- Date Of Birth: December 9, 1931
- Date Of Death: November 12, 2021
- State: Indiana
Mary Amelia (Roepke) Wilcox was born December 9, 1931, in Toronto, Canada to Martin Henry Roepke and Edith Juanita Roepke. The family returned to the U.S. in 1934. Mary spent her formative years in St. Paul, Minnesota. She attended Murray High School in St. Anthony Park and worked part time in the local library. After high school Mary studied Occupational Therapy at the University of Minnesota. She graduated with distinction in 1954. Following graduation, she worked as a Registered Occupational Therapist at the University of Minnesota hospitals.
She married James R. Wilcox, a lifelong friend, on June 25, 1955. She continued working at the U of M hospitals while her husband completed his U. S. Army commitment and pursued graduate studies at the University. Mary and her husband moved to Ames, Iowa, in 1959. Mary worked at the Ames Methodist Church and later at the Dairy Department at Iowa State University. Their daughter, Barbara Jean, was born while they lived in Ames. Mary and her husband moved to Gulfport, then to Long Beach, Mississippi in 1961. Mary quickly made close friends with many of their neighbors and was active in the Long Beach Methodist Church. While in Mississippi their son, Steven Bradley, was born. In 1966 the family moved to West Lafayette, Indiana. Mary worked part time as an Occupational Therapist at the Americana Nursing Home, now St. Mary’s, and later at Home Hospital.
After Mary and her husband retired, they bought a cottage on Bear Island Lake in northern Minnesota where for twenty years they spent summers from mid-May to mid-October. Mary greatly enjoyed entertaining family and longtime friends at the lake cottage. She was active in the Ely United Methodist Church, was a member of the Ely Library, and was active in the local PEO chapter. She greatly appreciated the love and friendship of her PEO sisters in Minnesota. Mary enjoyed people and was very social. She enjoyed visiting with her extended family and with friends, and readily conversed with strangers she met. She was an active member of St. Andrew United Methodist Church, PEO chapter CW, and the American Literature Club in Indiana.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, Harlan Hugh Roepke, a brother-in-law David N. Wilcox, his wife Phyllis (Bowe) Wilcox, sister-in-law Susan (Wilcox) Ault and her husband Gerald R. Ault. Mary is survived by her husband James, daughter Barbara Jean (Wilcox) Richards, husband Kenneth, her son Steven Bradley Wilcox, his wife Melissa (Fyffe) Wilcox, her granddaughter, Cassie Elise Wilcox, Cassie’s mother, Theresa Wilcox, and her sister-in-law Judith (Bole) Roepke.
