Mary Dye

Mary Iris Dye died at the age of 92 in WestAnaheimMedicalCenter, Orange, CA., on September 30, 2010 of congestive heart failure. On October 28, 1917, Mary Iris (Rarick) Dye was born on a farm near Guymon, north of TexasCounty in Oklahoma. She was the second of four children: Iula, her older sister, Helen Maxine, a younger sister (who died at 22 months in the flu epidemic of the 1918s), and Stan Rarick, 6 years younger than Iris. Her mother, Rada Mae Yarbrough Rarick, came from Alabama by train, then covered wagon, and her family pioneered in the Oklahoma

territory. Rada lived in a dugout on the prairie. Iris's maternal grandmother was fullblooded Dutch. Fires and depressions made farm life precarious for all her family and they left the farm.

Her parents, Rada Mae Yarbrough Rarick (May 14, 1894 to Sept. 5, 1981) and Ava

Chancellor Rarick (May 12, 1889 to 1956) turned to teaching elementary school at

Sandy View northwest of BoiseCity in the western part of Oklahoma, the County seat of CimarronCounty. In 1928, the family moved to the town of BoiseCity where Iris (as she preferred to be called as she said people mispronounced her first name as in "merry" rather than "Mary" with a long "A" sound) completed grade and high school. She starred in musicals and was an athlete in basketball. She went on to college at Panhandle A & M (Agricultural and MechanicalCollege) in Goodwell, OK, continuing to pursue her love of music majoring in voice as a soprano soloist,

piano and clarinet. Forrest Jackson was one of her favorite music teachers and she had the lead parts in many operettas. She has been involved in music all of her life as a soloist, in a trio and in church choirs. After graduating from college, she worked for the Farm Security Administration and traveled throughout Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas. On August 29, 1939 in Las Vegas, NV, she married the man who captured her heart: Roy Maurice Bramblett, who had grown up with Iris's extended family. They started their life together in Inglewood, CA. During WWII, Roy worked for Consolidated building PBY aircraft in San Diego, Calif. A son, Bruce, was born on March 23, 1941 and a daughter, Janis, on November 19, 1942. In 1944, their little family moved to Mtn.Center, CA. a high, dry climate for their son's health. Roy had an independent logging company and worked as a carpenter building homes and schools. In Dec. of 1947, they received a surprise gift, a son named Leslie Paul after his doctor, Leslie Clark in Hemet, CA. Iris went back to school, got her California teaching credentials and drove from Mtn.Center to HemetElementary School in snow, rain and sun to teach 6th grade students for three years. Her family moved to Valle Vista about 1954. After teaching, Iris went to work as a

private secretary for American Pipe & Steel. Her career changed, again, as she got her

librarian credentials from the Univ. of So.Calif. She established libraries in two schools

then developing an InstructionalMaterialsCenter to serve the total Hemet Elementary

District. She set up the library in a new Junior High School then moved to the high school where she eventually drew the plans for a new high school library. Later, they moved to a total new high school campus enlarging the collection to fit a beautiful split?level library. Iris served on various committees for the Hemet Valley Teachers Association, becoming Vice?President, then President, and became active in the State School Library Association as Vice?President then as President of the Southern Section 1973?74. After 25 years with the HemetUnifiedSchool District, she retired in 1977. Always a reading and music enthusiast, Iris was a member of reading clubs and the Hemet Community Concert Assoc. Knitting, crocheting, rug hooking, bridge playing and world travel all played a part in her dynamic life. She was an active member of Delta Kappa Gamma and California Retired Teachers' Association.

Her husband, Roy, passed away in Oct. of 1970. In 1976, she married Ed Dye and inherited two more daughters: Lynda and Jinger who both attended HemetHigh School. Ed and Iris traveled extensively and enjoyed their mutual friends. In 1982, Ed passed on suddenly after only 6 years of marriage. Eventually, she found solace and companionship with Bill Gray enjoying golf and baseball until his death in 2005.

Iris was a staunch American supporting our troops and believing in The U.S. Constitution.

She flew U.S. flags on her car. She believed in our God?given rights to live in freedom and to pursue our own individual prosperity. To her, a woman had every right to be educated, work outside the family home and make life's decisions.

In the midst of all of her family and professional activities, Iris was a founding member of the First Church of Religious Science of Mind in Hemet, starting in 1955 on Tahquitz St., then later building the geodesic domes on Stetson and Girard. Although Iris was always very proud of each of her children, the crowning jewel in her life was the creation of her permanent church home The First Church of Religious Science (now known as the Centerfor Spiritual Living and also affectionately known as "the domes") in Hemet. Her work, along with Fred Taylor, then of Hemet Federal Savings and Loan Association, enabled a long?held dream to become a reality.

Mrs. Dye is survived by her son, Bruce Bramblett and his wife, Kathlyn, of Sedona, AZ, and her daughter, Janis Lynn Boyer and husband, Russell, of Wainiha, Kaua'i, HI, and two stepdaughters, Lynda Lane, of Newport Beach, CA, and Jinger Wallace, of So. Laguna Beach, CA; grandchildren, Randall Boyer, Brandon Boyer, Justin Bramblett, Jennifer Bramblett, Lara Richina, Bryan Bramblett, Johnna Bramblett; great grandchildren; Randall, Ryan, Robert, Tanya Lynn, Ryder Phoenix, Timothy, Jordan, Sarah, Jonah, Anna, Quinn Ivan, Collin Michael, Christian, Clover and Huxley; great great grandchildren; Randall, Jr. (La'aukea), Raeann, Rayson, Railea, Ryden, Rylee, and Robert. Her younger brother, Stan Rarick, lives in Albuquerque, N.M. Surviving nephew, Reggie Moore of Frisco Lakes, TX, and a surviving niece, Sherre (Moore) Piedmonte of Benton, WA. Surviving cousins include Freeda Mae (Johnson) Wooten of Oklahoma City, OK, and Irene Pherigo, of Chino Hills, CA. Her second son, Paul Bramblett, died in August of 2007.

A memorial service will take place on November 13, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. at the Center

For Spiritual Living in Hemet (corner of Stetson and Girard) with Reverend Dianne

Nockey officiating. Ashes will be spread at sea. Miller-Jones Mortuary in Hemetis in charge of arrangements.