Mary Ann (Gildersleeve) Roehl, 96, passed away April 25, 2025, at Cummings Healthcare Facility in Howland, Maine, after a short illness and a long and plentiful life. Like a multifaceted gemstone reflecting life in its full color palette, she had a way of transforming common circumstances into adventures.

She was predeceased by her husband Robert Roehl and sister Jeanne Beaupre and leaves behind her brother, Richard Gildersleeve and wife Suzanne of Scottsdale, AZ, and her five children, James Roehl and wife Jenny of Toledo, OH, Virginia Huber and husband Ron of Lake Placid, NY, Judith Lyon and husband Bradfield of Greenfield Twp, ME, Jeffrey Roehl of Las Vegas, NV, and John Roehl and wife Julie of Perrysburg, OH, 15 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Born in Grosse Pointe, MI, on July 11, 1928, Mary was the daughter of James and Olivia (Ozar) Gildersleeve. She spent much of her youth in the suburbs of Boston, her family joining that of her uncle’s during the Depression. In 1941 her family moved to Dexter, ME, where she spent her high school summers swimming in Lake Wassookeag and developing a love for the natural beauty of Maine. During WWII, her father held a management position at Fay & Scott Company making armaments, and at one point Mary helped make grenade launchers before graduating from high school in 1946. The following year, she moved to Cleveland, OH, to attend Cleveland College (of Case Western University) to study art with an emphasis on fashion design. It was in Cleveland where she met Robert Roehl, whom she married in 1951. The couple started a family, subsequently settling on Emmajean Road in Toledo, OH, in 1959 where Mary helped raise their five children, returning to Dexter, Maine frequently for long, lazy summer vacations. The children being grown, in 1991 Mary and her husband decided to downsize to a smaller home on Penn Road in Toledo, enjoying their retirement years until 2005 when they chose to relocate with their son John’s family in Grand Rapids, OH. Following the death of her husband, Mary, at the age of 90, decided to return to her beloved state of Maine to live the remainder of her years, living with her daughter Judith and husband Bradfield in Greenfield Twp until moving to a healthcare facility in Howland, ME, in 2023.

Although Mary never completed her art degree, creative art in all its forms was a keen interest throughout her life. Handmade gifts were her specialty, taking an idea and developing it into a unique item for that special person. Many people today still enjoy some memento made by her. She was an accomplished painter, especially enjoying the plein-air experience. She loved classical music and opera, serving as wardrobe director for many years at the Toledo Metropolitan Opera Company. A voracious reader, she held a particular interest in biographies, non-fiction, poetry, and her beloved Bible, which she read daily. She was an entertaining conversationalist and would engage with anyone, on any subject. She loved singing, cherishing old hymns and had a gift for remembering the lyrics to many melodies, frequently breaking out in song and making others smile. She found joy and beauty in the natural world, loved swimming in lakes and going for walks or just sitting with a warm summer breeze on her face. She believed deeply in her Christian faith, was active in prayer groups and Bible studies, volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center for 10 years, and sought to serve God using the gifts she was given.

There will be a memorial service in celebration of Mary’s life on May 25, 2025, at 4:00 PM at the Washington Congregational Church, 3925 Central Avenue, Toledo, Ohio.

Send to someone

Share this obituary with others

https://everloved.com/life-of/mary-roehl-gildersleeve/obituary/

Copy