Obituary for Clara Marie Whitehead
Clara Marie Whitehead, age 68, of Joplin, passed away on Sunday February 19, 2023, at her
home, following an illness.
Clara was born on January 31, 1955, in Kansas City, MO, the daughter of the late Wesley and
Virgie (Bass) Wright. She has lived most of her life in this area. She married her high school
sweetheart, Earl Whitehead on March 16, 1972, in Joplin, and together they were blessed with
two children.
Clara loved being a wife, mother, and grandmother. She devoted most of her time to caring for
family. She worked part-time at various jobs, working for the Front Page, Hannah’s Candles and
of course Joplin Venetian Blind. She enjoyed riding her Harley, hunting, and collecting rocks
and arrowheads, and gardening.
Clara is survived by her husband of fifty years, Earl Whitehead, Joplin; her children, Travis
Whitehead and wife Tricia, Joplin, and Laurinda Whitehead and spouse Julie Moser; two
grandchildren, Dayton Whitehead and wife Courtney, Neosho, MO, and Logan Martin and
husband Kyle; and four great-grandchildren, Braxton and Lennox Whitehead, and Blakely and
Landon Martin.
Clara had an amazing ability to make everyone she met feel as though they were family. She
touched the lives of many people by making them feel loved and as though they were her
favorite person. She lit up every room she entered with a flash of her smile and her laugh. She
was everyone’s best friend and treated everyone she met as though they were her best friend.
She was the life of every party she attended.
Funeral services will be at 2:00 p.m. Friday at Mason-Woodard Chapel. Kyle Martin will
officiate. Burial will be in Saginaw Cemetery.
The visitation will be 6-7 p.m. Thursday at Mason-Woodard chapel. Memorial contributions may
be given to the American Cancer Society in care of the mortuary.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Mason-Woodard Mortuary & Crematory.
home, following an illness.
Clara was born on January 31, 1955, in Kansas City, MO, the daughter of the late Wesley and
Virgie (Bass) Wright. She has lived most of her life in this area. She married her high school
sweetheart, Earl Whitehead on March 16, 1972, in Joplin, and together they were blessed with
two children.
Clara loved being a wife, mother, and grandmother. She devoted most of her time to caring for
family. She worked part-time at various jobs, working for the Front Page, Hannah’s Candles and
of course Joplin Venetian Blind. She enjoyed riding her Harley, hunting, and collecting rocks
and arrowheads, and gardening.
Clara is survived by her husband of fifty years, Earl Whitehead, Joplin; her children, Travis
Whitehead and wife Tricia, Joplin, and Laurinda Whitehead and spouse Julie Moser; two
grandchildren, Dayton Whitehead and wife Courtney, Neosho, MO, and Logan Martin and
husband Kyle; and four great-grandchildren, Braxton and Lennox Whitehead, and Blakely and
Landon Martin.
Clara had an amazing ability to make everyone she met feel as though they were family. She
touched the lives of many people by making them feel loved and as though they were her
favorite person. She lit up every room she entered with a flash of her smile and her laugh. She
was everyone’s best friend and treated everyone she met as though they were her best friend.
She was the life of every party she attended.
Funeral services will be at 2:00 p.m. Friday at Mason-Woodard Chapel. Kyle Martin will
officiate. Burial will be in Saginaw Cemetery.
The visitation will be 6-7 p.m. Thursday at Mason-Woodard chapel. Memorial contributions may
be given to the American Cancer Society in care of the mortuary.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Mason-Woodard Mortuary & Crematory.