MaReen Nelson Wright

MaReen Janet (Nelson) Wright, of Cary, North Carolina, passed away peacefully at the home of her daughter, Paula Wright Messinger, in Holly Springs, Wake County, North Carolina on Thursday, October 5, 2023, just one week before her 87th birthday. She will be remembered as a gentle and humble woman who was kind to everyone. She influenced others for good and has gone to her heavenly home to join her husband who died just one year ago.

MaReen was born in Roosevelt, Duchesne County, Utah on October 13,1936, the first child of Elmo Alden and Martha “MaRee” Jane (Edwards) Nelson. Soon after MaReen’s birth, the family moved to Bingham Canyon, Utah, where she lived until she was 17 years old. It was while living in Bingham Canyon that she met the love of her life and future husband, Joseph Richard “Ric” Wright. Ric enlisted in the US Army and while stationed in France, proposed to her. They were married on September 20, 1955 in Thierville, Sur Le Meuse County, France. A year after that, they went to the temple in Bern, Switzerland, where they were sealed for time and all eternity as husband and wife.

MaReen and Ric returned to the United States eight months after the birth of their first child. Over the years, they raised nine children together, teaching them to be good members of society. They raised their family in the following places: Verdun, France; Salt Lake City and Kearns, Utah; Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Lake Katrine, New York; and Cary, North Carolina. MaReen helped supplement the family income by working part-time as a salesperson at Sears. She loved growing plants each year, reading through countless books and magazines, painting ceramics, doing needlework and sewing projects, and making scrapbooks using the many pictures she has taken at family gatherings.

MaReen was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her entire life was spent helping others through quiet, often unseen acts of service and love. MaReen gave her time as a Primary Teacher, Sunday School Teacher, Relief Society Teacher, and Stake Sunday School Secretary. She took joy in ministering to the sisters in many wards throughout her life. In 2003, Ric and MaReen served a full-time mission as Family History Consultants in Salt Lake City, Utah. Later they were temple workers in the Raleigh North Carolina Temple. MaReen cherished her role as a temple ordinance worker serving alongside her husband, the Temple Recorder.

MaReen was preceded in death by her spouse, her parents, her brother Elmo Miles Nelson, and her grandchild Kris Grider. She is survived by two of her siblings Paul and Pamela, 9 children: Joseph Wright (Raletta Larkin), Maric Wright (Marilyn Coombs), Margaret Grider (Wade), Paula Messinger (Paul), Tracy Carr (Randall), Eileen Pusey (Marcel), John Wright (Ligia Da Silva Marta), Michelle Van Dyke (Andrew, decd), Steven Wright (Deisy Rodriquez Hernandez), 31 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, as well as 6 step-grandchildren, and 23 step-great grandchildren.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, October 12, 2023 from 6-8 pm at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home in Cary. Funeral Services will begin at 11 am on Friday, October 13, 2023 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fuquay-Varina, with interment to follow at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens. (Zoom Link for the Funeral Service -- https://zoom.us/j/99033159988)

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