Mary was born on August 5, 1924, In Ashtabula, Ohio to Fred Allen and Eleanor (Comfort) Nash. Shortly after her birth, her parents moved to Miami, FL where she grew up near her grandparents, Harvey D. and Mary (Shafer) Comfort, and her Comfort uncles, aunt and cousins.
She attended Miami High School and the University of Miami, where she where she was a member of Delta Zeta sorority and an education major. While at the University of Miami, she met a young air navigation cadet, Rexford O’Neal Tolliver, with whom she fell in love. They were married on April 2, 1944, and Rex went off to war after finishing training.
After the war, Mary and Rex enjoyed civilian life a few years before he was recalled for the Berlin Airlift, and then the Korean War and various missions thereafter. Mary found herself a military wife and moved with their growing family across the country from Florida to New Mexico to Texas to California to Kansas to Washington. Mary stayed in the States while Rex travelled the world, one airbase at a time. In 1966, Rex retired from the Air Force and they moved to San Antonio and finally settled in Austin, where Rex worked for the Veterans Administration.
After Rex’s retirement from the Veterans Administration, Mary enjoyed travelling first with him and after his death with her sons Dan and David to attend air force reunions of the 486th Bomb Group (Rex’s WWII unit).
Mary had a warm and friendly disposition, enjoyed socializing and helping others. She was a strong and supportive advocate for her children throughout her life. She was an avid gardener and enjoyed both vegetable and flower gardening. She loved animals and flocks of birds would follow her car as she ran errands around South Austin. She also enjoyed visiting and helping her sister in spirit, Christine Wu, at the Bamboo Garden Restaurant.
Mary was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and pursued her interest in genealogy and family history for many years.
Mary is survived by her daughters and their husbands, Trish and Doug DeLaney of Virginia Beach, VA, Nancy and Rick Alexander of Arlington, WA, and Susie and Warren Ritchie of Dripping Springs, TX; her sons and their wives, Ken and Melissa Tolliver of Burnet, TX, and Dan and Wendy Tolliver of Cedar Park, TX, and David Tolliver of Austin, TX, and 12 grandchildren and an increasing number of great grandchildren, currently 21. She is preceded in death by her husband, Lt. Col. Rexford O. Tolliver, her parents, Fred and Eleanor Nash, and her son, Steven Rexford Tolliver, and her beloved dogs, Peanuts, Shorty, Pretzel, Jock, Sparky, Spike, Greta and Stormer, and her curmudgeonly cat, Felix.
The family would like to thank the nursing and administrative staff at The Oaks Nursing Center in Burnet, Texas for their exemplary care and assistance.
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