Mary Love Windel

Mary Love Windel was of Scottish-French ancestry, born Mary Love Appleby on April 21, 1920 in Wichita Falls, Texas, the first child of Arthur Franklin Appleby and Constance Zoe Delambre Appleby. She was named for her grandmothers Mary Seago Appleby and Love Knox Delambre, both of East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. A few years later she was joined in life by her little sister Constance Delambre Appleby. She went by the name Mary Love, never simply by Mary. She learned to read exceptionally early in life and kept her nose buried in a book for pretty much the first two decades of her life. Her mother insisted she learn French before she learned English. She was an excellent student, in fact, she was considered something of a child prodigy. She was exceptionally well-read—from classical literature to modern mysteries. She loved puzzles, particularly word puzzles. In her childhood and adolescence, the few times you could pry her nose out of a book she usually dived into a swimming pool. She retained an ardent love both of reading and of swimming her whole life. She was an avid and competitive springboard diver. Mary Love was, well, competitive—in pretty much everything she did. Her bridge partners certainly would attest to that. In fact, about two weeks before she died she played cards with her daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law-to-be. To put it as kindly as possible, she skunked them. Mary Love graduated from high school at the age of 16 and began study at Midwestern University in Wichita Falls, Texas. She won 1st place in the National Oratory competition at the age of 17. She transferred to the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma where she was active in the Delta Gamma sorority and graduated, with a degree in Theatre, at the age of 19. She was an acclaimed dramatic actress. During her 20s she travelled extensively—living in the trans-Pecos area of Texas; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Boston; Wyoming; and Washington, D.C.; among other places. In her late 20s she moved back to Texas to go to graduate school at what is now Texas Women's University where she earned a Master's degree in a brand new field of social science called Speech Therapy. She held license number 37, the 37th speech therapy license issued. She considered her work in this field one of her greatest life accomplishments. In 1950 she met and married musician, educator, rancher, real estate broker, 4th generation Texan and Caldwell native Hubert Windel. Within a few years they moved to the Windel Ranch outside of Caldwell, land first ranched by her husband's grandfather in 1886. For the next 30 years they split their time between the Caldwell ranch and a town home in Giddings where she was the speech therapist in the Giddings schools and later Director of Special Education for a 9-county area. She truly loved helping people overcome difficulties and disabilities. After her husband's death in 1987, she moved to Austin. Mary Love had been diagnosed with osteoarthritis while she was in her mid-30s, a malady that became increasingly severe over the years. In her typical studious fashion, she seriously delved into arthritis research and developed a close relationship with the National Arthritis Foundation—where she studied to become a certified arthritis exercise instructor—first teaching water exercise classes, then gradually, as her own strength declined, teaching exercises seated in a chair. For more than two decades—up until the age of 89—she taught full-range movement several times a week. Countless people said Mary Love's classes dramatically reduced their arthritis pain. Several people claimed she helped them get out of their wheelchairs and walk again. She never considered herself a healer, but in the last years of her life, many other people did. She helped many. And she always made time to help. During those years she also volunteered many hours to make sound recordings of various works of classical literature for the blind. During the last 20 years of her life, Mary Love and her baby sister Connie lived in walking distance of each other in Austin after having lived most of their adult lives hundreds, and sometimes even thousands, of miles apart. The last six years of their lives they lived across the hall from each other and were able to have meals together every day with their dearest friends. Until about two months before her death, Mary Love played bridge 8 times a week, Bingo twice a week, and whatever other game she could talk someone else into playing as often as she could talk them into it. She particularly loved playing bridge. And in typical Mary Love fashion, she was competitive—but never to the fault of not being a good sport. She considered sportsmanship an aspect of etiquette. And she considered etiquette right next to holiness. Mary Love cherished those years, surrounded by her sister, her closest friends, and a warm, loving community of friends. That was the only thing that made the loss of Hubert bearable for her. Nothing about Mary Love is fully illuminative without Hubert. Simply put, Hubert Windel—the man she affectionately called "Kipp"— was the love of her life from the first day she met him in a faculty meeting in 1950 to the day he died in her arms in 1987. She said he was the kindest, most patient, and most loving being she ever met. She often said she knew God truly was Love because only a supremely loving God would have blessed her life with Hubert. After his death she said that as devastated as she was, staying sad forever would be supremely selfish—because she had had 37 years filled with more love than most people can ever imagine. Thirty-seven years with Hubert Windel was a blessing beyond what she said she could ever have dreamed could happen in her life. That was the kind of attitude Mary Love brought to life. And that was the kind of attitude she imparted to those around her. On her 88th birthday, loving family surprised her with a birthday party at the Continental in Austin. She was thrilled beyond words. She spoke about that wonderful party and the colorful balloons and the great cake and all the loved ones who drove miles to see her for months and months and months. It was a heartfelt gift that touched her deeply. She is now with Hubert again. And the remains of her body will lie next to his at the Masonic Cemetery in Caldwell, Texas surrounded by more than 100 family members who have passed on before them. Mary Love was predeceased by her parents, her beloved husband Hubert Windel, and her nephew Edward Everett Silk Jr. of Fort Worth. By blood, Mary Love is survived by her daughter, Candace Love Laurinda Windel, of Austin; her granddaughter, Laurinda Leah Beaver, of San Antonio; her sister, Constance Appleby Huff, of Austin; and her niece, Linda Silk, also of Austin. By heart she is survived by her grandson-in-law to-be Jerimey Dear of Bishop; her nieces Windelyn Duewall Tharp of Caldwell, Patricia Duewall Marek of Chappell Hill, and Nadine Duewall McManus of Caldwell; by her nephew Moody Fred Duewall of Plano; by her cousins Thomas Luther Goodnight of Caldwell and Selden B. Graham of Austin as well as their wonderful spouses, children, and grand-children; and by all the wonderful friends she considered family. A private memorial service will be conducted by her friends at the Continental Retirement Center in Austin on December 13. A life celebration and funeral will be held at the family chapel in Caldwell on the grounds of the Masonic Cemetery at 11:00 a.m., December 19 prior to her permanent rest there. Mary Love's family would like to take this opportunity to publically express undying gratitude to Hospice Austin and to the angelic staff of Christopher House. It is her family's sincerest hope that all friends and loved ones of Mary Love will help ensure the longevity of Christopher House in its mission to provide humane and tender care to others in life's ultimate transition. In lieu of flowers, memorials are requested to be made to Christopher House.