Marie Anderson Dews
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Marie Dews, age 89, of Suwanee, Georgia passed away Wednesday, September 16, 2020. She was preceded in death by her husband Roy Dews, her four siblings, her son Alan Caldwell, her daughter-in-law Charlotte (Charli) Haggerty, and is survived by her son Buddy Haggerty, her five grandchildren, her great grandson, daughter-in-law Linda Caldwell, and two step-daughters. Marie was born in a three-room log cabin with no electricity in Ellijay, GA. One of five children, her and her family lived off the land, growing their own food and making most of their clothing. Even at a young age she was intelligent and was always seeking ways to learn new things. At the age of five, she begged her mother to allow her to go to school. The one room schoolhouse was a two mile walk away and she was overjoyed when her mother said yes. So she joined her two older siblings and made the journey each day. By 15 she had graduated high school and in 1949, a time when it was almost unheard of for a woman to continue their education, she obtained a bachelor's degree at North Georgia college. After graduating at 18, she worked for the university and continued to have a successful business career while also raising two sons, Alan and Edwin (Buddy). She spent time working at the US Postal Service and Suwanee Steamship lines as an executive secretary to the owner of the company. She was married in 1959 to Ed Haggerty, but after his death in 1973, she met and married Roy Dews and spent 40 exciting years with him until his death in 2014. They traveled the globe seeing the great Pyramids of Egypt, exploring China, Italy, and the Czech Republic just to name a few. No matter where she was, she created life-long friendships. She was frequently sought out by friends and family for her excellent advice or timely words of encouragement. She had a big heart and genuine spirit, and her grandchildren can attest to the fact that her love was unconditional. She received names like Grand-Marie for her grand and eloquent style and Granny because she was warm and inviting. Her granddaughters enjoyed coercing her into staying up late and watching scary movies with them and going on all sorts of adventures. If she had ever had the chance to be on Wheel of Fortune she would have won the show because she always had the right answer before the contestants did. I think we all have our own special memories of Marie, Mom, Granny, Grand-Marie, and she will have a place in each of our hearts that doesn't leave us with her passing. She made the world a little bit better place to live. A Memorial Service will be held at Tim Stewart Funeral Home, 300 Simonton Road SW, Lawrenceville, Ga. on October 10th at 11 a.m. 770-466-1544. Please sign the online guest registry at www.stewartfh.com