Captain Mary Elizabeth Lewis Nester Conley, age 96, of Lakeway, TX, formerly of Beacon, NY died on October 5, 2020 after a short illness.
Mary graduated from Mount St. Mary’s High School in Newburgh, NY in 1941 where she attended on a full scholarship. She graduated from Our Savior’s Hospital School of Nursing in Jacksonville, IL in 1947. Her first nursing position was at St. Luke’s Hospital in Newburgh, NY as charge nurse of Pediatrics from 1949 to 1956.
Her desire to further her education in nursing drew her to join the Navy Nurse Corp in 1956. What followed was an exciting career where she was stationed around the world to include but limited to Camp Lejeune, NC to medical support of the U.S. Coast Guard in Kodiak, AK. She accomplished her goal of furthering her education by obtaining a B.S. Degree in Nursing from Columbia University in New York City and a Master’s degree in Nursing Administration from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Mary volunteered for duty in Viet Nam and reported to duty in DaNang, South Viet Nam in 1969. During her tour of duty, she established a nursing school to train Vietnamese women in the field of nursing. She was transferred to the USS Sanctuary, accomplishing another goal to further her wartime skills on a Navy ship. She completed her nursing career as Director of Nursing Services at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Okinawa, Japan, retiring in 1979.
She married LCDR Walter Conley, USN, Retired, in 1972. They shared 40 happy years of marriage before his death in 2012.
Mary was a parishioner of Emmaus Catholic Church in Lakeway, TX. She volunteered for 25 years at Seton Hospital in south Austin, and for 15 years at the Ladies of Charity Thrift Shop in Lakeway. She was a member of the Military Officers Association of American; and of the Sandbaggers and Lakeway Ladies Golf Association, where she boasted of three hole-in-one achievements!
Born in New Windsor, NY, she was the daughter of the late Charles and Margaret (Lahey) Lewis. In addition to her parents, she was pre-deceased by her brother Charles Lewis, her sister Margaret Tiso and her sister Sarah “Sally” Gunn.
She is survived by her step-daughter Susie Sutton (Scott) of Buckeye, AZ; step-daughter Cindy Campbell (Bruce) of Shaker Heights, OH; step-son, Michael of Los Angeles, CA; and granddaughter, Elizabeth (Patrick) Higgins of Chicago, IL; and numerous nieces and nephews. Her Tiso, Lewis and Gunn nieces and nephews remember her lovingly during her Newburgh nursing years, remarking, “We were always excited when Aunt Mamie was able to come home for the holidays from her military posts. She was always fun, loving and caring.” She also is survived by a devoted and fun-loving group of girlfriends from the Lakeway community.
Funeral services are scheduled for October 27 at 11 A.M. at Emmaus Catholic Church in Lakeway, Texas.
