Mary Lou Earnest

Mary Lou Earnest, who dearly loved the hot summers of the home state she adopted almost 50 years ago, died Sunday in Wichita Falls at the age of 88. Mary Lou was born in Beatrice, Nebraska and raised in the nearby town of Auburn, the eldest daughter of Mary and Lewis Combs.

The family invites you to join in their celebration of a life well lived and a soul well loved, with visitation on Friday, April 30 (from 5 to 7 P.M.) and a service of remembrance at 2 P.M. on Saturday, May 1st (both at Hampton Vaughan Crestview Funeral Home).

An avid fan of big band music, she regularly danced to live performances by the Dorsey brothers and other iconic acts while earning her degree in education at Nebraska Wesleyan University. After graduating and taking a teaching job in Milford, Nebraska, she married Melvin Earnest in 1954, who would become her husband of 62 years. They met after being set up by one of her elementary students, who decided that the beautiful (and single) Mary Lou needed to meet her bachelor uncle Melvin, a U.S. Army veteran.

She subsequently taught elementary school in Macon, Illinois before taking a “short break” to care for her growing family of three children. In 1973, she and her family moved to Wichita Falls and in 1979 she returned to the classroom, this time as a special education teacher’s aide. In that capacity, she proudly served at Cunningham School for almost a decade.

Her hobbies were as varied, interesting, and fun as she was herself. She loved spoiling her three grandchildren and singing alto in the choirs of Fairway Baptist and First Baptist. She never missed reading a single issue of the Times-Record News, regularly clipping and mailing articles that she knew would be interesting or helpful to family and friends. Maybe it was because she was so well-read that she developed a love for traveling the globe. Besides travel, her other passions included the Nebraska Cornhuskers (a lifelong fan) and winning at quarter slots.

Mary Lou is survived by daughter and son-in-law Mary and Phil Hudson of Wichita Falls, and sons, Fred and Billy, of Pflugerville and Austin, respectively. Those grandchildren she loved to spoil are Brandon Hudson of Keller and Erin Hudson and Lauren Jordan of Wichita Falls. She is preceded in death by her husband, Melvin and her sister, Patricia Owens (Joplin, Missouri).

In lieu of flowers, the best way to honor Mary Lou’s memory is a donation to Faith Mission in Wichita Falls.