Ella Mae ‘Peg’ Rooney

Published 11:07 am Monday, November 6, 2017

Ella Mae “Peg” Rooney, 91, of Mocksville, died Nov. 2, 2017 at Davie Medical Center.

Born Feb. 10, 1926, in Surgoinsville, Tenn., she was the daughter of the late Sidney and Lula (Christian) McHenry.  She grew up in Stoney Point, Tenn. and moved with the family to Annapolis, Md. in 1941. There she met her true love, Maurice “Buzz” Rooney and married. He passed away in 1982 and she never remarried saying just last week what a good man he was and how much she loved him.  They built a home and settled in the Ellicott City/Columbia, Md area and had a son, Butch Rooney. She worked on farms throughout her life. She and her husband started a small produce farm of their own and sold vegetables through a road-side stand built on the home-site property in the Ellicott City area until his death.  The family became known for the quality of produce they sold as she would spend hours running the greenhouse, selling seedlings, planting, hoeing and picking many days from sunup to sundown. Alongside her husband, mom and dad, her son and a few cousin helpers, she built a thriving vegetable business and loved what she did.

Survivors: her son, Maurice E. “Butch” Rooney Jr. and wife Martha of Mocksville; and her grandsons, Jack Rooney of Atlantic Beach and Will Rooney of Davidson.

She was also predeceased by her siblings William Keith McHenry, Ines Bernice Milburn, Sidney Lloyd McHenry, and Elizabeth Ann Richards.

Visitation will be at Slack Funeral Home, 3871 Old Columbia Pike, Ellicott City, Md., Saturday, Nov. 11, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Graveside services will be at 11 a.m. at Meadowridge Memorial Park.

Memorials: Bethel UMC, PO Box 193, Mocksville.