Rebecca Molander

Rebecca Molander

Aug. 12, 1954-Feb. 22, 2017

Gautier

Mrs. Rebecca Jo Molander (née Hawk), of Gautier, Mississippi, died in her home, surrounded by her loving family, on February 22, 2017. She was 62 years old.

Rebecca is survived by her devoted husband Thomas; his and her children Joe (Rukhsana) Harper of Dundee, FL, Nathan (Lindsey) Kelley of Kenner, LA, Audri Molander of Tucson, AZ, Erick Molander of Ocean Springs, MS, Cristopher (Theresa) Molander of Pascagoula, MS, Stephanie (Steve) Cunningham of Hamilton, OH, Wendie (Gregg) Laste of Hudson, NH, Susette (Chris) Parks of Amherst, NH, Anastasia (Rick) Alexander of Theodore, AL, Sonja (John) Raez of Blackhawk, CO, and Monica (Joseph) Sheffield of Gulfport, MS; their 23 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren; her mother Marie Lowe of Tullahoma, TN, her sister Carrie Hawk (John Lynch) of Tullahoma, TN, her brother Mark (Mary Ann) Hawk of Huntsville, AL, her brother-in-law Chuck (Nancy) Molander of Tucson, AZ, and her sister-in-law Christina (Robert) Pasterz of Glendale, AZ. She was preceded in death by her father Joe Hawk and a grandson, Daniel Miller.

Rebecca was born in August 1954 in Dayton, Tennessee, where she loved the piney woods and her Scottish and Cherokee heritage. She graduated from Franklin County High School in 1972, the same year she married and had her first son, Joe. Being an independent thinker and strong willed, she raised Joe on her own. But, ten years down the road she married again and had her second son Nathan. She continued searching for her niche in the world. Was a career in store for her? In 1988, after much work and sacrifice, she graduated from Florida State University with a BS in Nursing, her calling. For almost five years Rebecca was an emergency room nurse at Tallahassee Memorial, she loved it. But this was not her destiny. As fate would have it, she joined the US Air Force in 1992 and was sent to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, where she rose to the rank of Captain. Joe and Nathan stayed behind in Tallahassee. As she was prone to do, she bought a house in D'Iberville, Mississippi and settled in, she thought. In early December her realtor invited her to an annual concert of the singing of Handel's Messiah, he was one of the male voices. At the base chapel the place was packed. There was one seat open in the middle of one of the pews. After excusing herself she made her way to sit next to an older civilian who had also been invited there by a friend. They introduced themselves and then enjoyed the concert. At the end the gentleman turned to her and said, "If you want to see the Gulf Coast, give me a call" and handed her his business card. She did and two weeks later he asked her to marry him and on May15, 1993 she became Mrs. Rebecca Molander. Two years later she left the USAF and enrolled at the University of South Alabama where she received her Master's Degree in Geriatric Nursing. By then she was working in one of the local nursing homes and subsequently rose to the position of Director of Nursing. It didn't end there, after a series of job changes she found her niche as the Regional Director of Wellness for multiple assisted living facilities in and around Atlanta. At Trinity Lifestyles Management she found an environment where she could spread her wings. Little did we know that those wings would become angel's wings much sooner than we could have imagined. After marrying Tom, Rebecca made a profession of faith in the Catholic Church, where she found a special devotion to our Holy Mother, Mary. She accepted Tom's nine children as her own and has a special friendship with the mother of his children. She will be remembered as a devoted, brilliant woman who was never satisfied with the status quo. She will be sorely missed.

Visitation will be Monday, February 27, 2017, at O'Bryant-O'Keefe Funeral Home in Pascagoula from 5:30pm to 8pm, with rosary at 7:30 pm.

Funeral will be Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 11:00 AM, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Gautier. with Father George Kitchin officiating. Interment will be at Griffin Cemetery in Moss Point. Pallbearers will be Joe Harper, Nathan Kelley, Mark Hawk, Erick Molander, Cristopher Molander, and Joe May. Memorials may be made to Catholic Charities of America. Condolences may be expressed online at www.obryantokeefe.com.