Clara Marie Tyson

“Let me tell you about a sparkle that happened last week.” Many conversations with Marie Tyson might have included this line; “sparkles” are what Mamarie called the blessings in life that came along at just the right time: a small-world connection between her different circles, an answered prayer for a loved one, or an unexpected phone call from a friend. She loved sharing her sparkle stories, but what she never fully realized was what a Sparkle she was to all of us. After 96 years, eight months, and six days of giving her very best to the world, Clara Marie (Truss) Tyson met her Savior and Lord on Monday, August 1, surrounded by her family and listening to the songs of Glory as she was ushered into it. Even in her last moments, she spread her sparkles the same way she has done her whole life: by ensuring that each of her loved ones knew that she loved them wholeheartedly and unconditionally. Marie was born on a Shawnee, Oklahoma farm on November 25, 1919 to Arthur and Margaret Truss. She was the sparkle of the family even then, graduating from Dale High School in 1937 and continuing her education at Hill’s Business College. Her studies prepared her for a life of mission work for the next several decades. Marie married Daniel Paul Tyson early in 1940 and gave birth to their daughter, Ronda (Tyson) Norris late that same year. Dan and Marie welcomed two boys into the family soon after: (Harvey) Joe Tyson in 1945 and (Daniel) Paul Tyson, Jr. in 1947. Her children were certainly the brightest sparkles in her life. The family moved to Alaska early in the 1950s to work with the Home Mission Board. After serving there for several years, Dan and Marie took the position of Director of Missions for the Panhandle Baptist Association, where Marie served as secretary for twenty-one years. Simultaneously, she balanced home while also leading the Girls’ Auxiliary, or GAs, as director and counselor from 1952-1980 and working as a nurse’s aide at the local hospital. Countless witnesses have professed how Mamarie was a sparkle to them through that time, most of them in their childhood then and now as older adults, recounting how she was the one person that stood out to them as an obvious example of Jesus. Though her children were certainly bright spots for Mamarie, her sweetest sparkles were her grandchildren. Seven blessed grandchildren claim Mamarie as their grandmother: Desi (Norris) Kennedy, Renee (Norris) Craft, Danielle Norris, Rachel (Tyson) Gibson, Matthew Tyson, Olivia Tyson, and Truss Tyson experienced Mamarie’s love from their birth. Though she didn’t live geographically close to them during their early years, she created a relationship with them intentionally through recorded tapes of her reading or just talking to her grandbabies or by a fully stocked kitchen when they came to visit, ready to make gingerbread cookies and sweet popcorn. Her grandbabies’ pictures adorned her walls and filled her photo albums so that she could show off her sweet sparkles to those who’d come along. Over the years, others who would visit with Mamarie would know her grandchildren by name vicariously through her, as her pride for them came out in every conversation. After retiring from his position as Director of Missions, Dan moved Mamarie back to her childhood home in 1978. They served faithfully at her home church, Dale Baptist, in almost every capacity: Mamarie was the church pianist, a Sunday School teacher, Discipleship Training director, WMU leader, prayer warrior, and adoptive mother and grandmother to church members. Her mission field expanded to the local nursing homes where she volunteered, through her role as a third-generation “Tupperware Lady” where she demonstrated hospitality to so many women on a regular basis, and to First Baptist Church of Shawnee’s preschool where she nurtured children in their earliest years. No matter the setting, Marie was faithful to use her many talents to fill her spaces with her own sparkle, blessing those around her with her loving heart and positive spirit. After moving in 1993 and living with family in Texas and Michigan for several years, Mamarie moved into the Baptist Retirement Village in 1998 and immediately became involved in creating a community of hospitality and camaraderie with her new neighbors. The people she connected with there quickly became family to her, and her adopted family she raised at Dale prior to her move got to claim her back as their own. Through these relationships and her continued purposeful contact with her family through technology--a true testament of dedication for a woman her age!--her sparkle only shined brighter as the years went by. Among Mamarie’s many natural gifts was her beautiful, meticulous handwriting. She used it regularly and methodically to bless others in a variety of ways: her loved ones will testify to the birthday cards they’d receive with her special messages in perfect script; others will tell of the significance and timeliness of her beautiful card or friendly word in their difficult time. But her real legacy will be in the ministry she started from her own apartment in the retirement center: hundreds of cards she’s written to prisoners across the country as a desire of her heart to show them the love of God in their personal darkness. While Mamarie often mentioned how this ministry blessed her, many of those prisoners claim Mamarie as their saving grace and would claim her as their own sparkle in an otherwise trying time. There’s a popular saying these days: “She leaves a little sparkle wherever she goes.” Mamarie was never one for glitz and glamour, but no one’s sparkle shines quite as brightly as her life did on this earth. Her mild manner, her kind encouragement, and her unconditional love for anyone and everyone around her was the sparkle in all of our lives. May we all take her lead and live Christ so boldly that, when we too leave this earth, people will say about us what God is surely saying about our precious friend: “Well done, thy good and faithful servant.” Funeral services will be 9:30 a.m. Friday, August 5, 2016 at Dale Baptist Church. Burial will follow in Dale Cemetery under the direction of Walker Funeral Service. The casket will remain until service time, and not be opened after. Memorials may be made to Dale Baptist Church or the Baptist Children’s Home. The family will be at the funeral home Thursday evening from 6-8 pm to visit with friends and family.