MARY THERESA ROCK LAGRANGE

October 30, 1931 – February 3, 2020
Mary Theresa Rock LaGrange was born October 30, 1931 in Freeland, Pennsylvania to Michael Rock and Helen Miklos Rock. Her parents were European immigrants from Zavada, Czechoslovakia and came to America through Ellis Island. Mary was proud of her faith, being baptized as a Byzantine Catholic at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. She cherished reciting the rosary and attending Mass. Her parents never learned English; however that did not stop them from encouraging their children to attend school and make a better life for themselves in this new country. Mary was blessed with six brothers: John, Andrew, George, Steve, Joe and Mike, which have all preceded her in death.
She attended Freeland High School in Pennsylvania where she graduated in 1949 and went on to become a Registered Nurse after attending Hazelton State Hospital School of Nursing graduating in 1952. She was employed at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC. There she met her loving husband, Dewey LaGrange Jr. who preceded her in death in 1988. The two were married and moved back to his hometown of Franklin, Louisiana. Mary continued her love of nursing and caring for others over the years while working for Franklin Foundation Hospital, Franklin Nursing Home, and St. Mary Parish Health Unit. She ended her nursing career while being employed by the St. Mary Parish School Board for 18 years at the age of 72. The care and kindness she shared with others is still remembered today by many of “her” students. They may not remember her name, but they quickly smile and say “You were my school nurse.”
Mary and Dewey also owned two businesses. The King Kone Quick Snack, the first drive-in restaurant and a favorite dining spot in Franklin for 15 years. Then they went on to open a convenient grocery store, LaGrange’s Shop and Save, on Willow St. near the boat landing. It was frequented by many hunters and fishermen before they took off down the Franklin Canal.
The couple had two children, a daughter, Marianne LaGrange Adams of Franklin, La. and a son, Thomas Jude LaGrange of Port Angeles, WA; one granddaughter, Alexi Adams Breaux and her husband Christopher Breaux; and two great grandsons, Bennett and Brock Breaux, all residing in St. Gabriel, La.
Mary felt very blessed by the love of 15 nieces and nephews to carry on the traditions of the Rock and LaGrange families. She felt so grateful for the friends that took in a coal miner’s daughter and welcomed her with open arms to bayou country. She lived her life putting the needs of others before her own. Nursing was truly in her veins.
A heartfelt thank you is extended by Mary’s family to her caregivers, Pat Crow and Rose Martin, as well as to the Hanson Memorial School Touch Program Students, Franklin Foundation Hospital, Franklin Health Care Center, Heart of Hospice, and Dr. Roland Degeyter.
Her family would like to share this poem and prayer:
The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.
Dear Lord, Help me to lead a life that is reflective of you… a life that will be remembered by others as one of purpose.
Memorial services will be held Friday, February 7, 2020, at 1 p.m. during a Mass of Christian Burial at the Church of the Assumption in Franklin. Inurnment will follow in the Franklin Cemetery Mausoleum. Father Joel Faulk will be the Celebrant for the Mass with Father Peter Emusa and Father Oneil Landry concelebrating. The family requests that visiting hours be observed from10 a.m. until Mass time, with the Holy Rosary being prayed at 11 o’clock.
Family and friends may view the obituary and express their condolences online by visiting www.iberts.com.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Ibert’s Mortuary, Inc., 1007 Main Street, Franklin, La. 70538, (337) 828-5426.