Mary I. McWilliams

Mary I. McWilliams of Avinger, Texas passed away October 24th at home after a valiant battle with cancer.

Mary had fiercely held beliefs and lived them, every day. She was a loving soul, who cherished her family - both chosen and blood - and who always cared for others. She was a steadfast caregiver for her parents and loved animals fiercely. She was the family host for holidays, planned ridiculous outings in her earlier years, hosted her nieces and nephews for visits in the summer “without the parents” and would come up with the most ridiculous themed birthday parties imaginable. She loved her Chicago Cubs, a great joke, a big laugh, and to be around family.

She was fearless in the kitchen - finding new recipes and trying them because she could - and contributed some of the most beloved recipes to our family holiday dinners.

Mary graduated from Louisiana Tech and earned advanced degrees from Purdue University and The University of Chicago. She had a rewarding career in computer science and quality management, including launching her own consulting business. She taught in her later years at Northeast Texas Community College and LeTourneau University.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents, William G. McWilliams and Doris Daley McWilliams and is survived by her sisters Marjorie Britt and Lucy Sanders; their husbands Robert Britt and Bruce Sanders; nephews Zack Sanders and Casey Sanders; nieces Julie Payne-Kirchmeier, Lindsey Lehtinen, and Cammie Bryan; close friends and neighbors Pat and Gary Carroll, Ted Bransford, Erica Suiter and Kenneth Spivey, Deanna Winton, and many others who will miss her; and her dog Bentley.

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