Marylou Rothballer (née Bowman), 96, died February 22, 2026, in Chesterfield, Missouri. She
was born October 7, 1929, in South Bend, Indiana, to Courtney and Helen (née Penrod)
Bowman. She grew up with five siblings and graduated in 1947 from John Adams High School
in South Bend. She moved to the Chicago area after getting married, raising two daughters in
Hickory Hills, Illinois, where she was the secretary for many years at St. Patricia’s Catholic
Church.

Her clerical work was aided by the shorthand she learned in high school, which she used to
create cryptic lists for Christmas shopping that her children couldn’t decode—and, later, to
impress and intrigue her grandchild. Her upbringing during the Great Depression gave her
lifelong thrifty habits, always bargain hunting, buying things on sale, and using coupons.
She moved in 1989 near Fort Myers, Florida, where she became a beloved babysitter to several
families. She volunteered as an usher for decades at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall,
allowing her to experience countless musicals, singers, bands, and comedians.
In 2017, she moved to Friendship Village, a retirement community in Chesterfield, to be near
her eldest daughter. She went into hospice care in their skilled nursing facility in June of 2025.
Sharp and observant, she had an attentive mind throughout her life. With her proofreader’s eye
she frequently spotted errors in printed material. She enjoyed playing tabletop games with her
friends and family—Apples to Apples, Mexican Train, Rummikub, and especially Scrabble, her
lifelong favorite. She usually won Scrabble games thanks to her strategic playing skills, which
her opponents called a superpower. She often achieved Scrabble bingos, using all her letters in
one play—a rare feat.

Evolving with technology, she also played Words with Friends on her iPad, often having 10
games going at once. When she was younger, she loved bowling in a league and once bowled
a perfect 300 game.

She is survived by her two children, Rhonda (Loren) Wassell of Creve Coeur, Missouri, and
Linda Rothballer of Seattle, Washington; grandchild, Courtney C.W. (Doug) Guerra of Oswego,
New York; and great-grandchild, Wren, who gave her the nickname “Great Marylou.” Her sister,
Beverley Allen, 98, lives in Laguna Woods, California. She was preceded in death by her three
brothers, Courtney, Robert, and Richard, and her sister, Doraann Stauffer.

According to Marylou’s wishes, there will not be a funeral service. She donated her body to
medical research at Washington University in St. Louis, a final act of generosity that was very
important to her.