Devoted wife, beloved mother, loving grandmother, and dear, sweet friend are only a few words that capture the essence of Mary Lee Groton’s life. Mary Lee was born and raised in Laurel by her parents Henry Lee and Mary Ann Bohm. She dearly loved her two sisters Moggie and Frannie. Leesie, as all her friends and family knew her, was an outgoing, beautiful young woman who enjoyed spending time with people.
Her high school superlative was “most school spirited” and her senior picture description stated, “Soft hair on which light drops a diamond.” After high school graduation in 1962, Mary Lee graduated from the Maryland Medical Secretarial School in Hagerstown. Soon after departing Hagerstown, she married her high school sweetheart, Ralph Lowe in 1964. The couple lived outside Laurel near Chipman’s Pond where they raised their son, David. Mary Lee initially worked as a secretary at Toledo Scales in Salisbury. After approximately five years with Toledo Scales, Mary Lee landed a clerk position at the Justice of the Peace Court #4 in Seaford. Mary Lee rose to the position of Chief Clerk and retired after 30 years of service to the state of Delaware. Along this journey, she married her second husband, Bill Groton in 2001 and settled in a log cabin on Baker Mill Road outside Seaford. There she added to her precious family two stepchildren Billy and Laurie and their families.
During Mary Lee’s life journey, she was a Mary Kay and a Longaberger Basket consultant. She delighted in beading, visiting with many friends, especially her high school classmates, traveling to locations where the Air Force sent her son and his family, and enjoying spending time with others. Later in her life, she was one of the founding members of the Nanticoke River Arts Council where she displayed many of her beaded art creations at Gallery 107 in Seaford.
Mary Lee was also a fighter; she was a two-time breast cancer survivor and participated in or supported many “Relays for Life” for the American Cancer Society. However, her greatest pride came with seeing and following the accomplishments and lives of her grandchildren, Kirsten, Zach, Nathan, and Josiah and her step-grandchildren, Jessa, Gadee, Malcolm, and the late Bethany VanSciver and eight great-grandchildren. Her passion and love for them is evident throughout her home, in her discussions with neighbors and friends and on her social media. She adored each and every one of them. Most importantly, her greatest relationship was with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who called her home on Nov. 4, 2022.
Her memorial service will be held at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, 600 S. Central Avenue, Laurel, Delaware on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 11 a.m. with a visitation at the church starting at 10 a.m. Instead of flowers, the family requests donations in honor of Mary Lee Groton be sent to the American Cancer Society, PO Box 6704, Hagerstown, Maryland 21741. Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.hsdfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are in the care of the Hannigan, Short, Disharoon Funeral Home in Laurel.