MARGARET “MUFFY” MOSLE WALTMON
1932-2018
Margaret “Muffy” Mosle Waltmon, age 86, passed away peacefully at home on Friday, the 27th of April, 2018 after a brief illness.
She was born in Galveston (BOI), Texas on the 2nd of March,1932 and grew up in the growing port city. She was the granddaughter of Dr. and Mrs. James E. Thompson, who immigrated from England to Galveston in 1891. There, Dr. Thompson was one of the founders of The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and was the first professor of surgery. Muffy’s mother, Eleanor Thompson Mosle, grew up in Galveston and married Johann Ludwig Mosle, a founding partner of Rotan Mosle, Inc. of Houston, the first locally-owned member of the New York Stock Exchange.
She went to Camp Mystic outside of Hunt, Texas where she met life-long friends Pat Kinney and Pifa Forbes. Muffy attended the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Mills College in California, and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1953 where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, a sorority that she remained passionately dedicated to for the rest of her life. After college she met DeWitt Waltmon of Hearne, Texas on a blind date that turned into a full courtship. DeWitt turned to her one evening and said “I think I am going to ask you to marry me”, to which she responded, “well when you get around to making up your mind, let me know!”. And the engagement was on!
Muffy was a long-time member of the Junior League of Houston and the River Oaks Garden Club where she worked many years on the Azalea Trail. She and her husband DeWitt were members of the Houston Country Club and St. John the Divine Episcopal Church and were one of the very first couples married in the new sanctuary on the 24th of April 1954.
While Muffy spent many hours volunteering for various charities, she mostly cherished being a wife and mother. She wore the title of “stay-at-home mom” with honor, and played it out right up until the day she left us. At 86 years old, she could not find enough dishes to wash, rooms to clean, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to hug or meals to prepare for her beloved husband, DeWitt.
Muffy cherished her many summers at Lakeway initially with her “A” group friends, extending through to her children and their friends, and continuing on with her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren over the years. She was a gracious host, boat driver, and ski instructor. She also acted as “house mother” of sorts for so many of her children’s friends, hosting weekends at the lake, fraternity rush parties, pregame tailgates at the Villa Capri, and chartered bus trips to Southwest Conference home and away football games.
In the late 1970s, Muffy and DeWitt fell deeply in love with the Texas Hill Country and bought a house on the Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas where they hosted family gatherings, holidays and getaways and created memories that most all of you reading this notice were a part of at one point in time. As they grew older, (and became “Grandmuffy” and “Papa Dee”) they decided to make their final resting place in nearby Hunt, Texas. Along with family and friends, they co-founded the Honey Creek Family Cemetery. The joys of relaxing at the River House in Hunt with Grandmuffy, will now be replaced with the pleasure of visiting her there and her knowing that generations to come will continue to enjoy the oasis that she and Papa Dee built together.
The Waltmon Family would like to acknowledge Kimberly Jackson and Brenda Booker for responding at a moment’s notice to help care for Grandmuffy (and Papa Dee) when her health deteriorated so quickly and unexpectedly. As well, an extra special thanks and love to Elvia Maldonado, who over 37 years evolved from housekeeper, to caregiver to “family member.”
Margaret is preceded in death by her parents, Johann Ludwig Mosle and Eleanor Thompson Mosle; and her brother, Jon L. Mosle. She is survived by her husband of 64 years, DeWitt Waltmon; her sister, Eleanor Mosle Hill; sisters-in-law, Paula Meredith Mosle and Chuchu Waltmon Smith; her children, Lisa Waltmon Smalling and her husband Steve, DeWitt Waltmon, Jr. and his wife Karen, Kelly Waltmon Hatley and her husband Fowler; and Scott Mosle Waltmon and his wife Emily. She is also survived by her eleven grandchildren, David Smalling and his wife Tanya, Lanny Morse and her husband Casey, Kate Schneider and her husband Christopher, Amanda Chachere and her husband Michael, Matthew Waltmon and his wife Adrian, Austin Waltmon, Collins Hatley, Jennifer Hatley, Travis Waltmon, John Waltmon, Ben Waltmon; and eight great grandchildren.
A memorial service and celebration of her life is to be conducted at one o’clock in the afternoon on Thursday, the 3rd of May, at The Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks Blvd in Houston, where the Rev. Dr. Stephen Kinney and the Rev. Dr. Clay Lein, are to officiate.
Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent Sumners Hall.
The interment is to be conducted at eleven o’clock in the morning on Saturday, the 5th of May, at Honey Creek Family Cemetery, 315 FM 1340 in Hunt, Texas.
Those honored to serve as pallbearers are David Smalling, Matthew Waltmon, Collins Hatley, Austin Waltmon, Travis Waltmon, John Waltmon, Ben Waltmon, Michael Chachere, Christopher Schneider, and Casey Morse.
The family requests that any memorial contributions be directed in Muffy’s name to the Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation, 8740 Founders Road, Indianapolis, IN, 46268; or to the Texas Exes General Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 142309, Austin, TX 78714.