Shirley Jane Mays Pond passed away peacefully on September 26, 2019, at the age of 91. She was born in Dallas, Texas on March 26, 1928 to Howard Wright Mays and Grace Gertrude Haggard Mays. Shirley was brought up in Highland Park, just down the street from Southern Methodist University. Shirley attended college at SMU. She joined the Delta Gamma sorority. Shirley met an engineering student, Ralph Kenneth Pond, Jr., at a fraternity dance party. They married on May 31, 1949, in Dallas, Texas, and then resided in Wichita Falls where they raised three daughters. Shirley was a stay-at-home mother, very involved with raising her girls. After the dissolution of the marriage in 1968, Shirley relocated to Austin, Texas with her three girls. Now a single parent, she worked at the State Capitol as an administrative assistant for several senators. After her retirement from working at the State Capitol, Shirley was a big help in raising her grandchildren. She dearly loved all her family members. She was an avid gardener, carefully tending the soil and creating beautiful landscapes. Shirley was fearless, charismatic, a daredevil, and full of dynamic energy. She followed the pronouncements as Biblically described in Joshua: “…Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
Shirley is survived by her three children: Catherine Pond Baltzell Frazier and husband Byron of Austin, Texas; Beverly Louise Pond Willmann and husband Kent of New Braunfels, Texas; and Dianne Pond Ripley of Austin, Texas. Her grandchildren are Gary Stephen Baltzell and wife Stephanie, of Tega Cay, South Carolina; Katherine Ann Willmann of San Marcos, Texas; and Travis Ripley of Austin, Texas. Shirley’s great-grandchildren are Charles Arthur Baltzell of Austin, Texas, and Tori Harper Baltzell of Tega Cay, South Carolina.
A graveside service will be held at a later date by the immediate family at the Mays Family burial plot at Laurel Land Memorial Park in Dallas, Texas.
