This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: ChgoKid Surnames: Classification: obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.wisconsin.counties.shawano/16275/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Found love at reunion - Mother of seven remarried 50 years after grammar school Chicago Sun-Times (IL) - , June 24, 2009 Author: Larry Finley, The Chicago Sun-Times ANNETTE M. GROW - 1934- 2009 Most people come away from 50th class reunions with some old memories and a souvenir program. Annette M. Grow took home the renewal of old feelings that led to a new marriage and a second chance. "They met again at their 50th grammar school reunion in 1998," said her daughter Maureen Webb. "They got married the following year. She was a widow and he was a widower." Mrs. Grow, 74, died of leukemia June 21 at Alexian Brothers Hospital in Elk Grove Village. Her second husband, William E. Grow Sr., knew her from St. Vincent Ferrer Grade School in River Forest when she was Annette Steupak. They were friends through high school. Then she went to Rosary College in River Forest and got married. "I went to a university and the Army and got married," Grow said. "My wife died in 1979, and I raised four children." Her first husband was Richard F. Murray Sr., a real estate developer. They raised seven children in Carpentersville; Shawano , Wis.; Seattle, and Kankakee. Mr. Murray was disabled by a severe heart attack in 1976 and died in 1993. She then moved to Schertz, Texas. Fast forward to 1998. She and Grow both decide to go to the big 50th reunion. "We went to this reunion, and something just clicked again," Grow said. "Then it was a wonderful time for us." Her daughter, Maureen Webb, was living in Schertz also, when her mother returned from her trip to Illinois. "We were were sitting on the back porch and she said, 'I think I'm going to move.' " Webb recalled. "I said, 'What do you mean, Ma?' She said, 'I think I'm going to get married.' I got on my cell phone and called my sister, Mary Jo, and said, 'You better get over here. Ma's thinking about getting married.' " Her son, John T. Murray Sr., got the word in a hotel room in New Orleans, where a hurricane had knocked out the lights and power. "Chaos was swirling around me and she proceeds to tell me that she has fallen in love and wants to get married," he said. "I said, 'I'm OK with that, Mom, but I'm going to have to get back to you. My phone is running out of juice.' " Her son, Richard T. Murray Jr., and her youngest daughter, Maureen, were sharing a Chicago apartment when they got the call. "I have something to discuss with you," she told him. "It's about 'affairs of the heart.' '' "It's a wonderfully quaint phrase," Richard Murray said. "That's how she was. She was a real lady." He remembered growing up in a big Victorian house in Kankakee, which she completely restored inside. She also refinished antique furniture and loved to be the hostess for big family parties. He picked up an interest in remodeling from his mother and became a New York TV set designer. "I've worked on soap operas," he said. "She lived in a soap opera. Most people thought it was out of the realm of believability to find love again after 50 years." Mary Jo Gibson was her first daughter and remembers living in Carpentersville "when it was new." They moved to Shawano , where they spent a lot of family time on Shawano Lake. If the 1950s in Carpentersville was "Ozzie and Harriet," she said, " Shawano was the rebellious '60s." Her mother had one golden rule about coming home past curfew, Gibson said. "She would be sitting on the curb with a cup of coffee, when you got home," Gibson said. "She said, 'Don't wake your father.' That was the rule. We needed to get in the door and into bed without waking him." About two years ago, Mrs. Grow was diagnosed with "preleukemia," her husband said. "So, the last two years were difficult for her. But I had a wonderful life with her before that. It's quite a story. People say it sounds like a fairy tale. But it's not, with this ending." Her other survivors include another son, Thomas Murray; two daughters, Marie J. Kennedy and Margaret Ferguson; 13 grandchildren; a sister, Joan Steupak; and a brother, Joseph Steupak. Visitation will be 3 to 9 p.m. today at Salerno's Rosedale Chapels, 450 W. Lake Street, Roselle. Mass will be at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Phillip the Apostle Church, Lombard and Holt, Addison. Interment in Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside. Caption: Color Photo: Annette M. Grow (left) liked to be the hostess of big family parties.; Memo: Obituary of Annette M. Grow Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.