MONMOUTH – Mary Arthurlene Grass, 68, a longtime resident of Main Street, Monmouth, went to be with her Lord early Sunday morning, Sept. 25. Her loving family was by her side.

She was born in Tryon, N.C., on Aug. 28, 1937, the daughter of Arthur J. and Mary C. (Tallant) Laster. She was a 1956 graduate of Winthrop High School.

On June 29, 1958, at the Leeds Junction Church, she married Dean O. Grass Sr.

For many years, she was a devoted mother and wife and enjoyed raising her young family. Later in life, after her children were grown, she became a C.N.A., having been employed at Greene Acres Manor for many years. She later became a healthcare giver for Rush’s Foster Homes in Monmouth, retiring in 2002.

She loved to serve the Lord in many different ways throughout her life, having been a member of the United Church of Monmouth and the Victory Baptist Church of Winthrop.

She was active with her fellow alumni from Winthrop High School, having joined many of them for a special dinner several times a year. She very much enjoyed getting together with family and friends at their camp at Torsey Pond in Mt. Vernon. She was a very good cook and shared that talent with not only her family, but with her many friends. Gardening, sewing, knitting, collecting hummingbirds and feeding hummingbirds outside her window were but a few of her interests.

She is survived by her husband, Dean, of Monmouth, having celebrated 47 years of marriage this past June; three daughters, Carol M. Frobel and her husband, Eric, of Greenville, R.I., Mary Juanita Grass and her companion, Dick Lyle, of Lynn, Mass., and Kimberly K. Jeskey and her husband, Rick, of Newport; one son, Dean O. Grass Jr., and his wife, Ibeth, of Long Beach, Calif.; a foster daughter, June M. Hastings of Kingston, N.H.; 10 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Kay A. Dunkin and her husband, Benny, of Sebring, Fla., and Brenda Moreman and her husband, Bobby, of Chamblee, Ga.

She was predeceased by a brother, James L. Laster, in 1986.