Sheila Bowman Graff, of Newport, RI passed away peacefully at St. Clare – Newport on Tuesday October 3, 2023. In her final days she enjoyed the caring comfort of the staff at St. Clare and Hope Hospice and the company of friends and family, especially her sister, Nancy Bowman of Williston, VT.
Sheila Bowman Graff was born, as she would like to say, “on Easter Sunday 1940”, in Newport, RI. She was the daughter of late George E. Bowman and Alice (Frazier) Bowman, of Newport and the youngest of their four daughters, the late Alice Lowe Gabriel of Middletown; the late Jackie Rossi of Newport; and Nancy Bowman of Williston, VT. She was a graduate of St. Catherine Academy’s Class of 1958.
She married Peter A. McMahon of Brockton MA in 1963 and supported his career at Sears for nearly 15 years as a homemaker extraordinaire, creating and recreating, a warm and comforting home for her family.
She is survived by two sons, Kevin P. McMahon of Middletown RI, his wife Mariya Thunman, and their children Molly, Oliver, and Elias; and Timothy McMahon, of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico; and a stepdaughter Tracy Graff of Maine.
Sheila married her second husband, Robert O. Graff in 1979 and enjoyed many years together before his passing in 2011. Bob and Sheila enjoyed a home together on Pope Street in Newport, prior to their retirement in Orlando, FL where Sheila lived until coming home to Newport this past April 2023.
Sheila will forever be remembered for her happy go lucky state of mind, her easy and infectious smile that made everyone feel at ease, but most of all her keen sense of style, her eye for fine fabric and the ability to spot treasure where others saw junk.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, October 16, 2023, at St. Mary’s Church, Newport, at 11:00 AM. Burial will follow at St. Columba Cemetery, 465 Brown’s Ln, Middletown.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Sheila’s memory may be made to St. Clare-Newport, 309 Spring St, Newport, RI 02840 or by visiting https://stclarenewport.org/donate/.
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