Lenora Watry, age 98, of Adrian, 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 southeast 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.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Ted; four brothers, James, Thomas, Robert and William Cox; two sisters, Rose Klein and Betty Steinhoff; and an infant brother, Wilfred.

   Visitation will be Monday from 4-7 pm, with parish prayers at 4 pm, at the Dingmann Funeral Home in Adrian. Visitation also one hour prior to the service at the church on Tuesday. Funeral Mass will be 10:30 am Tuesday at St. Adrian Catholic Church officiated by Father Thomas Jennings. Burial will be in the St. Adrian Cemetery.

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