Bonham, Texas -- Mary Magdalen Duarte, 103, of Bonham, Texas passed away on November 27, 2025. She was born on January 18, 1922, in Ripon, California, the daughter of Antone Jordan Enos and Mary Enos. Mary married her beloved husband, Edward Joseph Duarte on January 12, 1947, at St. Anthony’s church in Manteca, California. Together they shared 64 loving years.
Mary is survived by her children, Joan Stulce (Roger), Ruth Natera (Gilbert), Edward C. Duarte (Stacy); grandchildren, Roger Stulce Jr., Jonathan Stulce, Amanda Graves, Roger Wedde, Trace’ Hadley, Andrea Shrank, and Seth Duarte; along with 13 great grandchildren and 7 great great grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Antone Jordan Enos and Mary Enos, her beloved husband, Edward Joseph Duarte, children, Robert Duarte, and Thomas Duarte, and grandchildren, Christina Smith, and Jennifer Wedde.
I wanted to share some memories of Mary, a woman with a beautiful smile and incredible stamina, focusing on her remarkable life and spirit.
In her early years of marriage, she worked tirelessly on the family farm, which included 200 chickens. She collected, cleaned, and measured every egg by hand before delivering them to customers in the afternoons.
After moving to undeveloped land in Escalon, CA, she helped hand-dig a 100-foot well by hand, rotating an auger day after day until drinkable water was found. She milked cows by hand, later transitioning to milking machines, all while raising a young child and infant twins. She was always ready to assist her husband with tasks at hand. Tragically, one of the twins, Robert, passed away at 18 months from the flu; Ruth survived. Their son, Tom, was born in that one-bedroom house and, due to a low thyroid condition, developed an intellectual disability. Mary devoted her life to his care for 69 years before his passing recently.
They then built a house in Oakley and built a life there where they later farmed grapes, almonds, and apricots. Young Eddie was born there. Mary raised four children, all while managing the demanding daily tasks of cooking, using a wringer washer, and line-drying countless loads of laundry. She was busy all day and night, often nodding off the moment she finally sat down to watch Days of Our Lives.
From there she moved to Livingston, CA where she continued to devout her life to farming and cultivating where her and her husband managed a 40 acre almond farm. As always giving her all. The family later moved to Wisconsin, a bold transition to a new climate, made easier as Ruth and her husband were living there at the time.
Mary had a fierce intensity when fishing, keeping her finger on the line for every minute. Once, while fishing on a rock in Pacific Grove, she was so intent on her line that she didn’t notice the incoming tide until she was surrounded by water. Her son-in-law rescued her by carrying her to shore, with the fishing pole still firmly grasped in her hand!
Even in her later, quieter years, Mary maintained an incredible memory–knowing birthdates, important event dates and names of distant relatives. Children, nieces and nephews often turned to Aunt Mary for a detailed answer. Connection was vital to Mary. She was always delighted to receive phone calls, gifts, cards and letters through friends, relatives, children and grandchildren. It was a heartfelt pleasure.
She also developed a love for reading sweet frontier and Amish novels, often staying up late to finish a story on her Kindle. Her love of chickens continued, as she enjoyed taking daily visits to the hen house and found comfort watching and naming each one of them. Still collecting eggs and hand delivering them to family.
Mary was truly a great woman, wife, mother and friend.
This long-lived woman’s motto for longevity, “Eat your greens and keep moving.”
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to:
St. Judes and Heart of the Nation
PO Box 14428
Milwaukee, WI 53214-9982
Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Cooper-Sorrells Funeral Home. To leave an online condolence or share a memory please visit, www.coopersorrells.com
