TO THE GREAT GLORY OF GOD

AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF A

TRUE DAUGHTER OF THE OLD NORTH STATE

QUIDA ESTELLE EMERY HOOD

BORN RALEIGH, N. C. SEPT. 19^TH 1883

DIED MONROE, MICH. FEB. 27^TH 1930.

A magnificent and wonderful woman of noble deeds

and high attainment, a devoted Christian, trusting

in God’s goodness and mercy, whose life was

dedicated to untiring service to humanity.

Her memory will endure as a priceless heritage.

Patient, cheerful and unselfish.  A faithful true

and admirable friend a loving companion.  A lover

of her country, courageous and unafraid; through

her did all my achievements some, to God owe all.

Placing my trust in God I wait, setting my face

to the dawn of that new day when the shadows

will lift and we shall be again united.

FRANKLIN S. PRIKRYL

Ouida Estelle Emery Hood’s grave marker is one of the most elaborate in the Oakwood Cemetery in Raliegh, North Carolina. Hood who was born in Raliegh, North Carolina made her home in Frenchtown, Michigan, where she became active in the Frenchtown community—the Frenchtown Grange #749, the Frenchtown Juvenile Grange #85, the Boys and Girls 4-H Clubs, and the Ladies Economic Club.  Though she and Wallace had no children of their own, Ouida hosted annual Christmas and Easter parties for the Frenchtown area.  Her Easter festivities included hiding up to 1,000 colored Easter eggs for the children to hunt—and each child went home with their own chocolate egg.  Her gardens were acclaimed and she was a beloved member of the community.

Hood was married to Wallace C. Hood an automobile designer.  The couple rented a room to Franklin Stanley Prikryl, a real estate developer.  One day Wallace left and never returned—a mystery that was never solved.

The monument that marks Hood’s grave was commissioned by Franklin Prikryl and manufactured in Germany for the princely sum of $40,000, which in today’s dollars would be over $640,000.  In addition to that, Prikryl had 50 wooden barrels of soil from Ouida’s flower gardens from Monroe County, Michigan, to cover the ground above Ouida’s casket.  Prikryl purchased a grave plot for himself next to Ouida and had his name carved on the monument but inextricably was buried in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.