Mary Dorothea Dixon Duggan

Mary Dorothea Dixon Duggan, of Houston, went to see the Lord on the 10th of June 2012, after a long illness. She was 81 years of age. She was the only child born to Ira Cummings Dixon and Gladys Cloudesley-Showell on the 29th of September 1930 in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Her father was co-founder of the Dixon and Yates Oil Company in Artesia, New Mexico. He and his family homesteaded in Deming, New Mexico about the time New Mexico became part of the United States of America. Her mother was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. Mary Duggan was raised in Artesia where she went to the Methodist Church and graduated from Artesia High School. She then went to the University of Oklahoma to study biology where she met her future husband. They married in 1949. He was in the Army and worked for Mobil Oil Company.

They lived in Corpus Christi, Texas for many years. They were active at St. John’s United Methodist Church. They sang in the choir, served on committees and were youth directors. She played piano. They were active members of Masonic organizations: Shriners, Masons, and the Order of the Eastern Star. They joined the Order of Rainbow for Girls to help lead their daughters and friends through their journey in that organization. Many years were spent helping at the annual Shrine Circus.

When they moved to Houston, she continued participating in the women’s groups associated with Mobil Oil. She enjoyed helping run the hospitality booth at the Offshore Technology Conference where she met people from around the world. She loved bridge and played often. She was a faithful volunteer at Twelve Oaks Hospital for almost 20 years. At St. Luke’s United Methodist, she enjoyed her Sunday School class and outings with her peers until her health made it more difficult to participate. Mobil Oil transferred them to Vienna, Austria for three years. They so enjoyed learning about the culture and the people. They loved traveling all over the world. Later she and a friend traveled.

She was preceded in death by her husband, the late Jack O. Duggan in 1991; a daughter and son-in-law, Jackie D. Barnes and Gregor H. Barnes in 1987; and son-in-law, Joseph P. Koontz in 2008.

She is survived by two daughters and a son-in-law, Michael J. and Shirley D. McGehearty of Bay City, Texas and Gladys A. Koontz of League City, Texas; two grandchildren and grand-son-in-law, Kevin S. McGehearty of Austin, Texas, and Sarah B. McGehearty and Lesley Davis of Phoenix, Arizona; her nieces, Mike and Julie (Duggan) Popp of California, Maryland, and Tony and Alice (Duggan) of Toano, Virginia; and surviving cousins.

In Houston, friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five o’clock in the afternoon until seven o’clock in the evening on Thursday, the 21st of June, in the Parlor and Grand Foyer of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive.

The funeral service is to be conducted at eleven o’clock in the morning on Friday, the 22nd of June, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, where Dr. Linda Christians, Executive Pastor of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, is to officiate. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent Grand Foyer.

In Ft. Worth, all are invited to gather with the family for an interment service at eleven o’clock in the morning on Saturday, the 23rd of June, at Greenwood Memorial Cemetery, 3100 White Settlement Road.

In lieu of customary remembrances, contributions may be directed to the Shriners Hospitals for Children, 815 Market St., Galveston, TX, 77550; Shriners Hospitals for Children, 6977 Main St., Houston, TX, 77030; or St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Youth Department, P.O. Box 22013, Houston, TX, 77227-2013.