Mary Helene McDonald Wellman (Mickey)

Mickey Wellman was born on November 20, 1930 in Minneapolis, MN to Stanley L. McDonald and Mary Reau McDonald, the first of their four children. She graduated from St. Margaret’s and attended Marquette University. During her first semester, a young man, Arthur Wellman, saw her rushing to class and determined to meet her. A year later they married and were married for sixty years. The young family settled first in Cincinnati and then Milwaukee. Their family grew to include five children in the first ten years of marriage before Mickey was 30. Art and Mickey then moved to New Orleans, a community they loved. Her interest in New Orleans and appreciation for history led to her first writing for television in a series of historical vignettes featured on the Sunday night news on WWL-TV. After her youngest child started school, she began writing full time for the station. As Promotion Director for the CBS affiliate, she wrote and produced documentaries, many of them winning prizes, including a Peabody award. One of her favorites was about fashion in New Orleans, which featured models at sites ranging from plantations to oil rigs in the Mississippi River. She was, at that time, the only female executive in television in the South. She relished her job and enjoyed the many opportunities it gave her to be creative. After she retired, Mickey and Art subsequently moved across Lake Pontchartrain to Slidell where they enjoyed years of socializing with the many “newcomers” to that growing community. In 2008, they moved to Edgemere. Again, Mickey enjoyed the social life this community afforded and made many dear friends. She had a capacity for happiness that allowed her to flourish in every setting. Even in her last year in Memory Support, she was engaged, retaining her quick sense of humor. She and her husband Art were originators of the unconventional Wellman family sense of humor, which several generations now deploy and enjoy.

Mickey was predeceased by her beloved husband and her son Joseph. She is survived by her daughters Kathleen (Dennis Sepper) and Mary (Mike Lang) and her sons Tom (Diane Egan) and Michael (Kathleen Oneil). She will be much missed by her seven grandchildren, Elizabeth Sepper (Navid Vazire), Matthew Sepper (Najma), John Wellman, Patrick Wellman (Tiffany), Stephanie Wellman, Shannon Jenkins (Max Barrezueta), and Kyle Jenkins, and her two great-grandchildren Joe and James Vazire. The entire family is grateful to have enjoyed her presence in their lives. They are grateful to the Plaza at Edgemere staff for their solicitous care of her in her last year.

A mass of Christian burial for Mary will be held Monday, September 19, 2022 at 10:00 AM at Christ The King Catholic Church, 8017 Preston Rd, Dallas, Texas 75225. Following the mass of christian burial will be a committal service at 11:30 AM at Calvary Hill Cemetery, 3235 Lombardy Ln, Dallas, Texas 75220.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.calvaryhilldallas.com for the Wellman family.