manager for Madison County.
In recent years, she devoted herself to the care of people with mental retardation through membership in the South Huntsville Civitan Club, serving on the board of Civitans Care, Inc. and the Madison County Mental Retardation board, and supporting the UAB Civitan International Research Center.
Wren is survived by her husband of 57 years, Jim McKemy of Huntsville; two children, John McKemy of Laurel, Md., and his partner Frank Giuliano of Westfield, Mass., and daughter, Mary McKemy and her husband John Whiteside of Rock Hill, S.C.; one grandchild, Jonah Whiteside of Rock Hill; and her brother, Bill Vancel and his wife Jenny of Maynardville, Tenn.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Civitan International Research Center, 1530 Third Ave. S., Birmingham, AL 35294-0021, or to the Arc of Madison County, 1100 Washington St., Huntsville, AL 35801.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today with services to follow at Berryhill Funeral Home in Huntsville. Her body will then be taken to Berry Funeral Home in Knoxville for visitation and burial in Lynnhurst Cemetery.
Born in Tazewell, Tenn., Wren was the first of two children of father, Harley Vancel, and mother, Shirley Whitaker Vancel. She and her husband, Jim, moved to Huntsville in 1968 where they raised two children.
First and foremost, Wren was a devoted wife and mother. She loved her family and would do anything for them. She also loved politics and the Republican Party. She served on many local, state and national committees, including five years as president of the Alabama Federation of Republican Women, 20 years on the Board of Directors of the National Federation of Republican Women, Vice Chair of the Alabama Republican Party and serving as Ronald Reagan's campaign manager for Madison County.
In recent years, she devoted herself to the care of people with mental retardation through membership in the South Huntsville Civitan Club, serving on the board of Civitans Care, Inc. and the Madison County Mental Retardation board, and supporting the UAB Civitan International Research Center.
Wren is survived by her husband of 57 years, Jim McKemy of Huntsville; two children, John McKemy of Laurel, Md., and his partner Frank Giuliano of Westfield, Mass., and daughter, Mary McKemy and her husband John Whiteside of Rock Hill, S.C.; one grandchild, Jonah Whiteside of Rock Hill; and her brother, Bill Vancel and his wife Jenny of Maynardville, Tenn.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Civitan International Research Center, 1530 Third Ave. S., Birmingham, AL 35294-0021, or to the Arc of Madison County, 1100 Washington St., Huntsville, AL 35801.
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