Tarrant County - Obituaries - Mary Rowell

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MARY ROWELL 1924-2007
A determined, giving woman
By JESSICA DeLEÓN
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

MARY ROWELL MANSFIELD -- Mary Rowell was "Irish to the bone."

The 83-year-old Mansfield resident had that "Irish spirit and determination"
that got her through life, daughter Barbara Descoteaux said.

Ms. Rowell died Saturday.

A stroke in 2006 left her paralyzed on her right side and affected her
speech, but she didn't complain, her daughter said.

"She was amazing," Descoteaux said. "She was absolutely wonderful, the most
kind and patient person anyone else knew. She was always there for me."

Ms. Rowell was born and raised in New Hampshire.

After graduating from high school in 1942, she worked as a pharmacist's mate
in the Navy. She would have served longer, but World War II ended.

Ms. Rowell went to work for the New England Telephone Co. in Nashua, N.H.,
back when customers had to go through operators to make long-distance calls.

In the small workroom, she and her co-workers became a tight-knit group and
still kept in touch.

Ms. Rowell worked there until 1980. When she retired, she oversaw property
her family owned along Hampton Beach, N.H.

In 1985, she divorced her husband, Cliff, and came to Texas to be with her
daughter and grandchildren. "She just picked up and started a new life,"
Descoteaux said.

She adjusted to her new surroundings well -- getting her own home, joining
the senior center and volunteering at a hospital.

Ms. Rowell liked to spend time with her daughter's two children.

"She was like the perfect grandmom," said her granddaughter, Katie Anderson,
26, of Burleson. "She would take us to the park. She would take us to
McDonald's to the playground. She would do anything for us."

She couldn't go to grandson Alex Descoteaux's performances as a drummer for
the Mansfield High School band. So the family brought the TV recordings to
her nursing home.

"She really cared a lot," said Alex Descoteaux, now 19. "By any means
possible, she wanted to see my show."

And she loved Christmas. Ms. Rowell would often arrive with a trunkful of
gifts for her grandchildren.

"She made 10 trips to the car," Alex Descoteaux said. "She always had so
much."

Services

Funeral: 1 p.m. today, Blessing Funeral Home, 401 Elm St., Mansfield.

Interment: 3 p.m. today, Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.