Maria S Radford

Funeral services for Mrs. Maria Socorro Rexach Radford of Mansfield, Louisiana, will be held on Thursday, October 2, 2014, at 10:00 AM at First Presbyterian Church in Mansfield. Interment will follow in the Mansfield Cemetery under the direction of Rose-Neath's Mansfield Chapel. The family will receive friends at Rose-Neath Funeral Home in Mansfield, on Wednesday, October 1, 2014, from 5:00 until 7:00 PM. Mrs. Radford died Monday morning, September 29, 2014, at the Mansfield Nursing Center after a lengthy illness. She was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and married 1st Sgt Albert W. "Buck" Radford, in Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico on the 27th or June, 1943. She has lived in Mansfield, since January 2, 1949. After graduating from "Colegio de La Immaculada" in Santurce, Puerto Rico, where she received a Bachelors degree in Spanish and business administration, she worked for the Ordinance Section of Fort Buchanan in Puerto Rico, where she attained the office of Chief Clerk. In January of 1956, she started working as an insurance clerk typist for McFarland & Guy Insurance Agency. Several years later she attained the office of president and co-owner of McFarland, Radford & Guy. She sold the agency in 1982 and retired. She was a member of the Hewitt Memorial Presbyterian Church where she served as an elder for many years. She was a member of the Friends of the Library, DeSoto General Hospital Auxiliary, The Forum, Women's Department Club, Charter Member of Beta Sigma Phi, Charter President of the Pilot Club, and the DeSoto Parish Historical Society. In March of 1977, she was elected First Lady of the Year. As an active member of the Hewitt Memorial Presbyterian Church, she served her church in many committees and also as a Sunday school teacher. Maria Radford was a dedicated and vitalizing member of the Mansfield community. She will be missed. Maria was preceded in death by two grandchildren, Rob Pharis and Angela Radford, her husband, Albert W. "Buck" Radford, and her son, J.V. Radford. She is survived by her two daughters, Wanda June Radford Christy and Barbara Radford Pharis and her son-in-law, Jim Pharis, to whom she referred as "my other son." Maria has five grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. Grandchildren include Kasey Leigh Pharis, Lindsay Rae Pharis DeHart, Jamie Lynn Pharis Gomez, Caroline Leigh Radford Widman, and Vanessa Garcia Mouton. Great grandchildren are Ferris, Riley, and Matthew DeHart; Phoenix Marshall; Amielle and Parker Gomez; Trinity Widman; and Claudia, Carter, and Eli Mouton. Memorials may be given to the First Presbyterian Church in Mansfield or the Cancer Society. Honored to serve as pallbearers will be Jim Pharis, James "Slim" Radford, and Mrs. Radford's four granddaughters: Caroline Radford Widman, Kasey Leigh Pharis, Lindsay Rae Pharis DeHart, and Jamie Lynn Pharis Gomez Honorary pallbearers will be her great grandchildren Ferris, Riley, Phoenix, Trinity, Parker, Amielle, and Matthew. The family would like to extend a special thanks to Superior Hospice, Ms. Nell Norwood, Tiffany Norwood, and all the wonderful staff members at Mansfield Nursing Center who cared for Mrs. Radford during her lengthy stay.