Mary Lois Harless, RIP

This obituary appeared recently in the Houston Chronicle.

MARY LOIS STEVENSON HARLESS, age 81, was born June 1, 1926 in Mary Neal, TX, to Robbie Barbee and Louis Stroud Stevenson. Preceded in death by parents, two brothers, Louis Stroud Stevenson Jr. and Robert Lloyd Stevenson, and husband Raymond Leo Harless. Survivors are son Louis Raymond Harless, Dallas; daughter Sharon A. Daniel and Dale of Arlington; two grandchildren, Robin Marie Daniel and Brad Stevenson Daniel; and niece Marcia Marcantonio of San Antonio. She was raised in Lovelady,TX. And attended Texas Women's College, Sam Houston University and University of Houston. She began her career in teaching in La Porte, Bay City and Pasadena and retired after 31 years of teaching. She was a member of Ashbury United Methodist Church, member of United Methodist Women, Pasadena Retired Teachers, Host volunteer in reading for ten years, La Porte Alumni Association, Jane Long Chapter of DAR, grandmothers club and S.P.J.C. Family will receive friends on Sunday, July 22, 2007, from 5 P.M. to 8 P.M. at Grand View Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held on Monday, July 23, 2007, at 10 A.M. in the chapel of Grand View Funeral Home with a graveside service at 4:00 P.M. in Lovelady Cemetery, in Lovelady, TX.

Mary Lois and my mother went to college together in the mid-1940s, and had stayed in touch ever since. I remember her visiting, or us visiting her, a number of times as I was growing up. The last time I saw her was in early 1995, when she and her husband Ray did me a good turn by letting my stay overnight at their home in Pasadena, Texas, while I was on my way to San Antonio.