GRAVETTE -- Lura Mae Kemp, 94, has been named Grand Marshal of the Gravette Day parade to be held at noon on Saturday, Aug. 11.
The daughter of Thomas Riley and Iva Irene Sooter McLaughlin, she moved from Hope to Gravette in 1926. She recalls seeing a photograph of herself as a 2-year-old standing in a boxcar after they arrived.
She married William Henry Griggs in 1941, and they had two daughters, Sharon Anita and Iva Pauline, both of whom graduated from Gravette High School. Henry Griggs died in Texas in 1971. She married William Albert Kemp, a Gravette policeman and city alderman, who died in 1980.
Kemp was employed at the Gravette Medical Center Hospital, now the Ozarks Community Hospital, as a certified dietary manager.
Gravette is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. Kemp was nominated to be Grand Marshal by Jheri Roberts, who will serve as her driver in the parade.
"To our knowledge, Lura Mae is the oldest living resident of Gravette," said Heather Finley, Gravette Day committee chairwoman.
Community on 07/18/2018