FISHERS — Marthanne Grafton McDowell, of Fishers, passed away at 1:45 a.m. on Friday surrounded by her loving daughters at the Hamilton Trace Care Center in Fishers.
She was born on the family farm in Popcorn, on July 8, 1935, the first of five children of Roger and Mary Roberts Grafton. Marthanne graduated from Oolitic High School in 1952 and married William C. McDowell of Springville on Dec. 31, 1954, at the Bedford Christian Church.
Marthanne was a very talented designer and decorator, having studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. She used her talents to enrich the lives of her children and siblings helping them decorate any new house they might have moved to. Marthanne also sewed beautifully, and her daughters grew up in charming, one-of-a-kind matching dresses and frocks. She also designed and sewed band uniforms for North Central High School in Indianapolis and all of the uniforms for the Montessori Country Day School in Houston.
She worked at several design studios in Indianapolis and was a gifted floral designer as well.
Marthanne's love of gardening came from her grandmother and mother. She created beautiful gardens at her homes and was willing to help anyone who asked for her design assistance. One of her great pleasures in life came from a trip to Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England to tour the great manor houses, castles and their expansive gardens. She would bring those inspired ideas back to enrich her own and other's flower gardens.
Marthanne's other great sharing talent was searching out the mysteries of lost relatives using her computer for family genealogy. She spent thousands of hours finding missing kin, filling in the blanks with information from all of the great-grandparents' family histories of the Grafton, Roberts, Stephenson, Kindred and McDowell families. During her trip to Wales, she and a sister found a missing great-great-great-grandfather Roberts buried in an ancient cemetery with waist high weeds. They had found the cemetery a week before and asked a local farmer to let his sheep loose in the cemetery to eat the grass so the sisters could find the buried markers. He did and they found a missing link.
Marthanne is survived by her husband, Bill; and her three daughters, Kathy Johnson and husband John and grandchildren Amy Parker and husband Erik and great-grandchildren, Francesca and Vivian; and Andrea Link and husband Mike and great-grandchildren, Seth, Graysen, Estella, and Levi; Sherri Kolarich and husband, Bob and granddaughter, Teddi Jo; Debbie McDowell and husband Kelsey Tipton, and granddaughter, Erin McDowell. Siblings include: Sue Humphrey and husband Ron of Lafayette; Margaret Ellison of Houston, Texas; Robert Grafton and wife Carole of Hamilton, Ohio; and Merrilou Luse and husband Jon of Scottsburg. Also surviving is cherished family matriarch, Martha Louise Crouch of Bedford.
She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, Mary and Roger Grafton.
A memorial service to celebrate Marthanne's life is planned for early April. Burial will be in Lowder Cemetery in Popcorn.
Arrangements: Indiana Funeral Care and Crematory
Obituary Courtesy of Harry W. Moore Funeral Care & Crematory, Indanapolis, IN
http://www.indianafuneralcare.com/book-of-memories/1510998/McDowell-Marthanne/obituary.php
She was born on the family farm in Popcorn, on July 8, 1935, the first of five children of Roger and Mary Roberts Grafton. Marthanne graduated from Oolitic High School in 1952 and married William C. McDowell of Springville on Dec. 31, 1954, at the Bedford Christian Church.
Marthanne was a very talented designer and decorator, having studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. She used her talents to enrich the lives of her children and siblings helping them decorate any new house they might have moved to. Marthanne also sewed beautifully, and her daughters grew up in charming, one-of-a-kind matching dresses and frocks. She also designed and sewed band uniforms for North Central High School in Indianapolis and all of the uniforms for the Montessori Country Day School in Houston.
She worked at several design studios in Indianapolis and was a gifted floral designer as well.
Marthanne's love of gardening came from her grandmother and mother. She created beautiful gardens at her homes and was willing to help anyone who asked for her design assistance. One of her great pleasures in life came from a trip to Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England to tour the great manor houses, castles and their expansive gardens. She would bring those inspired ideas back to enrich her own and other's flower gardens.
Marthanne's other great sharing talent was searching out the mysteries of lost relatives using her computer for family genealogy. She spent thousands of hours finding missing kin, filling in the blanks with information from all of the great-grandparents' family histories of the Grafton, Roberts, Stephenson, Kindred and McDowell families. During her trip to Wales, she and a sister found a missing great-great-great-grandfather Roberts buried in an ancient cemetery with waist high weeds. They had found the cemetery a week before and asked a local farmer to let his sheep loose in the cemetery to eat the grass so the sisters could find the buried markers. He did and they found a missing link.
Marthanne is survived by her husband, Bill; and her three daughters, Kathy Johnson and husband John and grandchildren Amy Parker and husband Erik and great-grandchildren, Francesca and Vivian; and Andrea Link and husband Mike and great-grandchildren, Seth, Graysen, Estella, and Levi; Sherri Kolarich and husband, Bob and granddaughter, Teddi Jo; Debbie McDowell and husband Kelsey Tipton, and granddaughter, Erin McDowell. Siblings include: Sue Humphrey and husband Ron of Lafayette; Margaret Ellison of Houston, Texas; Robert Grafton and wife Carole of Hamilton, Ohio; and Merrilou Luse and husband Jon of Scottsburg. Also surviving is cherished family matriarch, Martha Louise Crouch of Bedford.
She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, Mary and Roger Grafton.
A memorial service to celebrate Marthanne's life is planned for early April. Burial will be in Lowder Cemetery in Popcorn.
Arrangements: Indiana Funeral Care and Crematory
Obituary Courtesy of Harry W. Moore Funeral Care & Crematory, Indanapolis, IN
http://www.indianafuneralcare.com/book-of-memories/1510998/McDowell-Marthanne/obituary.php
FISHERS — Marthanne Grafton McDowell, of Fishers, passed away at 1:45 a.m. on Friday surrounded by her loving daughters at the Hamilton Trace Care Center in Fishers.
