Mary Ellen Gilreath's Obituary
Mary Ellen Gilreath, 87, of Dunedin, Florida, passed away peacefully Tuesday, Aug 2, 2011 at Mease Continuing Care.She was born to the late Robert F and Alice A Gunts, Feb. 15, 1924 in Orrville, Ohio. At a very early age, the family settled in Elkhart, Indiana where Mary attended the Presbyterian Church and graduated from Elkhart High School in1942.During her senior year in high school, she met her future husband, James F Gilreath, at the pencil sharpener in homeroom! They dated after graduation, but, by the Fall of 1942 she left for Ann Arbor, MI to attend University of Michigan Nursing School. Jim (aka Fred) Gilreath joined the Army in1943, serving in the South Pacific. They continued a loving correspondence during the war while Mary finished her nursing degree and joined her mother in Baltimore where she worked at Sinai Hospital.In January 1946 Mary joined Fred back in Elkhart, IN where they wed and settled to start a family. Mary worked at Elkhart General Hospital until her first child, Mary Ann, was born in March 1947. Their son Jim was born in March of 1949. Mary continued to work at the hospital part-time until her children left home for college and the Navy. Mary and Fred decided to relocate to Clearwater, FL in January 1968. Mary worked at Clearwater's Morton Plant Hospital and in her later years of nursing worked part-time as a Private Duty Nurse. One of her last private duty patients was Dr. John Mease, Jr. who founded the Dunedin Community Hospital and the retirement home, Mease Manor. Little did she realize that she would be living in his vision of a retirement home Mease Manor many years later.After her retirement she continued to keep up with the latest medical advances through reading many health newsletters. Her most passionate hobby was sewing. She did lots of crochet work until she discovered the creativity of the computerized sewing machine. She took courses to learn design techniques and enjoyed making gifts for others and buying beautiful threads during her travels.Mary enjoyed traveling with her husband up the East Coast through the Shenandoah Mountains and especially to the West and the West Coast, visiting many national parks. They made a few trips to Europe, too.In December 2004, they sold their house in Clearwater and moved to Mease Manor, living there with her husband while her health slowly declined under Hospice Care. Her last seven months were spent in Mease Continuing Care.Mary is survived by her beloved husband (known as Jim at Mease Manor) and her two children and their spouses: her daughter Mary Ann and John Cardy of Oxford, England and her son Jim and Jeanne Gilreath of North Plainfield, New Jersey. She is also survived by her brother Robert Gunts, his wife Joyce, and their daughter Sheri all of Wickenburg, AZ. She was predeceased by her younger brother Carl Gunts and family of Elkhart, IN.A private viewing and cremation have been arranged by Moss Feaster Dunedin, FL. A private burial is to be held at a later date at Bay Pines National Cemetery for military veterans in St. Petersburg, FL.In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to either: Hospice: www.thehospicefoundation.org, tel. (727) 586-4432Paralyzed Veterans of America: www.pva.org, tel. 1-800-555-9140To send condolences to the family, visit www.mossfeasterdunedin.com.Arrangements under the direction of Moss Feaster Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Dunedin, FL.
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