Mary Ann (Howell) Wahrer (2011)
WAHRER, HOWELL, WILKINSON, ENGEL, SAMPSON, MASON, MCCAULEY
Posted By: Mary Welty Hart (email)
Date: 1/5/2012 at 19:38:37
Winterset Madisonian, Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, January 4, 2012MARY ANN (HOWELL) WAHRER
Mary Ann Howell, daughter of Hugo Howell and Muriel Wilkinson Howell has left this earth but her spirit will continue to inspire us to live life to the fullest.
Mary Ann grew up on the family farm in Madison County, Iowa, the oldest of six children. She graduated from Winterset High School and then The University of Iowa with a degree in education. In 1950 she married Ralph Wahrer of Keokuk in Winterset, Iowa. She taught school in a one room school house for several years until her first child was born. In addition to raising 5 children, she taught elementary school and owned her own preschool in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The family moved to Tucson, Ariz., in 1974, where Mary Ann was the director of a KinderCare Day Care Center for 15 years. Art was always a big part of her life. After her husband’s death in 2000, Mary Ann found solace in oil painting and became an accomplished artist.
In 2001 Mary Ann moved to Boulder to be near family. She continued to paint and had an art piece selected for the Alzheimer’s Association fund raising event. As her eyesight diminished she switched to water color painting and various other art forms.
Mary Ann is survived by her five children: Robert Wahrer of Felton, Calif.; Jane Engel of Boulder, Colo.; John Wahrer of Eagle, Colo.; Kathy Wahrer of Castro Valley, Calif.; and Lynn Sampson of San Diego, Calif. She is also survived by her siblings Mark Howell of Des Moines, Iowa, and Craig Howell of Connersville, Ind., and Jean Mason of Flower Mound, Texas. Mary Ann’s spirit also continues on in the lives of her seven grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her brother Bruce Howell and her sister Patricia McCauley.
A Celebration of her Life is planned for Saturday, Jan. 7, at 2 p.m. at Frasier Meadows, 350 Ponca Place, Boulder, Colo. In lieu of flowers donations in Mary Ann’s honor can be made to Frasier Meadows (designate the Assisted Living Activity Fund), 4900 Thunderbird Dr., Boulder, CO 80303 or Family Hospice Foundation, 1790 30th St., Suite 306, Boulder, CO 80301.
Gravestone Photo
Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen