Mrs. Mary Lou Vaughn Boswell's Obituary
To view the livestream of Mrs. Boswell's service, click here: https://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/91074
Mary Vaughn Boswell was born on July 18, 1923, in Samson, Alabama, to Maude Capshaw Vaughn and Phillip Harson Vaughn.
Over her childhood she lived in many states, moving with her father’s logging and coal mining businesses. They finally settled in Monterey, Tennessee.
During World War II, at barely 18 years old, she began working at the nuclear plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and is featured in the book, The Girls of Atomic City. In 2018, she was interviewed as one of the last living women who worked at the plant. She refused to speak of the secrets she was sworn to keep, and she kept them to her grave.
After marrying Bill Boswell, also of Monterey, they had six children. She managed to raise her children while working on a farm, without modern conveniences, and not much money. Later they moved to Scottsville, Kentucky, a short while in Akron, Indiana, and eventually settled in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
Mary Boswell was a woman of convictions. She raised her six children to be smart, to be strong, and to work hard. She raised them to be able to depend on themselves. She raised them to be courteous, respectful and that all people were created equal. She did not tolerate racism or bigotry of any kind.
Over the years while raising her children, she worked at a few shirt factories and even drove the tow motor at the sawmill her husband ran. There was not anything she would not try.
She caringly took care of both of her parents, her aunt, her husband and eventually her daughter.
There’s not enough room or time to write about this woman. She was strong, she was brave, she was determined, and she was tough. She read everything she could to gain knowledge about taxes, investments and managed her own affairs until she was 99 years old.
Mrs. Boswell is preceded in death by her parents, brother Alvin C. Vaughn, her husband of over 60 years William Carson Boswell, daughter Sandra Kay Boswell and granddaughter Tonya Marie Tyler.
She leaves behind her remaining children William Blake (Linda) Boswell of Murfreesboro; Linda (Donnie) Madison of Alvaton, Kentucky; Connie M. Boswell of Lexington, Kentucky; Sharon (Jimmy) Wayman and Renee Boswell (Mike) Stangel, both of Nashville. She also had eight grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and 6 great-great grandchildren as well as several nieces and nephews.
Visitation will take place on Wednesday, August 2 from 4 pm until 8 pm at Spring Hill Funeral Home in Nashville. A Celebration of Life Service officiated by Pastor Barry Smith will be held at 12 pm noon on Thursday, August 3, 2023 at the funeral home. The family will welcome friends and visitors two hours prior to the funeral. Burial will follow in the Historic Spring Hill Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the following:
American Breast Cancer Foundation https://www.abcf.org/get-involved/donate/
Tennessee Voices for Victims https://www.tnvoicesforvictims.org/support-our-work/
Alive Hospice https://www.alivehospice.org/get-involved/give/
Arrangements entrusted to Spring Hill Funeral Home, 5110 Gallatin Road in Nashville. A Landmark Since 1785, "Where Nashville Comes to Remember."
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