Mary Nell Rogers Waters
Graveside service at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at Maplewood Cemetery, with visitation from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at Roller-Christeson Funeral Home.
Mary Nell (Rogers) Waters, age 82, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, passed away Sunday, May 15 (2016) in Tulsa.
She was born March 31, 1934, in Harrison, to Floyd and Verma Rogers. Her siblings include Joanne (Rogers) Henson, Jeanette (Rogers) Snapp and Robert Edward Rogers.
Mary’s parents, Floyd and Verma, owned and operated the Martin-Rogers Mercantile Company on the south side of Harrison’s square. The dry goods store, which opened March 3, 1932 through a partnership with Mary’s maternal grandfather and former Boone County sheriff Lawrence M. Martin, was very much a family business. The store remained a fixture on the square for 29 years until it was claimed by the May 7, 1961 flood.
As a young girl, Mary worked in her parents’ store, and later as a bookkeeper at Security Bank in Harrison. She graduated from Harrison High School in 1952, and also attended Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway, where she was a member of Delta Sigma Epsilon sorority. She was a majorette in high school and college, and also participated in several beauty pageants. Mary was crowned Miss Harrison Arkansas in 1952.
She married Wilbur Lee Waters on Nov. 9, 1958. Mary and Wilbur moved to Tulsa soon after their marriage, where Wilbur worked in the banking industry for many years.
In addition to working as a homemaker and raising two children, Mary worked as a proof operator over the years for several financial institutions in Tulsa, including First National Bank, Woodland Bank, EDS, and American Bank. She retired from American Bank in 2001.
Mary is survived by her brother, Robert Rogers, of Little Rock; brother-in-law, Gene Waters, of Western Grove; daughter, Jeri Lynn “Gigi” Waters, of the home; son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Nancy Waters, of Flower Mound, Texas; granddaughter, Jennifer Lynn Waters; and grandson, Ryan Stuart Waters.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Wilbur; and sisters, Joanne and Jeanette.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at Maplewood Cemetery. Visitation will be from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at Roller-Christeson Funeral Home.
Pallbearers will be Greg Calhoun, Kyle Rogers, Tim O’Brien, Frank Snapp, Robert Henson and Jon Saxon.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to your local Humane Society or ASPCA.
Arrangements are by Roller-Christeson Funeral Home..
