Flashback : Dallas

by Paula Bosse

My mother, Margaret Werry (who was known as Margaret Bosse during much of her time as a political activist), died on May 16, 2025, in hospice care at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. She was 89.

She was born in Dallas, grew up in Oak Lawn on Hartford Street, between Douglas and Wycliff, a couple of blocks from her grade school, Sam Houston Elementary. Instead of attending North Dallas High School, she chose to go to Crozier Tech downtown so she could focus on advanced science courses (she had dreams of going to medical school). She graduated at 16 and attended SMU, majoring in Comparative Literature. (See photos of both of my parents from SMU yearbooks here.)

My mother with SMU president, Willis Tate

She spent a short time at UT medical school in Galveston, but her mother’s unexpected death brought her back home. She soon began working at an antiquarian bookstore on McKinney Avenue, located in an old Victorian house — The Aldredge Book Store, where she met my father, Dick Bosse, another former Comparative Literature major at SMU. They married a few years later. That bookstore was a home-away-from-home for my parents, for me, and for my brother. Every kid should be lucky enough to grow up in a used bookstore. (My parents divorced amicably in the ’80s and remained friends until his death in 2000. The obituary of my father written by my brother, Erik Bosse, is here.)

2800 McKinney Avenue, ca. 1960

My mother’s passions in life were working for progressive political causes and for advancing and promoting women’s issues. The 1970s and ’80s were a time of non-stop political activity for her. She was one of the small group of women who were connected in various ways to the First Unitarian Church on Preston Road who helped and supported attorney Linda Coffee in developing the case that became known as Roe v. Wade. She tirelessly worked for women’s rights, even helping to establish the Women’s Southwest Federal Credit Union here in Dallas at a time when mainstream banks and credit unions did not generally grant loans to women without their husband’s consent (!). She always described the ’70s as the most exciting time of her life. A lot was changing then, and she was right in the middle of it.

She was also a passionate animal-lover — our house was never without several cats. Some of her fondest childhood memories were her visits to the farm of her aunt and uncle, which she always described with idyllic nostalgia.

She also loved classic movies, Orson Welles, William Faulkner, and bookbinding, to name just four random things.

I remember her reading books to me and my brother. My favorite was The World is Round by Gertrude Stein, which I love to this day, and which I am convinced led to the love of writing and language my brother and I share.

My mother was the kindest person I knew (next to my father). She was smart, funny, and ethical, and, somehow, she never lost her patience when trying to help me with my math homework (sadly, I did not inherit her love of numbers and mathematics). She was a wonderful baker, and I will miss her amazing Christmas cookies and cakes.

And I’ll just miss her. I’ll miss her every day. Her health had been in decline for several years, and the last few months were difficult for her and for my brother and me. I am relieved she is no longer suffering, but it breaks my heart to lose her.

I received a lovely note from Charles Drum, who used to work with my parents at The Aldredge Book Store during those early days. Here is what he wrote:

I read about your mom’s passing. My thoughts are with you. Your mom could always make me laugh. It was a gift. Like your dad, she had a treasury of arcane knowledge to share. I wish I’d been able to talk to her in recent years. We had a lot of memories of ancient times.

Those days at the Aldredge Book Store, working with your dad, Sawnie [Aldredge, the original owner], Mimi [Sawnie’s wife and ABS fixture], and even Thelma [the somewhat irascible maid] were formative years for me and set standards of care, wit, camaraderie, and just plain fun that I was rarely able to match in following years. Your folks’ interests. stories, and above all their humor are a vivid part of me to this day.
 
Happy I sat down to write you.

Thank you, Charlie. (See Charlie in a photo with my father, here.)

I recently came across this image of my mother and me at one of the hundreds of book sales and book events I found myself at during my childhood. (It’s hard to see me, but I’m in there, next to my mother, dwarfed by people and books and people with books.)

I’ll miss you, Mama. Thank you for all your memories of Dallas.

Thank you for everything.

***

Sources & Notes

Flashback Dallas posts about The Aldredge Book Store are here.

I understand friends of hers may be preparing a get-together to remember my mother. If you were a friend of hers and are interested in attending, please send me an email at the contact info at the top of this page.

*

Copyright © 2025 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.