A Mass of Christian Burial for Lenora Watry, age 98, of Adrian, MN was held Tuesday, October 17, 2017, at St. Adrian Catholic Church officiated by Father Thomas Jennings. Burial was in the St. Adrian Cemetery, Adrian, MN. Lenora died Friday, October 13, 2017 at the Parkview Manor Nursing Home in Ellsworth.
She was born in Lismore on September 9, 1919, the daughter of John and Anna (Loonan) Cox. She attended St Anthony Grade School in Lismore and when her family moved to a farm near Adrian, she attended a nearby country school. After graduating from Adrian High School and Nettleton Commercial College in Sioux Falls, she moved to Chicago. With encouragement from her aunts who lived there, Lenora took the civil service exam. She worked as a stenographer for the U.S War Department for four years, first in Chicago and later in Minneapolis.
While home visiting her family in Adrian, Lenora met Ted Watry, another Irish Catholic. It was love at first sight and they were married on September 25, 1943. They lived on a farm southwest of Adrian, until Ted became ill and they moved into Adrian in 1977. Lenora lovingly cared for him until he passed away in 1979. She moved to Parkview Manor in June 2017.
Lenora devoted her life to raising her children. She loved to read and listen to music and instilled that love in her children. She valued education and felt her greatest accomplishment was that all seven of her children graduated from college. Lenora enjoyed traveling around the USA to the places where her children lived, and to Ireland and England, the home of her ancestors.
She was a member of the St Adrian Catholic Church where she sang in the choir and took communion to the homebound. She was also a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, volunteered at the Adrian Senior Center and delivered Meals-on-Wheels. Lenora loved gardening, baking, bowling, swimming and was a lifelong walker.
Lenora is survived by her seven children: Tom, Adrian; Dan, Adrian; Mary, San Diego, CA; Coleen, Alexandria, VA; Margaret and her husband Tom Davis, Chaska, MN; Sharon, Minneapolis, MN; Jean, Edina, MN; grandchildren: Emily Davis, Minneapolis, MN and Spencer Davis, Chaska, MN and two sisters-in-law, Marie Cox, Worthington and Kay Cox , Adrian.
To view an online obituary, please visit www.dingmannandsons.com