She was born on the family farm in Popcorn, on July 8, 1935, the first of five children of Roger and Mary Roberts Grafton. Marthanne graduated from Oolitic High School in 1952 and married William C. McDowell of Springville on Dec. 31, 1954, at the Bedford Christian Church.
Marthanne was a very talented designer and decorator, having studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. She used her talents to enrich the lives of her children and siblings helping them decorate any new house they might have moved to. Marthanne also sewed beautifully, and her daughters grew up in charming, one-of-a-kind matching dresses and frocks. She also designed and sewed band uniforms for North Central High School in Indianapolis and all of the uniforms for the Montessori Country Day School in Houston.
She worked at several design studios in Indianapolis and was a gifted floral designer as well.
Marthanne's love of gardening came from her grandmother and mother. She created beautiful gardens at her homes and was willing to help anyone who asked for her design assistance. One of her great pleasures in life came from a trip to Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England to tour the great manor houses, castles and their expansive gardens. She would bring those inspired ideas back to enrich her own and other's flower gardens.
Marthanne's other great sharing talent was searching out the mysteries of lost relatives using her computer for family genealogy. She spent thousands of hours finding missing kin, filling in the blanks with information from all of the great-grandparents' family histories of the Grafton, Roberts, Stephenson, Kindred and McDowell families. During her trip to Wales, she and a sister found a missing great-great-great-grandfather Roberts buried in an ancient cemetery with waist high weeds. They had found the cemetery a week before and asked a local farmer to let his sheep loose in the cemetery to eat the grass so the sisters could find the buried markers. He did and they found a missing link.
Marthanne is survived by her husband, Bill; and her three daughters, Kathy Johnson and husband John and grandchildren Amy Parker and husband Erik and great-grandchildren, Francesca and Vivian; and Andrea Link and husband Mike and great-grandchildren, Seth, Graysen, Estella, and Levi; Sherri Kolarich and husband, Bob and granddaughter, Teddi Jo; Debbie McDowell and husband Kelsey Tipton, and granddaughter, Erin McDowell. Siblings include: Sue Humphrey and husband Ron of Lafayette; Margaret Ellison of Houston, Texas; Robert Grafton and wife Carole of Hamilton, Ohio; and Merrilou Luse and husband Jon of Scottsburg. Also surviving is cherished family matriarch, Martha Louise Crouch of Bedford.
She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, Mary and Roger Grafton.
A memorial service to celebrate Marthanne's life is planned for early April. Burial will be in Lowder Cemetery in Popcorn.
Arrangements: Indiana Funeral Care and Crematory
Obituary Courtesy of Harry W. Moore Funeral Care & Crematory, Indanapolis, IN
http://www.indianafuneralcare.com/book-of-memories/1510998/McDowell-Marthanne/obituary.php
She was born on the family farm in Popcorn, on July 8, 1935, the first of five children of Roger and Mary Roberts Grafton. Marthanne graduated from Oolitic High School in 1952 and married William C. McDowell of Springville on Dec. 31, 1954, at the Bedford Christian Church.
Marthanne was a very talented designer and decorator, having studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. She used her talents to enrich the lives of her children and siblings helping them decorate any new house they might have moved to. Marthanne also sewed beautifully, and her daughters grew up in charming, one-of-a-kind matching dresses and frocks. She also designed and sewed band uniforms for North Central High School in Indianapolis and all of the uniforms for the Montessori Country Day School in Houston.
She worked at several design studios in Indianapolis and was a gifted floral designer as well.
Marthanne's love of gardening came from her grandmother and mother. She created beautiful gardens at her homes and was willing to help anyone who asked for her design assistance. One of her great pleasures in life came from a trip to Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England to tour the great manor houses, castles and their expansive gardens. She would bring those inspired ideas back to enrich her own and other's flower gardens.
Marthanne's other great sharing talent was searching out the mysteries of lost relatives using her computer for family genealogy. She spent thousands of hours finding missing kin, filling in the blanks with information from all of the great-grandparents' family histories of the Grafton, Roberts, Stephenson, Kindred and McDowell families. During her trip to Wales, she and a sister found a missing great-great-great-grandfather Roberts buried in an ancient cemetery with waist high weeds. They had found the cemetery a week before and asked a local farmer to let his sheep loose in the cemetery to eat the grass so the sisters could find the buried markers. He did and they found a missing link.
Marthanne is survived by her husband, Bill; and her three daughters, Kathy Johnson and husband John and grandchildren Amy Parker and husband Erik and great-grandchildren, Francesca and Vivian; and Andrea Link and husband Mike and great-grandchildren, Seth, Graysen, Estella, and Levi; Sherri Kolarich and husband, Bob and granddaughter, Teddi Jo; Debbie McDowell and husband Kelsey Tipton, and granddaughter, Erin McDowell. Siblings include: Sue Humphrey and husband Ron of Lafayette; Margaret Ellison of Houston, Texas; Robert Grafton and wife Carole of Hamilton, Ohio; and Merrilou Luse and husband Jon of Scottsburg. Also surviving is cherished family matriarch, Martha Louise Crouch of Bedford.
She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, Mary and Roger Grafton.
A memorial service to celebrate Marthanne's life is planned for early April. Burial will be in Lowder Cemetery in Popcorn.
Arrangements: Indiana Funeral Care and Crematory
Obituary Courtesy of Harry W. Moore Funeral Care & Crematory, Indanapolis, IN
http://www.indianafuneralcare.com/book-of-memories/1510998/McDowell-Marthanne/obituary.php
