Mary Helen Barkei Marler, age 100, of Allen, Texas, passed away February 19, 2015, in Allen. Mary was born in Naperville Township, Illinois on May 2, 1914, to Veronica Duffy Barkei and Henry Aloysius Barkei. She was raised in Illinois with her brother, Francis. After High School, she pursued nursing and received her RN Certificate on January 12, 1938. Mary enlisted in the Navy, serving as a Navy Nurse in the South Pacific during WWII. After returning to the States she was stationed at the U. S. Naval Ordinance Base in Great Lakes, Illinois where she met and married her husband, Newton Mabrey Marler, Jr. on May 27, 1949. Mary and Newt served together at the Ordinance Base until their daughter was born in July 1950. In 1953, Mary and Newt moved to New Orleans, where Newt was assigned as the officer in charge at the Navy Ammunition Depot in Belle Chase, Louisiana. They resided in New Orleans until his death in 2004. In those years, Mary was an active member of St. Andrew of the Apostle Catholic Church. She was also a member of both the Fleur de Lis Garden Club and the Federated Council of New Orleans Garden Clubs and the Navy Nurse Corps Association. In November 2004, Mary moved to Allen, Texas to be with her daughter, Margaret, and her family. Mary loved being with her daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and enjoyed travelling, gardening, bird watching, photography and ice coffee. She was a member of St. Jude Catholic Church and in the last two years was a resident of Atria Senior Living in Richardson.
She is survived by her daughter, Margaret Dubret and husband, John of Allen, Texas; grandchildren, Joseph Dubret of Addison, Texas, Catherine Strickland and husband, Stephen, Jr. of Nashville, Tennessee, Rebecca Williams and husband, Jeff, Michelle Dubret, and Elizabeth Dubret, all of Allen, Texas; and great-grandchildren, Stevie, Genevieve, Benjamin, and Siena.
She was preceded in death by her husband and brother, Francis Barkei.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, February 25, 2015, at St. Jude Catholic Church in Allen, Texas. The family will receive friends during a visitation from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m., Tuesday evening with a rosary beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home in Allen, Texas.