Katharine Wheatley Obituary
Katharine Elizabeth (née Mowrer) Wheatley, age 105 of Rochester Hills, Michigan, passed away peacefully on Monday, November 11, 2024, surrounded in the love of her Bellbrook care-givers and her immediate family. Katharine was born in Chester County, Spring City, Pennsylvania, and moved to Michigan with her family in 1957. She was the loving wife of the late Earl Leroy Wheatley for 73 years; dear mother of James Wheatley and Susan Wheatley; cherished grandmother of Allison (Chris) Temple, Matthew (Carrie) Martin, Melinda (Daniel) Martin-Beltran, Lydia (Tim) Kraft and the late Scott Wheatley; great grandmother of Corey Temple, Trevor (Michelle) Temple & Tanner Temple, Madeline & Emily Martin, Andre, Santiago, & Leia Beltran, and Charlie & Camden Kraft; and dear sister of the late Thelma (Donald) Nelson and nieces Ruth (Hank) Abbott-Nelson, Kathy (Charles Pickford) Nelson, and nephew David (Barbara) Nelson. Katharine was a graduate of Spring City High School and Norristown Business School. She was married in 1941 at Brownback's Church in Spring City, PA, to her husband who was a veteran and 1st Sergeant in WWII from 1942-45 in the 104th Infantry division. Throughout her life, Katharine loved music, played piano, trombone, and sang in the choir in both Brownback's Church in PA and in the Congregational Church of Birmingham MI. After moving to Michigan, she worked as secretary for auto company representatives, and volunteered as secretary for the Bellbrook Condominium Association. She was always an avid gardener having grown up on the farm of her parents Milton Mowrer and Bessie Latshaw Mowrer in Spring City PA. She was an extraordinary seamstress designing clothes for her children and grandchildren, which included leaving her sewing legacy in a cloth activity book for her great-grandchildren. Her children also admire her as a wonderful cook who shared with them so many of her delicious recipes. With her husband LeRoy she had an ongoing love for travel and adventure. They both traveled together worldwide with her late sister and brother-in-law Thelma and Donald Nelson well into the eighth decade of their lives. She was loved by all who surrounded and cared for her at Bellbrook Senior and Assisted Living, where she was the oldest resident and was known for her verve for living life to its fullest. A Memorial Service, officiated by Reverend Jim Moseley, will be held on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, 11:00 AM at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church, 1340 West Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302. Memorials in Katharine's name may be made to Sanctuary at Bellbrook, 873 W. Avon Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48307. Her ashes will be interred along with her husband's ashes at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, MI. Online guestbook www.modetzfuneralhomes.com.
