Rockwood TN Funeral Homes
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Heart-felt tributes to honor a dear friend or loved one who has passed away
805 North Gateway Avenue
Rockwood, TN 37854
(865) 354-2600
1400 North Gateway Avenue
Rockwood, TN 37854
(865) 354-9322
Highway 29
Rockwood, TN
(865) 354-0834
Rockwood TN Obituaries and Death Notices
Monday, November 14, 2016That was her duty. It was just who she was.”And “she is going to be missed, because of her unconditional love for people,” said Marcia Rockwood, a Hamline University colleague and Diaz’s sister-in-law.Diaz, 70, an adjunct professor in English as a Second Language (ESL) program within the Hamline University School of Education, died Oct. 29 at United Hospital in St. Paul because of heart and lung complications. In a message earlier this week, Marcela Kostihova, Hamline’s liberal arts dean, said “no one in Minnesota has done more for immigrant and refugee education than Mary Diaz,” adding that Diaz was “masterful at connecting with parents.”She grew up in Fergus Falls, Minn., the oldest of six children and she was “a powerhouse,” said Rockwood, who took swimming lessons from Mary as a 10-year-old and later married Mary’s brother, Harvey.“Her personality was very outgoing,” Rockwood said. “Every time you would see Mary, you would remember her. She was very funny but selfless. She never bragged.”After high school, Diaz majored in Spanish at Lake Forest College in Illinois and studied abroad in Spain. She returned to Spain after graduation with plans to live abroad for a year. Meeting Natalio Diaz in 1968 changed the plans.“She made me an offer,” he said. “I’ll teach you English if you teach me French.”They got married in Fergus Falls and lived in Spain until moving to the United States for good in 1978. The couple settled in the Twin Cities. Daughter Elena was born in 1980, and Cristina in 1984. Mary Diaz, who earned master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota and Middlebury College in Vermont, went to work at the state Department of Education. The couple divorced in 1999, Natalio Diaz said, bu...
Monday, September 05, 2016Good Shepherd in Grafton and attended the First United Methodist Church in Bradenton.In addition to her husband, Carol is survived by her children, David Jr., Conway, AR; Kevin (Teresa), Rockwood, TN; and Deborah, Ellicott City, MD; and her grandchildren, Rachel, Joseph, Ian, Storm, and Bryce.She is also survived by her sister, Lois (Albert) Sheets, Bishop, VA; brother, Jim Brooks, VA Beach, VA; mother-in-law, Nancy Murphy, Charleston, WV; brothers-in-law, Mike (Sharon) Murphy, Oak Ridge, NC; Jon (Debi) Murphy, Gilbert, AZ; Mark Murphy, Charleston, WV; and several nieces and nephews.She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Wayne Brooks, her father-in-law, Joseph Paul Murphy, brother-in-law, J. Paul Murphy Jr. and a granddaughter, Catherine Grace Murphy.The family will receive friends on Wednesday, September 7, 2016, from 4-8 p.m. and Thursday, September 8, 2016, from 10-11 a.m. at Donald G. Ford Funeral Home, Rt. 50, Grafton, WV. Funeral services will be conducted on Thursday, September 8, 2016, at 11 a.m., with Pastor Bert Coffman officiating.Interment will follow at woodsdale Memorial Park in Grafton, WV.
Rockwood News
Monday, November 14, 2016That was her duty. It was just who she was.”And “she is going to be missed, because of her unconditional love for people,” said Marcia Rockwood, a Hamline University colleague and Diaz’s sister-in-law.Diaz, 70, an adjunct professor in English as a Second Language (ESL) program within the Hamline University School of Education, died Oct. 29 at United Hospital in St. Paul because of heart and lung complications. In a message earlier this week, Marcela Kostihova, Hamline’s liberal arts dean, said “no one in Minnesota has done more for immigrant and refugee education than Mary Diaz,” adding that Diaz was “masterful at connecting with parents.”She grew up in Fergus Falls, Minn., the oldest of six children and she was “a powerhouse,” said Rockwood, who took swimming lessons from Mary as a 10-year-old and later married Mary’s brother, Harvey.“Her personality was very outgoing,” Rockwood said. “Every time you would see Mary, you would remember her. She was very funny but selfless. She never bragged.”After high school, Diaz majored in Spanish at Lake Forest College in Illinois and studied abroad in Spain. She returned to Spain after graduation with plans to live abroad for a year. Meeting Natalio Diaz in 1968 changed the plans.“She made me an offer,” he said. “I’ll teach you English if you teach me French.”They got married in Fergus Falls and lived in Spain until moving to the United States for good in 1978. The couple settled in the Twin Cities. Daughter Elena was born in 1980, and Cristina in 1984. Mary Diaz, who earned master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota and Middlebury College in Vermont, went to work at the state Department of Education. The couple divorced in 1999, Natalio Diaz said, bu...
Monday, September 05, 2016Good Shepherd in Grafton and attended the First United Methodist Church in Bradenton.In addition to her husband, Carol is survived by her children, David Jr., Conway, AR; Kevin (Teresa), Rockwood, TN; and Deborah, Ellicott City, MD; and her grandchildren, Rachel, Joseph, Ian, Storm, and Bryce.She is also survived by her sister, Lois (Albert) Sheets, Bishop, VA; brother, Jim Brooks, VA Beach, VA; mother-in-law, Nancy Murphy, Charleston, WV; brothers-in-law, Mike (Sharon) Murphy, Oak Ridge, NC; Jon (Debi) Murphy, Gilbert, AZ; Mark Murphy, Charleston, WV; and several nieces and nephews.She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Wayne Brooks, her father-in-law, Joseph Paul Murphy, brother-in-law, J. Paul Murphy Jr. and a granddaughter, Catherine Grace Murphy.The family will receive friends on Wednesday, September 7, 2016, from 4-8 p.m. and Thursday, September 8, 2016, from 10-11 a.m. at Donald G. Ford Funeral Home, Rt. 50, Grafton, WV. Funeral services will be conducted on Thursday, September 8, 2016, at 11 a.m., with Pastor Bert Coffman officiating.Interment will follow at woodsdale Memorial Park in Grafton, WV.
