Muriel Margaret Conwell

Muriel Margaret Hooley Conwell was born in Oldham, England and, in spite of losing her mother at the age of 7, went on to win the single Hulme scholarship for excellence, and during WWII, as a teen, worked in a converted textile mill to produce ammunition shells. At 17, she married an American soldier, Frank Conwell of Bowman, Georgia, and while he was transported with other troops home in 1946 on the Queen Elizabeth, she and her new son Stephen crossed the Atlantic on a military transport ship. Frank's USAF career allowed them to enjoy living in Florida, South Carolina, and West Germany, finally settling in Clovis, NM until their son and 3 girls graduated and moved away for college. Muriel and Frank then moved to Las Cruces where they bought a townhouse and she graduated, at the age of 50, as a New Mexico State University Crimson Scholar, with a degree in business management. She then took a job for the Department of Defense in the Washington DC area, where she led the Joint Military Communications spectrum management board and where she established a training center and curriculum for desktop computer use for DoD telecommunications managers. Her early recognition of the need for standardization of desktop hardware, software, and training across DoD helped to transform the Communications Agency into the Defense Information Systems Agency. Muriel went on to get her Master's in Telecommunications at the University of Southern California. Muriel retired, traveled, and enjoyed life with Frank in 4 states after retirement, taking up watercolor painting as a member of both the NM and the Arizona Watercolor Societies.

Muriel is survived by her son Stephen Conwell of Arizona, Sunny D. Conwell of Albuquerque, Candace Conwell and husband John of Escondido, CA, and Tracey Conwell of Houston, TX. Muriel has 4 grandchildren, including Carson Conwell, a police officer in Austin, TX and Casey Conwell, a student in Albuquerque, NM, Christopher Conwell and family in Japan, and Brian Conwell of California, and several great grandchildren.Muriel also leaves behind 2 wonderful nieces, Pamela Hooley of California and Lynn Brown in Canada, and her good friends Andre Niemyjski, Dinah Erracho, Cielo Evangelista, Bozena Podrazo, and Ileana Micula.

Muriel's children remember her as a loving, creative, fun mother who always set a great example and lived a happy, generous, and principled life . They will miss her dearly but are happy she is now with her husband Frank again.