August 18, 1924 –  November 12, 2013  MARY RIVESWHITESBORO – Funeral services for Mary Rives, 89, will be held Saturday, November 16, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. in the First United Methodist Church in Whitesboro, Texas with Rev. Ken Hildebrand officiating. Interment will follow the service at Oakwood Cemetery in Whitesboro. Family visitation will be from 1:00-2:00 p.m. in Wesley Hall in the First United Methodist Church. All service arrangements are under the direction of Meador Funeral Home in Whitesboro.
Mary was born August 18, 1924 near Wellington, Texas to Edward and Tennie (Cook) Crews. In September 1925 a brother, who died in September 1931, was born. Mary’s parents separated and she spent her childhood under the care of her father who remarried and gave Mary two half-brothers, George and John, and one half-sister, Edwina. As a teenager, Mary went to live with her mother and a loving step-father, Ira Walls.
in 1942 Mary graduated from Shamrock High School. On June 30, 1943 she married Glyn Rives who was shortly drafted into military service. While he was overseas she worked Phillips Petroleum Company at Borger, Texas.
On January 1, 1949 she gave birth to her only child, Carolyn Sue. Since she was the first child born in Borger in 1949, she was recognized as “Miss Borger.”
Until Mary was forty-one she was a home builder and a pastor’s wife; however at that time, she decided she wanted to fulfill her dream to graduate from college and become a teacher. She enrolled and graduated from Ottumwa Heights Junior College in Ottumwa, Iowa. Because of an allergy problem with Sue, the family moved to Denton, Texas in 1966 where Mary enrolled at and graduated from TWU in June 1969 and began teaching in September of 1969.
Mary taught school for fifteen years in Rowlett, Wichita Falls, Whitesboro, and Wylie. In 1974 under Grayson County Coop, Mary began the special education program in Whitesboro Middle School. At Wylie, she continued providing for the First Grade students who needed special care.
Upon retirement, Mary continued to have interest in those who might have special needs. She worked part time for the Wylie United Methodist Church, visiting the homebound, sick, and bereaved. Upon moving back to Whitesboro, she served as a volunteer to help children in school with reading skills; delivered meals for Meals on Wheels (SNAP) for years; served for years as a Home Hospice Volunteer for West Grayson County; helped with meals for the bereaved at the First United Methodist Church; and shared her garage with the UMW to store their paper and aluminum cans, which were sold for mission purposes.
In 2003 Mary was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She was able to live in her home until July 1, 2008 when she entered Whitesboro Health and Rehab Center, where she died at 12:45 a.m. on November 12, 2013.
Survivors in Mary’s immediate family are husband, Glyn Rives; daughter, Carolyn Sue Harris and husband, Chuck, of Grand Prairie; granddaughter, Jennifer Harris, of Austin; grandson, Chris Harris and wife, Scarlett, of Portland, OR; and great grand-daughter, Skylar Harris of Portland, OR.
The pallbearers will be David Hill, Art McGuire, Bill Stofle, Harold Tamplen, Dee Welch, and Charles Winchester.
Memorials may be given to the First United Methodist Church and will be shared between Home Hospice, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the First United Methodist Church.
To sign the online registry, please go to www.meadorfuneralhomes.com.