Mary Kathryn Pramuk

Our beloved Mary Kathryn Pramuk (Vlcek) passed away at age 92 on December 30, 2023, after a long illness. Mary, the first of four children, was born on August 4, 1931, in Barberton, Ohio, to Lily Golcondia Vlcek (Ralston) and John Vlcek. She graduated from Coventry High School in Summit County, Ohio in 1949 as an honors student and secretary of the student body. In 1953, Mary graduated from the Akron Art Institute Professional School with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a major in Advertising Design. After graduation, she temporarily served as librarian and exhibition installer for the museum library before becoming the Art Director for the Akron Public Library and its 12-county branches and bookmobiles. Mary also worked full-time in display installation as assistant to the Museum Director for the Akron Art Institute Museum.

The first time Mary met Edward Pramuk she took a step back. After several encounters, they began writing letters to one another while Edward was serving in the army in North Carolina. On a visit to Washington, D.C., they became engaged, and married in 1959. They recently celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary. Mary joined him in North Carolina where they welcomed daughter Clare the following year. After living in Akron, Ohio and Upstate New York, Mary and Edward moved south to Baton Rouge in the mid-1960s, they welcomed their second daughter Andrea and settled in the Southdowns neighborhood. Mary was famous for making wonderful meals for friends, family and a parade of LSU students. Mary was also Edward’s art business manager and his biggest supporter.

In the late-1970s, Mary was offered the job of curator of the West Baton Rouge Museum in Port Allen. The only barrier to accepting this opportunity was that Mary had never learned to drive. Mary was undeterred and learned to drive in her 40s and went back and forth across the Mississippi River Bridge every day for 15 years, a daunting adventure for anyone. In 1983, Mary became one of the founding members of the Women’s Caucus for Art. One of her ambitions was to help professional women artists develop their craft, find places to exhibit, and continue entering competitive exhibitions. In 2019, Mary had the pleasure of being invited by Gallery Coordinator, Kristin Malia Krolak, to curate the Women’s Caucus Exhibition “Finding our Place: Women in the Arts” at the LSU School of Art’s Glassell Gallery. The exhibition was widely publicized and critically acclaimed. After retiring from the West Baton Rouge Museum, Mary volunteered with the Enchanted Mansion Doll Museum for 20 years, where she curated exhibits and created an inventory system for the museum’s collection.

Along with her passion for art, cartoonists George Booth, James Thurber, and Walt Kelly (Pogo), and especially the classical music of Glenn Gould and the Guarneri Quartet, Mary was a regular contributor to the Smiley Anders column in The Advocate newspaper. Her colorful and whimsical stories based around personal history and daily observations are archived on the newspaper website for enjoyment by all (a collection of her stories will be available in digital format soon). Mary’s unique perspectives on everyday life and witty sense of humor shine through in these stories. Her regular presence at art openings, musical performances, and social events will be dearly missed in the visual and performing arts circles in Baton Rouge.

She is preceded in death by her parents, sister Dorothy Meighen, brother-in-law Paul Meighen, and brother-in-law Serge Moore. She is survived by her husband, Edward Richard Pramuk; daughters Clare Elizabeth Pramuk (Vincent Hostak) of Centennial, Colorado; Andrea Kathryn Pramuk (John Orr Franklin) of Austin, Texas; granddaughters Laurel Grace Hostak Jones (Derek Jones) of Norwood, Pennsylvania; Hannah Clare Hostak (Liam Benfer) of Fort Collins, Colorado; great grandson Arthur Roland Jones; sister Jean Moore (Serge Moore) of Salt Lake City, Utah; and brother John Vlcek (Judy Vlcek) of Barberton, Ohio. A heartfelt thanks to her extraordinary caregivers Dorothy Thompson, Pepper (Chona York) and Latisha Guillory; each cared for her like their own family. Thanks also to The Hospice of Baton Rouge for their exemplary care over the past three years. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice of Baton Rouge or Cat Haven. In keeping with Mary’s wishes, there will be no memorial service.