Verna L. Wharton

    Verna Lorraine (Clem) Wharton, 89, died peacefully on Tuesday, May 20, 2008, in Snowflake. Private services will be held.
   She was born April 27, 1919, in Tahoka, Texas, to James and Clara (McAden) Clem.
   Verna attended San Pedro High School in San Pedro, Calif., where she was in the Honor Society and earned the American Legion Essay Award.
   Following high school, she attended business school and went to work as a business manager for Arte-sia Hospital in Artesia, Calif. She then went to work for Martin Luther Hospital in Anaheim, Calif., as an assistant administrator, where she was the first to activate the computer records, which she traveled all over California for. In 1961, she received a degree in hospital administration from Columbia University in New York.
   In 1940, Verna married Kenton F. Wharton. They were avid deep-sea fishermen.
   Verna was a courageous and talented woman, who was very close to her family. She loved Arabian horses, which gave her the honor of riding in the Rose Parade eight times.
   Survivors include her daughter, Lorraine Wharton Pierce (Willie); and three grandchildren, Lisa Cathleen Pierce Berczel, Jerry Kenton Pierce and Susan Jean Pierce Davis.
   She was preceded in death by her husband, Kenton F. Wharton in 1994; her parents; three brothers, Elton O’Conner Clem, Horace Weldon Clem and Marion Clem; and a sister, Mildred Clem.
   Owens Mortuary of Show Low was in charge of the arrangements.