Mary Elizabeth Conwell, age 72, passed away peacefully in Palmetto, Florida from a lengthy battle with cancer on September 17, 2022.
Long time loving wife, lifelong sailor, boater, and gourmet cook, Mary was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma to Ed and Dorothy Keefe on July 7, 1950. Her family moved to Oklahoma City, where she lived until her marriage to Jeff Conwell in 1976.
Mary traveled extensively with her parents during her father’s service as President of Kiwanis International. To travel, she skipped her senior year in high school and completed correspondence courses, at local colleges until she enrolled full-time after her year of traveling. She continued to travel to destinations in Europe and the Caribbean and on Cruise ships before she graduated from college.
She was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, with minors in French and English and during her senior year at Oklahoma City University, she was named Outstanding Senior Woman and graduated cum laude. She was a member of Alpha Phi sorority, where she was elected president during her senior year. After graduation, she went back to school to obtain her teaching certificate in Oklahoma.
Mary taught senior-level Spanish and English in the Edmond Oklahoma School District. She married and moved to Texas with her husband, Jeff and taught Spanish, French, and English in middle school in the Garland Texas School District.
She and her husband moved to San Antonio, Texas and bought an old house that needed a lot of work, so Mary took on the job of coordinating the repairs and developed an enjoyment of outdoor gardening and made the house and yard the envy of the neighborhood. She will be remembered for the fantastic Christmas parties where she cooked her special treats for all the many guests.
In 2007, she and Jeff embarked on a sailing trip that took them from Texas to Florida through the Intracoastal Waterway. They ended up in the Florida Keys for the winter of 2008 and proceeded to make a trip to the Chesapeake Bay. The following winter they made it back to the Keys and have been spending winters there for 12 years, making many close sailing and boating friends along the way.
In 2021, Mary and Jeff sold their house in San Antonio to move to Palmetto, Florida to be closer to the boat that Mary loved and bought a condominium very close to the marina.
The thing that Mary enjoyed most in life was making other people happy. During her 7-year bout with cancer, she hardly ever complained and went through with the treatments to keep up the life that she loved. She even managed to cook some of those gourmet meals while on the boat as well as during the summers at home.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Edward C. and Dorothy C. Keefe. She is survived by her husband, Jeff Conwell and cousins Kai Jai Conner and Vanessa Brown, both of Houston, Texas.
A graveside service will be held at Rose Hill Burial Park, 6001 Grand Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73118 at 11:00 A.M. on September 28, 2022. Arrangements have been entrusted to Skyway Memorial Gardens, 5200 US Hwy 19N., Palmetto, FL 34221.
