Irene Maynard Brainerd

Irene Maynard Brainerd died July 23, 2014 at Brighton Gardens in Prairie Village, Kansas. Irene was born in Overton County, Tennessee February 16, 1916, the third of eight children born to Carl W. and Bettie Sewell Wright. She lived in Oklahoma from age 3 until age 16, and in the Kansas City area since then. As an employee of the Army Quartermaster Corps at the onset of World War II, she was selected to be a member of the original cadre of 14 military personnel assigned to begin operation of the newly established, and unique, Army Effects Bureau. She served with that bureau throughout the war, then retired to become a homemaker. Irene was married in 1939 to Clarence H. “C.B.” Brainerd, a native of Oregon, who preceded her in death in 2001. She is survived by their sons, Carl Brainerd of Houston, Texas and Keith Brainerd of Friday Harbor, Washington, and grandson Christopher Brainerd of Seattle, Washington. Survivors also include her brother Ernest Bryan Wright of Harrisonburg, Virginia, her niece Mary Anne Hile of Merriam, Kansas, and numerous other nieces and nephews through three generations. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM Tuesday, July 29, at the Old Mission Methodist Church, 5519 State Park Road, Fairway, KS, 66205. A visitation period at 10:00 AM will precede the service. In place of flowers the family suggests donations to the church, where Irene was a member for over 60 years. Arrangements under the direction of Mount Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home, Kansas City, MO.