Pauline Perry Ware

Pauline Perry Ware, "Miss Polly", a resident of the Blackwater Community near Manila, began her eternal life in Heaven on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. She was reunited there with her husband and a host of family and friends to whom she had bid a brief farewell during her lifetime.

She was born on July 17, 1926, at Earl, Ark., to Robert Grover Perry, Sr. and Lena Harris Perry. Her early childhood was spent at Ravenden, Ark.

When she was a young teenager, her family moved to Manila, Ark., where she attended school at Rocky and later at Manila High School from which she was graduated with honors in 1944. Those who knew her admired her desire and determination to receive a high school diploma despite many obstacles and hardships.

Miss Polly became a school teacher beginning her career at the Section 16 School immediately after graduating high school. She also taught at the Milligan Ridge School and at various times between 1963 and 1981 for the Manila School District. Later in her life at age 53 she received a BSE degree in Elementary Education from Arkansas State University and pursued an MSE degree in Special Education. She was a member of the first graduating class from the former MCCC college in Blytheville, Ark., in 1977.

On Feb. 3, 1944, she married the love of her life, Auddie Byrl Ware.

Byrl and Polly shared thirty-seven years of their lives together until Mr. Ware's death in 1981. Mrs. Ware was proud to remain his widow and lived out the remainder of her life in their home where she has lived since 1963.

Mrs. Ware was a Christian. She worshipped and served her Lord in the Church of Christ. For twenty-five years she taught the Sunday morning Pre-school class at the Manila Church of Christ. Throughout her lifetime she was a member of the church at Milligan Ridge, Cottonwood Corner, Bono, County Line, Manila, Monette and Little River. For several years, she tutored children who were living at the Church of Christ sponsored Children's Home in Paragould and together with her good friend, Amy Cagle, held garage sales and donated the proceeds to the orphanage.

Her life was a testament to her unwavering faith in God, her stalwart moral character and to her unconditional love for her family and friends. Miss Polly greeted everyone who came to her home with a smile and gave them hugs as they arrived and when they left. She seldom met a stranger and those that she did meet soon became her friend.

Loved ones who will cherish her memory include two children: a daughter, Gayla Sue Gilvin and son-in-law, Daniel Gilvin of O'Fallon, Mo.; a son, Auddie Len Ware and daughter-in-law, Debbie Ware of Jonesboro, Ark.

Other survivors include a grandson, Chris Ware and his wife, Carrie Ware, of Hot Springs, Ark.; two great-grandsons, Noah Lee Gilvin and Evan Ryan Ware; her brother, Bill Perry and sister-in-law, Elnora Perry of Leachville, Ark.; and her sister, Imogene Powell of Lennon, Mich.

In addition to her parents and her husband she was preceded in death by two brothers, Robert Grover Perry, Jr. and Gerald L. Perry; two sisters, Berna Larie Perry and Maxine Perry Rowley; and a grandson, Danny Lee Gilvin.

A memorial celebration will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m. at Gregg Funeral Home Chapel in Monette, Ark.

Visitation will begin at 12:30 p.m. Private burial will be in Manila Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that those desiring to honor Miss Polly's memory do so by "paying it forward" with a random act of kindness, a smile, or words of encouragement to someone who is in need of a friend.

To view a memorial video of Miss Polly, please visit http://paulineware.blogspot.com or you can sign her online guestbook at www.mcnabbfuneralhomes.com.