Mrs. Mary "Ana" Ellen Applegate

Mary Ellen Applegate was by all accounts just about the sweetest lady you would ever want to know, and when she passed on May 6, 2010, the angels got some competition. Pretty, diminutive and clever, but kind to a fault, Mary Ellen will be missed sorely by her family and by her friends, many of whom she continued to make through her final days. She was born on May 10, 1925, in Logansport, Indiana and grew up on a farm, where she developed an enduring love of animals, from the horses she rode competitively as a teen to the many litters of poodles she bred and cherished later in life. Mary Ellen married her childhood sweetheart, Lowell “Apple” Applegate despite his being a dreaded Purdue Boilermaker, while she was a proud Indiana Hoosier, and this union led to a lifelong, loving rivalry in their fifty-six year marriage. She and Apple traveled the world on his business trips, developing friendships and collecting memories and souvenirs. Mary Ellen had a fondness for the occasional outfit from “Neimans,” played a wicked game of Bridge and maintained a delightful little sanctuary for the songbirds of Baton Rouge. But Mary Ellen was mostly the consummate mother, not just to her children, to whom she was devoted tirelessly, but to the many souls for whom she cared. And when the time came for her to be cared for by others, her cheery disposition, her refusal to complain, her love of life’s little pleasures and her joyful heart made even those who were her caretakers feel nurtured by Mary Ellen. She was preceded in death by Apple, and is survived by her sister Joan Kline, daughter Amy and husband Darryl Stevens of Central, her son Doug Applegate of Baton Rouge, her daughter Abby and husband Phil Conley of Richardson, Texas, grandchildren Danielle Thibodeaux and her husband James, Travis Stevens, John, Michael and Avery Conley, and Clint Applegate, and great-grandchildren Allison and Zachary Thibodeaux. The family would like to extend its gratitude to Tina Turner, Christine Williams and Michelle Turner and the staffs at Oakwood Village, St. Joseph Hospice and The Carpenter House, and especially thank Staci Pomeroy, Mary Ellen’s adopted daughter. Visitation will be held on Monday, May 10, 2010 from 5PM to 8PM at Greenoaks Funeral Home, 9595 Florida Blvd. and continuing on Tuesday May 11, 2010 from 9AM until time of services at 10AM. Interment will follow in Greenoaks Memorial Park. Donations may be made in Mary Ellen’s honor to: Lewy Body Dementia Association at 912 Killian Hill Road SW, Lilburn, Georgia 30047 or Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 3401 North Blvd, Baton Rouge, LA 70806-3743. Please visit the online guest book at www.greenoaksmemorial.com.