Mary Grantham

Mary Lutz Grantham, a pillar of the Roswell community, died peacefully in her home on October 5, 2016.

Mary was born in Roswell on November 4, 1929 to the late Charles Henry Lutz and Gladys Jolley Lutz. Her father, a wounded WWI veteran and the Roswell postmaster, died in 1931, and Mary, her mother, and her older sister, the late Nancy Lutz Bradley, moved into the Pennsylvania Avenue residence of her maternal grandparents, the late William Stovall Jolley and Effie Jones Jolley. Mary excelled in the Roswell public schools, graduating in 1947 as a leader of her class from Roswell High School, where she participated in many activities, was a member of the honor society, and was the editor of the El Coyote yearbook. After attending Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia and the University of Colorado, Mary graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1951. Mary joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority in college and remained a proud Kappa for the rest of her life.

Mary returned to Roswell to teach seventh and eighth grade English for five years until her marriage to Daniel H. Cahoon on March 30, 1956. Her husband died two years later, when their twin babies were only four months old, and Mary persevered as a busy, single mother for 13 years, serving on the boards of the Roswell YMCA, the Chaves County Heart Association, the United Way, the Boy Scouts, and the First National Bank of Roswell. She volunteered enthusiastically for Republican campaigns and was a member of the Roswell Country Club Ladies Golf Association, the Roswell Symphony Guild, the Roswell Historical Society, the Shakespeare Club, the Roswell Museum and Art Center, and the Roswell Community League.

On May 17, 1971, Mary married Delbert D. Grantham, an active-duty Captain in the United States Navy, whose service moved the family to Newport, Rhode Island for one year and, then, to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for four years before Captain Grantham's retirement in 1976. Mary was the consummate Navy wife and became an accomplished tennis player and golfer in Hawaii.

Upon retiring to Roswell, Mary assisted Del when he became a partner in Hello World Travel Agency, and, together, the Granthams led numerous travel tours on cruises and to resorts and exotic destinations throughout the world for many years. Mary also served as an elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Roswell.

Mary made loyal friends wherever she went and never forgot a birthday or an anniversary. She was a fount of knowledge on Roswell, its history, and its people.

Del died in December, 2004. Mary is survived by her children, Ned Cahoon and his wife, Betsy, of Groton, Massachusetts, and Dianne Cahoon Magee of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, her grandchildren, Daniel, Jonathon, Thomas and Andrew Cahoon and Katie and Kevin Magee, her nieces and nephew, Susan Peifer, Sally Anderson, and Bill Hartman, and her sister-in-law, Camille Carstens. In addition to her parents, husbands, and sister, she was preceded in death by her granddaughter, Abigail Cahoon.

Heartfelt thanks go to Mary's angel of mercy, Brenda Straley, her devoted friend, Maureen Zagone, her nurse in the family, Annie Hartman, and her kind and gentle caregivers over the last year, Jennifer Dossett, Erika Willis, and Denna Powers.

A memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Roswell at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 12.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the First Presbyterian Church of Roswell, 400 West Third Street, Roswell, New Mexico 88201, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 2875 York Road, Jamison, PA 18929, or a charity of choice.

Service

Memorial Service

First Presbyterian Church
400 West Third Street
Roswell, NM  88201
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
11:30 am

Cemetery

South Park Cemetery
3101 S. Main St.
Roswell, NM  88203

Memorial Contributions

First Presbyterian Church
400 West Third Street
Roswell, NM  88201

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bucks County Pennsylvania
2875 York Road
Jamison, Pennsylvania,   18929