Mary Dubbs

Mary Elizabeth Hermiller Wray Dubbs

Mary Dubbs as she was known the majority of her later years, passed away on March 4th. She had an unbelievable long and accomplished life.

She was born in 1930 – the fifth child born to Clara and John Hermiller. She was the youngest and was preceded in death by her siblings: Ann(Don) Lammers, Hank (Jane) Hermiller, Mildred(Bob) Agner, Robert(Jeanne) Hermiller.

Mary is survived by six of her seven children – Kirk passed away in November of 2014. Kevin (Annette), Thomas(Elizabeth), Terrence(Kathryn), Kelly(Angela), Alison and Melanie(Doug) Eisen - Also Sue Hancock and Marty(Amy) Dubbs from her marriage to Marv Dubbs. She will be dearly missed by her 16 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren: Grandkids: Bradley Hancock, Nick Wray, Bethany Wray, Jaclyn King, Terence Wray, John Wray, Alex Wray, Kim Wittenmeyer, Heather Irwin, Valerie Deiners, Oliver Deiners, Sabrina Strohschein, Megan Wray Severyn, Michelle Wray Bruggeman, Trevor Wray, Connor Wray Great Grandkids: Charlie Hancock, William Robb, Hannah Robb, Sage King, Mason Irwin, Amelia Irwin, Carson Severyn, Brooks Severyn, Hudson Severyn, Avery Bruggeman, Jack Bruggeman, Beau Bruggeman.

Mary was born and raised in Ottawa, Ohio and was raised by her mother – also a widow who had lost her husband in a car train crash when he was just 40. Her mother was a strong Catholic who raised all her children in the Catholic faith.

Mary joined the armed forces and was a Korean war veteran. It was during that time that she met her first husband Golden Kim Wray. Together they had seven children – starting their family with two sets of twins a year apart: Kevin and Kirk, Thomas and Terence. Three years later a third son was born: Kelly. Then she finally got the girls that she wanted – seven years later came Mary Alison and nine years later Melanie Kim was born.

Mary, Kim and their seven children lived most of their lives in Bowling Green, Ohio. Sadly, her first husband Kim was tragically killed in a single car accident when he was just 39 years old – leaving Mary a widow with seven children to raise. Mary’s faith was the grounding and driving force behind her courage in the face of such a daunting undertaking. Not only did Mary persevere, she attended Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and earned her bachelors and master’s degrees in education and remedial reading respectively – graduating suma cum laude. Mary also wrote several articles that we all cherish and she was an avid reader.

At BGSU Mary met Father James Bacik and they developed a lifelong deep and spiritual friendship. In his book “Saints Celebrated and Unsung" Jim Bacik wrote a whole chapter about Mary in which he observed: “Mary had a deep spirituality that enabled her to survive tragedy, maintain hope and meet the individual needs of her family.”

Mary taught at Otsego local school district for 22 years. Eventually she met her second husband: Marv Dubbs and was married to him for 37 years. She retired from teaching and pursued one of the passions of her life: world travelling. She traveled all over the world with her many friends and family. Mary was a past president of the Waterville historical society and a past president of Profit and Pleasure. Mary was married to Marv for longer than she had been married to her first husband Kim and they had many wonderful years together – spending their winters in Escondido, California at the Welk resort. It was during one of their visits to Escondido that Marv passed away after a long battle with cancer at the age of 94.

Mary was a devout and devoted Catholic and was active in the various churches she attended over the years. She had a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and attended a weekly, hour long devotion to the Blessed Sacrament for over 20 years. All of her children are confident that she is in heaven with our dearly beloved Lord Jesus Christ. Our beautiful and wonderful mother will be missed more than words can express but we know that someday we will all be reunited in a heavenly reunion.

Funeral arrangements will have a Requiem Mass at Saint Cecilia’s church in Cincinnati, Ohio on Friday, March 27th at 11:00am. Following the Mass will be a celebration of life held at 20th Century Theater located at 3021 Madison Road, Cincinnati, Ohio.

In Lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Meals on Wheels at https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/donate/ or Catholic Relief Services at www.crs.org