She was born on Dec. 23, 1921, in the Rosedale area of Kansas City, Kan., to William L. and Fannie M. (Stambaugh) Morgan. She grew up in that area, helping in the family dry-cleaning shop, and graduated from Rosedale High School in 1939.
On April 14, 1940, she married Richard “Dick” Finnerty in Kansas City. They lived there until moving to Parsons in 1948. Dick was a locomotive engineer on the M-K-T Railroad and preceded her in death on July 13, 2009.
Ethel was a member of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, the Altar Society, the VFW Ladies Auxiliary and the Lady Elks, having served as its president. She was also a member of the National Association of Retired and Veteran Railway Employees. For six years, she worked as a Tiny Tots teacher for the Parsons Recreation Commission. She and Dick had delivered Meals on Wheels and loved to walk and travel in the United States and overseas.
Survivors include a son, John R. “Jack” Finnerty and his wife, Iva, of Fort Gibson, Okla.; two daughters, Pat O’Hara and her husband, Mike, of Parsons and Judy Nash and her husband, Bill, of Independence, Mo.; 11 grandchildren, Tom O’Hara, Debbie Groves, Kathy Madl, Beverly Schoenhofer, Brenda Johnston, Brian Nash, Craig Nash, John J. Finnerty, Jimmy Finnerty, Jessica Hollifield and Michelle Jackson; and 19 great-grandchildren.
The funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Parsons with burial to follow in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Parsons. The family will receive friends from 9 to 9:30 a.m. Friday in the church parish hall, and the rosary will be prayed at 9:30 a.m. in the church. Friends may also call at their convenience Thursday at Carson-Wall Funeral Home.
Memorials are suggested to either St. Patrick’s Catholic Church or St. Patrick Catholic School and may be left at or sent to the funeral home, Box 942, Parsons, 67357.
Online condolences may be left at www.wallfuneralservices.com.
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