Mary Anne Dillon

Mary Anne was born in Shreveport LA on March 27, 1938. She grew up in the ArkLaTex triangle and in Lorena, TX near Waco, and as a teenager, entered school at Our Lady of the Lake to study for a religious vocation with the Sisters of Divine Providence. In 1962, she graduated from Our Lady of the Lake College (now a University - OLLU) in San Antonio, with a Bachelor of Arts, worked as a science teacher, then got a Masters in Science Education at U.T.

Finally, she switched careers and became an Occupational Therapist. She worked in that field for many years, and shared her knowledge and experience, helping train other practitioners. A scientist at heart, she was a role model for many in her extended family. Her voice never quavered when it came to helping those in need or those without hope.

Mary Anne especially loved nature, trees, poetry, photography, cooking, and birding, and found constant joy and beauty in creation. She was an accomplished seamstress and enjoyed making quilts for friends and family. She appreciated family history and researched the Dillons, Murphys, and Maxeys, reaching back to their arrival in the Americas and their journeys thereafter. She organized numerous wonderful trips and family reunions in Bandera, Big Bend, Queen Wilhelmina, Beavers Bend, Salado, Caddo Lake, and parks in the American southwest.

Mary Anne is preceded in death by her mother and father, Louine and Charles, and her sisters Alice and Peggy. She is survived by her sisters Barbara, Frances, Linda, and Cathy, and her brother Charles. Her many nephews and nieces and their children will carry her spirit forward, as well.

A funeral mass for Mary will be held at her parish of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 9900 Stella Link Road, Houston TX, on Friday June the 13th at 11:00 a.m. Her remains will be buried at the Dillon family plot in Texarkana on Tuesday June 17th at 10:00 a.m., at Calvary Cemetery on Sanderson Lane, south of Arkansas Blvd.

Condolences to the family may be sent to [email protected]. In lieu of flowers, please donate to those charities where she willed her estate: Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Houston, Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU), and/or the Emmaus Spirituality Center in Houston.