Born on May 23rd, 1951, Mary Kathryn Kaough passed away on December 3rd, 2018 in Bryan, Texas. Mary was adopted at birth by Louis and Kate Kaough. Her early years were spent in Missouri City, Texas; the family then moved to Willis, Texas. Mary was part of a graduating class of fourteen from Willis High School and subsequently graduated from Sam Houston State University. The family lived in Willis for some time; her parents then moved to Estes Park, Colorado, finally settling in Conroe. Their years in Colorado gave Mary a lifelong love of Estes Park and the mountains.
Mary was a speech therapist and teacher with Conroe ISD for 28 years, the last thirteen spent as a special education teacher at Conroe High School. She also was a huge proponent of, and participant in, the Special Olympics program; she saw so much potential in her students. Following her retirement from teaching, Mary continued to work hard, whether it was selling antiques at Garrett House Antiques in Montgomery, refurbishing and selling antique fans at Coles in Warrenton, or selling Hickory Farm products during the Christmas holidays. Her latest venture was driving a pilot truck – she was having a blast.
One can condense a person’s life to a few paragraphs but how can a life like Mary’s be described? She was extraordinary – she was a lover of puns, a wordsmith extraordinaire, a horse back rider, a golfer, an inveterate camper, a champion at crazy card games, an antiques dealer. She was a repository of useless information which she didn’t hesitate to share. Trivial Pursuit was Her Game. Mary had a knack for bringing disparate groups of people together. She loved selling; in her words, she “could sell chrome off a trailer hitch”. She loved meeting people and hearing their stories and she knew how to listen. And she was a talker – but she was never boring.
Mary was “born again” when she found her birth family on January 14th, 2011; she was ecstatic to discover she had a brother, two sisters and nieces and nephews. She said she felt a part of her that had always been missing had at last been made whole.
Mary is predeceased by her parents, her sisters, Louise and Laverne, and her dear friend, Micky Phillips. Mary is survived by her adoptive mother, Susan Hall, of Conroe; brother, Norwood Speed, of McComb, Mississippi; niece Jacque Harvey and her husband, Kenny Harvey, and their daughter, Terrie Byessee, all of Colorado; numerous nieces and nephews; her extended family at Garrett House Antiques in Montgomery, Texas; innumerable friends, and her “brother”/confidante/best friend, James Danheim, of Willis, Texas.
Mary, you will be missed more than you could have ever realized. Godspeed, dearest friend.
Visitation will be at Cashner Funeral Home in Conroe on Friday, December 14th 2018, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Services will be held at Cashner Funeral home on Saturday, December 15th, 2018, at 10:00am, with interment following at Garden Park Cemetery. A celebration of Mary will be held at Cork This Winery in Montgomery, Texas, beginning at 12:00pm on Saturday.
To leave condolences for the family, please go to cashnerconroe.com
