Mary Marshall

Mary Frances Boles Marshall passed away Monday, September 17, 2018, at the age of 86.

Mary was born April 16, 1932 in Garrison, Texas to Joe Nolan and Bertie May (Ferguson) Boles. Growing up as the oldest of five children, Mary helped out on the cotton farm and discovered her love of cooking at an early age. This was when she learned how to make her mahaw jelly and chocolate pies. She graduated from Mount Enterprise High School.

Widowed twice, Mary devoted her life to her family and grandchildren. Losing two children was undeniably hard. She kept working hard for her son Phil and also Chance – her first grandchild. She loved hosting all the family with big food spreads. Living with her grandson Chance, she was a huge part of her great-grandchildren’s lives. Her great-grandkids Gavin and Elise will be blessed with memories that they are sure to remember a lifetime.

Mary began working after her children were older, and she was always known to be one of the hardest working women around. She believed in working hard for a living. Mary spent most of her career working at American Can in Fort Worth. She loved her 12 hour, four days on, four days off schedule. If you drank a soda in North Texas during the 1980’s, it was more than likely that Mary inspected the can. She often worked double shifts, saving money for Las Vegas. She was also very proud to have worked for General Dynamics on every F-111 Aardvark ejection system.

In her free time, Mary was very talented in both quilting and crocheting. One of her favorite hobbies was to crochet baby blankets for family and friends. Her late husband Bob and Mary bought a car to drive to Niagara Falls, stopping and sightseeing all over the Eastern U.S. When she was younger she enjoyed going to Las Vegas, and her love of card games continued as she played with her senior friend’s organization. She shared many years with them playing card games and dominos and following an Elvis Impersonator show around town as a groupie. She was also a devoted fan of CNN - it was on 24 hours a day, as she was a staunch Democrat. No matter what Democrat was in office, he was the best!

Mary was known for her loving hugs. When she gave you a hug, you knew everything would be good and she loved to really squeeze her great-grandkids. She was very friendly, and never met a stranger. People instantly admired her.

Mary leaves behind her ex-husband Brad Niday, her son and daughter-in-law James Phil and Carole Word, her grandchildren Chance (and his wife Memorie) Word, Robert (and his wife Viridiana) Word, Chelsea (and her husband Isaac) Gonzalez, Steven Word, and Bradford Niday III, and her great-grandchildren Gavin, Elise, Nathaniel, Aiden, Thomas, and Stefano. She was preceded in death by her husband Robert Marshall, her husband Rufus Word, and her sons Orland Bradford Niday Jr. and Dennis Wayne Word.

Please join the family as they gather to celebrate Mary’s life with visitation 1-3 PM and the celebration service at 3 PM on Friday, September 21, 2018 at Hillier Funeral Home of COLLEGE STATION. Interment will follow at Walnut Grove Cemetery in Garrison, Texas at 11:30 AM on Saturday, September 22, 2018.