Mary DeGroat

DEGROAT, Mary Louise Slept away and went with her Heavenly Father, encircled by the arms of her loved ones, on Monday, June 18, 2018. She was still a fairly young woman of 83 years. She was born Mary Wood the fifth of eight children to parents Odell Wood, Sr. and Eva Blackmon Wood in the heat of summer in 1934 in Springfield, OH on Wayne Avenue, as a first-generation descendant of Great Migrationers from Alabama and Georgia, respectively. Fond of music in a household of nine, Mary graduated from Springfield High School in 1952 and immediately embarked on her prospects as a federal employee with the U.S. Air Force and as a noted vocalist/pianist with The Inflamatas, a gospel group which also featured her sisters Mildred Carter and Ruby Wood. As a logistics supervisor for the federal government at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH, Mary became one of the highest-ranking civilians to serve her country in the region. She rose from her start as a clerk typist while overcoming various indignities in and outside of the office in the era of Jim Crow and segregation in 1950s Ohio to a decorated operations manager at "The Field" for 35 years, but her love for God, music, and family never went away. The wife of Air Force serviceman Daniel Arthur DeGroat a draftsman, architect, and fine artist of Paterson, NJ together they raised three children. She later became the minister of music at Second Baptist Church in her native Springfield a position she would hold for more than 40 years. At Second Baptist, Mary proudly served as a chief officer for an assortment of groups and missionary collectives, but was primarily known for her service as the head of the Gospel Choir, as well as both the Men's and Women's Choir; she also won numerous awards in the church, namely Woman of The Year. In the Springfield community, Mary also enjoyed the camaraderie of her friends and acquaintances in various community missions and projects through her affiliations with an assortment of service-oriented groups. In retirement, Mary spent 30 years exactly flourishing as a doting grandmother and great-grandmother, acting as an instrumental figure in the lives of eleven young adults and children, each of them exhibiting the qualities of love and grace in which she abided during her eight-plus decades of life. "Mom", "Aunt Mary", and often "Gram" in her later years, Mary is preceded in death by her parents aforementioned, as well as brothers Oliver, Odell Jr. aka "Junior"/"Babs" (Leola), James, Fred (Phyllis); and pseudo-sibling, Charles "Chuck" Wood (Joann); and sister, Mildred (Ewing Carter). Mary is survived by her eldest brother, Robert Wood (Margaret); her younger sister, Ruby; her two sons, Gregg DeGroat and Dale DeGroat (Shirley); her daughter, Cheryl DeGroat Dover; her grandchildren, Bianca DeGroat, Chantal DeGroat, Sandy Dover, Mallory Tay (Harris), Whitney Casteele, Dan Dover, and Devin DeGroat; and great-grandchildren, Shashan Peavie, Niecia Tay, Stella Tay, and D?j? Casteele; and an assortment of nieces, nephews, cousins, and many other various kinfolk in her midst. Visitation is Tuesday, June 26, 2018 from 12 noon until the time of service at 1 p.m. in Second Missionary Baptist Church. Burial will follow in Glen Haven Memorial Gardens. Arrangements by the Robert C. Henry-Clark Funeral Home. www.robertchenryfuneralhome.com