Mary Ellen Drapela, age 94, passed away June 6, 2018 at the Assisted Living facility at Jacaranda Trace in Venice, Florida where she received care in her final days.
Services will be held at 11:00 am, August 4, 2018 at Wiley Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Granbury.
Mary was born in Rising Star, Texas on August 25, 1923. She and her family moved around the Breckenridge, Texas area where her father worked the oil fields and later in Rochester, Texas where he worked as a truck driver for the local bakery. Mary lived through the hard times of the Great Depression. When her father decided to take up farming, Mary helped with picking cotton and whatever else was required to support the family. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mary went to work at the Ft. Worth aircraft plant where the B-24 Liberator, a long-range bomber, was being manufactured by Consolidated Aircraft. Mary was a parts inspector and checked metal components for cracks and flaws. Because there was a shortage of railroad staff during the war, Mary learned Morse code which was a job requirement for train depot operators. In 1944 Mary started work for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. She moved around to various train depots in south Texas until she was assigned a permanent job in Blessing. In 1949 she met her husband, Lester C. Drapela, at a community center dance in Blessing. Lester had just received his degree in electrical engineering from the University of Houston. He had served with the U.S. Marine Corps from 1942-46, seeing action in the Pacific Theater.
Mary moved to Port Lavaca where Lester was working for Alcoa. She continued to work at the rail depot in Blessing until early 1954, after which time she had her first child, Larry. In 1956, when they were living in Iowa, Mary had her second child, David.
Mary and Lester lived with their two sons in various Alcoa locations. In 1967, they were relocated to Pittsburgh which was company headquarters. They lived there until 1983, the year Lester retired. Later that year they moved to Granbury, Texas to be closer to family. Lester died on November 3, 2011. Mary moved from Granbury to Venice, Florida in early 2014 to be closer to her son and his wife.
Mary loved her sons and their families and enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. David’s wife Betsi spent summers in Texas with her children Stephanie and Jason.
Mary also enjoyed quilting and crewelwork and was a good bridge player.
Mary is survived by her two sons, Larry and his wife Susan of Florida, David and his wife Betsi, two grandchildren Stephanie and Jason, four great grandchildren Liam, Freya, Gabriel David and Simone Rose.
