Mary Ellen Woolley

On Friday December 12th, 2008 Mary Ellen Woolley stepped into eternity with Jesus Christ, her Lord and Savior. Mary Ellen lived the last three years of her life at the Highgate Memory Care Cottage while Alzheimer#8217;s disease changed the sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend we knew and loved. Highgate and Rocky Mountain Hospice staff helped Mary Ellen and her family work through these challenging days with grace and comfort. We will forever be better people because Mary Ellen invested her life, her energy, and her gifts in each of us. On November 14, 1929, Mary Ellen was born to William F. and Virginia Orr Murray who owned and operated Lincoln Grocery in Miles City, MT. Mary Ellen was the second of five children born to William and Virginia and she graduated from Custer County High School in Miles City. She attended Montana State College and graduated in 1951, with a BA in Home Economics. While attending MSC, she met the man of her dreams, Richard S. Woolley. They were married on September 2, 1951. Dick and Mary Ellen moved across the country during Dick#8217;s career with Shell Chemical; starting in Montana, but including the San Francisco Bay Area, Kansas, New Jersey, Missouri, the Bay Area again, and finally retiring back in Bozeman. Regardless where they lived/worked, Dick and Mary Ellen always considered Montana their home and most vacations included Miles City, Big Timber, Bozeman, and Yellowstone National Park. Dick and Mary Ellen#8217;s first child, Karen Marie, was born on October 28, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois. Karen died at five months from Cystic Fibrosis and was buried in Miles City. Their second child, Paula Lynn, was born in Billings, MT; the third, Stuart Michael, was born in Yakima, WA; and their last, Peter Alan, was born in Oakland, CA. Paula and Scott Furgerson live in San Diego and have three children #8211; Meghan, Kyle, and Katie. Stuart and Melody Woolley live in Wenatchee and have two children #8211; Christine and Patrick. Peter and Josette Woolley live in the San Francisco area. While moving across the country with Dick, raising her children was almost a single-woman show for Mary Ellen, with Dick traveling for business much of the time. Mary Ellen taught her children the love of cooking, entertaining, and serving others. Sewing was another area where she was gifted and had a passion for detail and an eye for stretching a family budget. In each new home and community, she embraced new creative/artistic endeavors like ceramics, toll painting, embroidery, quilting, and hardanger. She was equally creative and always in search of something new and delicious in the kitchen. Dick and Mary Ellen entertained often, between bridge and business related groups, but her meals were often the memorable part of the evening. After 30 years with Shell Chemical, Dick and Mary Ellen retired back in Bozeman. With her children grown, she was able to invest her energy in her grandchildren, church, and community activities. She loved and spoiled her grandchildren over the years and she crafted a unique quilt for each one. She enjoyed supporting her church and was active with and contributed to the Friday Student lunch program at Resurrection Parish. She really enjoyed participating in the Bozeman Winter Fair and still proudly displays several ribbons for cakes and canned goods. Mary Ellen and Dick enjoyed traveling in retirement and she always made time for her children and grandchildren. Mary Ellen#8217;s passion was investing her time/energy in others and that is what we will always remember #8211; a loving and self-sacrificing sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. Mary Ellen is survived by her husband, Dick; daughter, Paula; sons, Stuart and Peter; sisters Jane Rue (Big Timber) and Margaret Ann Adams (Cross Timbers, MO); brother, James Murray (Fort Lauderdale, FL); and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her first child, Karen Marie, and her brother, William Murray Jr. (Billy). Family and friends will gather for a Vigil at the Dahl Funeral Home on Thursday evening, December 18th. The group will gather at 6 PM and the Vigil will begin at 7PM followed by a reception. Mass will be held on Friday, December 19th at the Resurrection Parish beginning at 11 AM followed by a luncheon. Father Robert Hall will be visiting from his parish in Butte to officiate.