Mary Fellet

Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative Mary Lou Fellet was born in Fulton Missouri on May 10, 1924. Mary Lou Cuthbertson was the sole child of lawyer Duncan McRuer Cuthbertson and homemaker Flossie Olivia Dutton. Mary Lou was a Scot lass, heralding from Sterling castle, Scotland. She was a Presbyterian at birth, and golf was in her blood. She was hard scrabble, which served her well when her parents divorced when she was in elementary school. The depression came, and Flossie moved to Collinsville IL. As they moved again, and again, Mary Lou was not shy; she engaged new friends, and whistled. Mary Lou could whistle! She could make this loud unusual whistle from the depths of her throat, a “Bird Throat”. She enrolled to train at the School of Voice and Dance, in St Louis, Missouri. At the school’s 1931 Recital, Hollywood scouts were in attendance looking for “weird” kids for the Our Gang Comedy Series. Her mom was asked to bring Mary Lou in for a screen test, but Flossie declined; not the kind of life for a young child. Mary Lou continued to whistle. She whistled at local events and county fairs. She whistled God Bless America during World War II. As she grew, she eventually lost her ability from lack of use, though she often tried to gain it back again when she was trying to round up her children. Mary Lou could twirl, too. A baton in each hand, she led the high school and University of Missouri college bands, graduating in 1946, Home Economics. She went to work for Michigan State University as a teaching Home Demonstration Agent, helping women structure their homes. She married Ray William Kincaid “Bill” in 1948, Auburn IN., whom she met playing golf in Caro MI.; He too was a Scottish lad, who also played golf. Mary Lou gave birth to Michael Ray, October 6, 1948, in Caro MI. A woman with a child in 1948 was not allowed to work as a home demonstration agent. She had to leave her profession. Bill graduated from University of Michigan, 1949; Geology. He began work for Midwest Oil, in Midland, TX as a petroleum geologist. Son James Lloyd was born February 11, 1950, and daughter Karen Sue on November 6, 1952. Both were born in Midland TX. Mary Lou made a home for them on that windy TX plain while Bill looked for oil out in well trailers. We aint got a barrel of money Transferred to Colorado with Midwest Oil 1953, Mary Lou, Bill, and 3 kids moved to South Cody Court, Lakewood, CO. Daughter Cheri Lee was born April 11, 1955 and son William Scott on February 11, 1957, both in Lakewood CO. Mary Lou prized family and community, and for over 20 years found it, and fostered it, in suburban Denver to the sounds of Andy Williams, Mitch Miller(with the kids singing along), and lots of country music on the Hi-fi. (Still has that hi-fi) Dress for church, help your neighbor, quiet down after 10 pm, sew your own clothes, study for school, and welcome friends into your backyard patio for marshmallows and croquet. (Cody Court Gang, member; PTA, South Lakewood, President; Cub Scouts, den mother; Bluebirds, leader; Campfire Girls, leader, Rocky Mountain Geologist Association Wives, president; Foothills golf league, president). Mary Lou always brought her mom, Flossie, home to Colorado in the summer. She would gather family and travel by car for long vacations in Caro, MI with Bill’s family. With Bills sisters, she learned to paint china and watercolor. Aunt Mary Lou was there to jar blackberries, and help with bee stings, year after year. She was there to solve Euchre rules, comment on Tiger pitching, and help Nanny with the fried chicken. And you’re so perfect? Her marriage to Ray William ended after 19 yrs, and she joined Parents without Partners. She met Louie Augustus Fellet, an Italian Catholic, from Yuma AZ. She married Louie in an Episcopal church on May 2, 1972. Louie’s son James L Fellet, became Mary Lou’s 4th son. St. Paul’s Episcopal, in Lakewood CO, became her parish. (Vestry, choir, Episcopal Church Women, gardener). They moved into a house on South Lee Court in Lakewood, CO, and it became a home for her and Louie’s family to come home to every Christmas. Mary Lou always enjoyed caroling around the neighborhood with her whole family in tow. Celebration of every life event was at her home. Occasional homeless children and grandchildren were welcome. Louie was a landscaper. He was in inventor of landscape irrigation tractor attachments. Together Louie and Mary Lou opened their own manufacturing business, Fellet Sub-pull. Inc. in Denver CO. Mary Lou was there to share the excitement, and the work. She was the accountant, the marketing manager, and she was a companion. She had the bourbon rocks ready to share with Louie and Molly (her beloved Dachshund) at the end of a long day in the shop.. Louie was a WWII disabled veteran, a double amputee, who walked, dug, drove, and played golf on wooden legs. Mary Lou and Louie attended BLACA amputee conventions around the world. She always laughed when Louie would joke with the grandchild awed by Grandpas ability to hit his shin with a golf club when he left a sand trap. She cried when he died in their shop in 1994. His picture hung by her bed, and his grave is where she will lie, in peace. Getting old ain’t for sissies She sold Fellet Sub-pull, and finally retired to her busy life of church and friends and family. She joined the WOW’s, Widows Or Widowers (president), after Louie’s passing in 1994, just in time to take their bus trip to Branson, Missouri for a week of fun and frolic. She played golf, (Raccoon Creek ladies 9 president, Fox Hollow Ladies 9 President), did nanny chores for the kids, and decorated all their houses. She traveled from Australia to Scotland to Alaska, always stopping the group to take a picture when she deemed it a Kodak Moment. She had a vacation condo in Palisades CO with a golf course, of course. She never traveled alone; always a friend was there to share. She got leukemia at age 83, 2007, and Dr Link gave her chemotherapy for a 40 yr old, and she went in remission. Soon, she was walking the halls cheering up the bed ridden. She got ovarian cancer in 2011, and radiation and orneriness cured her. The thick blood caused a stroke a couple of years ago in 2012. She still drove to all the high school graduations and christenings. With 6 children, 23 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren, there were a lot of happy days, and every one of them would get a birthday note from Nana on their special day. She hand knitted a Christmas stocking for every one of the family, 57 in all, so each would know she loved them when they looked upon the hearth (her words). You could always find her brain book with birthdays and telephone numbers and her daily schedule of events, under the sports page, next to the chair in the home she lived in until she died on August 14, 2014, after 6 days in Collier Hospice, Wheatridge, CO, with her family by her side. Leukemia had finally felled an oak of a woman. We all feel blessed to have known her. Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name; Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil, For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen. Mary Lou left this poem in her will for all of us, “To Those I Love and To Those Who Love Me” When I am gone, release me, let me go I have so many things to see and do Please don’t tie yourself to me with tears Just be happy we had so many years I thank you for the love you each have shown Now it is time I traveled on alone It’s only for awhile that we must part Bless the memories that lie within your heart I won’t be far away for life goes on So if you need me, call and I will come Though you won’t see me, or touch me I’ll be near And if you listen with your heart you will hear All my love around you soft and clear Then when you must come this way alone… I’ll great you with a smile and say “Welcome Home”