Mary Teresa Groothouse

Mary Teresa Groothouse died Monday, Aug. 10, at her home in in Oklahoma City after a long illness.Teresa (she preferred her middle name) was born Jan. 11, 1919, in Purcell, one of five daughters of early-day business owners Louis and Agnes Groothouse. She went to high school in Purcell and graduated from the University of Oklahoma. Her business/professional career included a long stay at Oklahoma City's Harbour-Longmire Furniture Co. She worked in the business office until the company closed in the early 1970s. She retired after a number of years on the staff of the Oklahoma Board of Nursing. Active in Catholic volunteer work all of her adult life, Teresa served as volunteer treasurer for Oklahoma City's St. Joseph Old Cathedral for many years. In 1998, she was one of a number of Oklahoma Catholics awarded the Cross Pro Eccelsia et Pontifice (For the Church and the Pontiff). The medal, first awarded in 1888 to mark the Golden Jubilee of Pope Leo XIII, continues to be awarded "as a sign of the pontiff's recognition of distinguished service to the church and to the papacy." Survivors include six nieces , Teresa Bradley Adwan (Alex), Georgiana Barry Rimicci (Jeffrey), Angelyn Stephens Wallace (Joe), Suzanne Barry Underwood, Agnes Ann Stephens Wells, Mary Stephens Glover (David); niece-in-law Deanna Bradley; and nephew Robert Louis Stephens. The list also includes many great nieces and nephews and their children. Teresa not only remembered all their names but took an interest in their lives into her final days. Teresa was preceded in death by her parents and four sisters , Anna Caroline Groothouse, Loretta Bradley (Carter), Rose Louise Barry (Col. William) and Joan Stephens (Robert), and by two nephews, Louis Carter Bradley and William Richard Barry. The family is grateful to Sarah Patrick and Cathy Followwill for the care they gave Teresa over many months and for the assistance of many compassionate people at Excell Hospice who helped her in her last days. Rosary is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, August 14, 2015, at Our Lady of Victory Church in Purcell, at Third and Jefferson. Mass will be at the Church at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 15, 2015. Arrangements by Wilson-Little Funeral Home, Purcell, OK.

Mary Teresa Groothouse

January 11, 1919 - August 10, 2015