Austin, Texas - Mary Truly Ermey passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on July 24th at the age of 83. Born May 7th, 1939 to Henry Truly and Harriet Bradley Truly of Wichita Falls, Texas, she was predeceased by her parents and her older brothers Henry Jr. "Skip" Truly and Michael Truly and is survived by her husband Harold, her son Sean, her sister-in-law, Earline, her younger brother David and their extended families. She will be dearly missed by her family, friends and her community.
Mary's early love of music led her to earn a BA in music at Hardin Simmons University. She later returned there to teach music after also earning an MFA in music composition from Florida State University. She went on to pursue a doctorate in music theory at the University of Texas at Austin, where she was introduced to Harold by their lifelong friends Gayle and Sandy Gaston. They were married in 1971 and moved to Tarkio, Missouri, where she gave birth to Sean in 1973. There she studied psychology and explored painting, pottery and woodwork while also caring for Harold and Sean. After the family's return to Austin in 1981, Mary worked as secretary, choir director and organist for St. George's Episcopal Church and graduated from a four-year theological education program for lay ministry. She returned to school to earn a second master's degree in social work from the University of Texas School of Social Work, and spent the next years counseling survivors of domestic violence. In 1996, she was an instrumental co-founder of St. Hildegard, a Community now recognized by the Episcopal Church. Song of Earth and Heaven, a book of her many compositions written for their celebration and worship, will soon be published. Her feminism was a guiding value in all she did, and she was politically active, supporting many environmental and humanitarian causes. She leaves a lifelong legacy of creativity, service and love.
A celebration of Mary's life will be held on October 29th at 2pm at St. Hildegard's, located at Trinity Church of Austin, 4001 Speedway, Austin, TX. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to St. Hildegard's Community. http://www.hildegard-austin.org/
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com for the ERMEY family.
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