Erma Edrie (Stark) Brines, of Warrensburg, Missouri, died at Western Missouri Medical Center on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 89 years and 9 months after battling cancer.

Funeral Service was 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11 at Williams Funeral Chapel in Warrensburg, with Rev. Dr. Randy Neal of Grover Park Baptist Church officiating. Interment followed at Warrensburg Memorial Gardens Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Robert Brines, Bryan Webb, Alastair Brines, Joshua Smale, Joseph Smale and Matthew Brines.

The family received friends from 12:30 p.m. until service time, Sunday at the funeral home.

Erma was born May 7, 1928 in Aurora Springs, Missouri, to George Tolbert Stark and Etta Maude (Houser) Stark.

At the age of 16, she left home and moved to Waukegan, Illinois. She moved in with her sister and worked at Abbott Laboratories. It was in Waukegan that she met a sailor that would change her world.

She and Robert “Bob” Brines married on Sept. 1, 1951 in Wenatchee, Washington. They “traveled the world” together as Bob got orders to move from one base to another. In 1957, he got an honorable discharge from the Navy and enlisted in the Air Force.

For 20 years they moved while Bob served in California, Washington, Illinois, Montana, England, Spain, Germany, Korea, Vietnam, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri. They lived in Sedalia, Missouri after he first retired and moved to Warrensburg in 1977.

They were active members of First Baptist Church of Warrensburg where they enjoyed participating in the “Golden Agers.” Erma was a member of Grover Park Baptist Church at the time of her passing.

She enjoyed the friendships she had developed in her Sunday School Class and special bonds she made at the Community Clothes Closet, where she volunteered for the past several years.

Erma was preceded in death by her husband, Robert and an infant son, Dennis William Brines.

She is survived by her seven children: Diane L. Webb and husband, Dale of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; Deborah E. Nolker and husband, Kevin of Warrensburg; Robert L. Brines and wife, Terri of Sedalia, Missouri; James D. Brines and wife, Linda of Independence, Missouri; Patricia A. Brines of Warrensburg; Cheryl R. Du Cros and husband, Bernard of Aurora, Colorado; and Jeffrey W. Brines and wife, Stacy of Kansas City, Missouri; 11 grandchildren: Bryan Webb, Melissa Mayhew, Rebekkah Smale, Robert Brines, Jill Robinson, Sarah Morgan, Alastair Brines, Jennifer Du Cros, Andrew Sherwood, Matthew Brines, and Aaron Brines; nine great grandchildren: Joshua Smale, Joseph Smale, Dalton Mayhew, Emily Mayhew, Mackinzie Brines, Skylar Brines, Corey Owen, Liam Robinson, and Anna Robinson; and many nieces and nephews as well as a host of friends and loved ones.

She said her obituary should be “I was here. Now I’m gone.” Her independent and energetic personality will be missed by all who knew and loved her.

Memorial Contributions are suggested to Children’s Mercy Hospital.

Online condolences may be left at www.williamsfuneralchapel.net