of Tulsa, OK

March 31, 1934 - May 15, 2016

Mary Nell (Rogers) Waters, age 82, of Tulsa, passed away Sunday, May 15 (2016), in Tulsa. She was born March 31, 1934, in Harrison, to Floyd and Verma Mae (Martin) Rogers. Her siblings include Joanne (Rogers) Henson, Jeanette (Rogers) Snapp, and Robert Edward Rogers.

Mary's parents Floyd and Verma owned and operated the Martin-Rogers Mercantile Company on the south side of Harrison's square. The dry goods store, which opened March 3, 1932 through a partnership with Mary's maternal grandfather and former Boone County sheriff Lawrence M. Martin, was very much a family business. The store remained a fixture on the square for 29 years until it was claimed by the May 7, 1961 flood.

As a young girl, Mary worked in her parents' store, and later as a bookkeeper at Security Bank in Harrison. She graduated from Harrison High School in 1952, and also attended Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway, where she was a member of Delta Sigma Epsilon sorority. She was a majorette in high school and college, and also participated in several beauty pageants. Mary was crowned Miss Harrison Arkansas in 1952.

She married Wilbur Lee Waters on November 9, 1958. Mary and Wilbur moved to Tulsa soon after their marriage, where Wilbur worked in the banking industry for many years.

In addition to working as a homemaker and raising two children, Mary worked as a proof operator over the years for several financial institutions in Tulsa, including First National Bank, Woodland Bank, EDS, and American Bank. She retired from American Bank in 2001.

Mary is survived by her brother, Robert Rogers, of Little Rock; her brother-in-law, Gene Waters, of Western Grove; her daughter, Jeri Lynn ''Gigi'' Waters, of the home; her son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Nancy Waters, of Flower Mound, Texas; her granddaughter, Jennifer Lynn Waters; and her grandson, Ryan Stuart Waters.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Wilbur; and sisters, Joanne and Jeanette.

Graveside service was Saturday, May 28, 2016, at Maplewood Cemetery, with visitation an hour prior to the service at Roller-Christeson Funeral Home.

Pallbearers were Greg Calhoun, Kyle Rogers, Tim O'Brien, Frank Snapp, Robert Henson, and Jon Saxon.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ozark Humane Society, 5147 Rock Springs Road, Harrison, AR 72601 or ASPCA, 424 E. 92nd Street, New York, NY 10128-6804.

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