Mary Lou (Gross) Waggoner, 87, of Bowling Green, passed away June 22, 2018.
She is survived by her children: Janine Sturdavant, Todd Waggoner, and Charlene Waggoner; her son-in-laws: Charles Sturdavant and Richard Mulholland; grandchildren: Tamara Sturdavant, Derek Sturdavant, Maxwell Mulholland, Samuel Mulholland and Zachary Mulholland; sisters Doris Schulte and Joann Ellis. She was preceded in death by her parents Ruth Irene (Recker) Gross and Robert Richard Gross and her husband Dr. Charles Arthur Waggoner.
She was born in 1930 in Lake Township, Ohio and graduated from Lake High School. She graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1952 with a degree in home economics and started work as a Singer Sewing Sales Representative. In 1968, she earned her Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Toledo. She started teaching third grade at Conneaut Elementary School in Bowling Green, Ohio. She taught in the same classroom for 33 years, where she was a pioneer in teaching Whole Language. She helped many of her students by recognizing learning disabilities and the association with vision in time to help them. She retired in 1999. She was a faithful member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Bowling Green.
Mary Lou loved to travel and managed to visit 6 of the 7 continents. She spent most summers at her cabin near Fairplay, Colorado, visiting ghost towns, climbing mountains, hunting for gemstones and preparing campfire meals for guests from all over the world.
A Celebration of Life Gathering will be held on Saturday, June 30, 2018 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM in the Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home & Crematory, 1460 W. Wooster St., Bowling Green, Ohio 43402. Burial will be private in the Oak Grove Cemetery, Bowling Green.
Memorials may be sent to the Dr. Charles A. Waggoner Science Education Foundation Fund, P.O. Box 1175, Bowling Green, Ohio 43402; www.bgohcf.org. through the Bowling Green Community Foundation.
Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home & Crematory is honored to serve Mary Lou’s family and encourage those to share a fond memory or condolence by visiting www.hannemanfh.com.
