Mary Frances Wilcoxon Dozier

Mary Francis Wilcoxon DozierMay 12, 1925 ~ March 12, 2016 Mary arrived into the world on May 12th, 1925, in Roswell, New Mexico. Famous people born in 1925 include Yogi Berra, Roscoe Lee Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., Paul Newman, Angela Lansbury, Art Buchwald, Marty Robbins, William F. Buckley Jr., Jack Lemmon, Margaret Thatcher, BB King, Robert Kennedy, Barbara Bush, and Tony Curtis, to name a few. The world Mary was born into in 1925 included: the publishing of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby" and Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”; the Mount Rushmore National Monument site was dedicated in October 1925; the Chrysler Corporation was founded by Walter Percy Chrysler; the Scopes Trial which took place in Dayton, Tennessee (the first highly publicized trial concerning the teaching of evolution); Sears Roebuck opened its first retail store in Chicago, IL after operating the Sears catalog for nearly 40 years; the Grand Ole Opry began broadcasting on February 22nd; Calvin Coolidge became the first President of the United States to have his inauguration broadcast on radio; John Logie Baird created Britain's first television transmitter; Richard G. Drew, working at 3M, invented Scotch Tape; and popular films were Ben-Hur and Phantom of the Opera, which starred Lon Chaney. Mary was the only child of Carl Wayne Wilcoxon and Lydia Valentine Parkhurst (who was born on February 14th, 1894 - the same day as Jack Benny). Her mother died during childbirth. Lydia had something like 11 or 12 brothers and sisters. Her father married a woman who had several children, and if the stories are correct, Lydia’s father and step-mother had even more children together. Lydia’s stepmom was pretty cruel – to punish Lydia, her stepmom would put her in a closet, tie a string to each of her thumbs tight enough that Lydia had to stand on her tiptoes. It was discovered later that her stepmom was poisoning Lydia’s father with strychnine. Carl and Lydia moved to New Mexico from Missouri in the early 1920’s due to Carl’s health. Carl was mustard gassed in 1st World War and suffered with all sorts of ailments. Mary’s mom was a nurse and worked at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell. While Lydia was pregnant with Mary, she found out that Carl had TB. Mary spent the first six months of her life living in the Catholic hospital in Roswell, being cared for by nuns, while Lydia took care of Carl. Mary was never allowed to touch her father due to the fear of contracting TB. When Mary was 18 months old she contracted Polio – it must have been a mild case due to the fact she did not appear to have any physical damage. However, Mary reports as a kid she was made fun of as being very uncoordinated and sometimes called a “motor-moron”. Mary’s father, Carl, died in 1932 when she was 7. Mary grew up in a time of great turmoil in our country. The Great Depression (1929-39) was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929. By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its nadir, some 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed. Mary said she heard about the depression, however, her mom had a steady job and there was some kind of pension received related to her father’s illness being caused by his being in the First World War. During Mary’s eighth grade year, someone came to her school and talked (might have been career day) about being an Architect. That day, Mary discovered what she was passionate about. Mary graduated from High School in 1943. She said that WWII had some effect on her – the biggest thing being all the stuff that was saved and collected to support the war effort. She attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. While a student, she had a part-time job working at Dominic’s – which became Domino’s Pizza years later. Mary said this was the best time of her life, because she felt free and on her own. When FDR died, Mary said it was one of the biggest shocks she ever had to deal with. FDR was President of the United States from 1933 to 1945 or stated another way; from the time Mary was 7 until she was 19, she had only known FDR as the President. After graduating with a Master’s Degree in Architecture she moved to El Paso. While living in El Paso she met her future husband, Joseph Leo Dozier. After marrying, Mary and Leo moved to Odessa TX. December 1951, Mary had her first son, George, and in September 1955 their second son, Stephen. In 1956, Mary and family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mary and Leo were divorced in 1958 and in that same year, Mary went to work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as an architect. Mary was very involved in the Cub & Boy Scouts and in the American Business Women’s Association during the 60’s. The 60’s were a hard time for Mary, both socially and career wise. The stigma of being a “divorced woman” raising two kids on her own prevented a lot of connections outside of work. Being a career woman in a male-dominated field was especially difficult. Mary found out the work place was even tougher after passage of “The Civil Rights Act of 1964”. Before then, men tended to tolerate her presence in their world, almost silently; however, after the Act was passed she had to endure verbal comments and blatant discrimination and prejudice. Mary raised both of her sons to be fully self-sufficient. When they left home to be on their own, they knew how to cook, clean, wash clothes, solve problems, and completely take care of themselves and others. In 1969, Mary’s mom died at 74 years old after being hit by a car as she crossed a street going to a medical clinic. In 1970, Mary was transferred to the US Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1977, Mary was transferred to Anchorage, Alaska at Elmendorf AFB. While in Alaska, she became involved in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Mary did travel to Hong Kong and Thailand while living in Anchorage, and she had very fond memories of this trip. Mary retired from the US Army Corps of Engineers as the Chief of Design for Northwestern District in 1990. She continued to enjoy the beauty of Alaska until 1996, when she moved to Colorado Springs to be closer to her son, George, and her two grandsons, Jason and Russ. After retirement, in both Alaska and Colorado, Mary was very involved in the Mormon Church and participated on the board of her Home Owners Association. She enjoyed all the connections and friendships she made while working the Relief Society in the 7th Ward of the Mormon Church. In 2009 / 2010 we realized that Mary was dealing with something, which we found out was Dementia. In December 2011, Mary’s son George was in the process of moving to Tulsa, OK. The family decided to move Mary to an Assisted Living Facility in Tulsa so a family member would still be close to her. In May 2013, Mary was moved to Brookdale of South Tulsa - Memory Care Two. Within 30 days of her move to this facility her color was back, her disposition was calmer and she seemed much happier. We discovered that environment is very important to health and vitality. Looking at Mary’s life it is exciting to realize what is world is like now compared to 1925. Some really amazing things have happened in the last 90 years, including radio, television, man landing on the moon, antibiotics, nuclear power, commercial air travel, automobiles, the internet, the personal computer, and the iPhone. Mary passed peacefully while she slept on Saturday, March 12, 2016. Mary is survived by her two sons, George Dozier and Steve Dozier; two grandsons, Jason Dozier and Russ Dozier (Russ’ wife Tammy); and three great-grandkids, Siarra, Jaired, and Brenden. Mary made an impact on everyone who knew her. The people who took care of her at Brookdale South Tulsa had so many wonderful stories to tell of how she kept them on their toes, made them laugh, shocked them from time to time, and made life more rich and full with her presence. There are always special people in our lives. Mary had many, however, there were those who worked with, and interacted closely, with Mary over the past three years. A big thank you to everyone at Brookdale Mid-Town South who assisted Mary and a very special thanks to Tarsha, Deborah, Yvonne, Renee and Felicia . . . you all were very special in Mary’s eyes. Be with God, Mary, and Thank You for all that you gave us in this physical world. Fitzgerald Ivy Chapel, 918-585-1151.

Mary Frances Wilcoxon Dozier

May 12, 1925 - March 12, 2016