Mary Willingham Partlow
Mary Willingham Partlow died peacefully with her family by her side on November 15, 2024.
Mary was born in Overton, Texas on June 4, 1938. She was the daughter of Lawrence and Elizabeth Perry Willingham. Mary was the middle child between older brother Larry and younger sister Patsy. Mary loved growing up in Overton, a small East Texas town in Rusk County. The Willingham home was just a few doors down from the Overton school, which housed K- 12, enabling her to walk to school every day of her young life. Their home was perfectly situated, across the street from her maternal grandmother and within walking distance of the movie theatre, drug store, Mustang Café, public library, and city park. Mary had happy memories of her time competing with the Speech team and UIL One Act Play team. She credited her beloved drama teacher, Lillian Cohagen, for inspiring her to become a schoolteacher. Mrs. Cohagen was not only her speech and drama coach, but also her mentor and role model. Mary won Best Actress at State UIL One Act Play Finals her senior year for the leading role in, “Sorry, Wrong number.” Mary was a dedicated student, always going the extra mile to be prepared for class or to know her lines perfectly. She graduated first in her class from Overton High School in 1956 as the Valedictorian.
Mary attended North Texas State University in Denton, Texas, where she focused her studies on speech, drama, and language arts. She graduated in three years, majoring in Education and a minor in Spanish. Immediately upon college graduation, she moved to Liberty, Texas to be a schoolteacher and to marry her sweetheart, Dick Partlow. Mary and Dick met on a blind date arranged by Mary’s brother, Larry Willingham. One date to the Park Theatre in Liberty was all it took to be smitten. After long- distance dating and many, many love letters, they married in Overton on August 15, 1959.
Mary and Dick were married for 46 years and were as close to inseparable as any married couple could have been. Dick was a storeowner, a cattleman, and a salesman, but he was best remembered as Mary’s sweetheart. Mary taught Language Arts in private schools and at Liberty Middle School for many years. Only a few people will remember Mary’s first, and short- lived, teaching position in Liberty was teaching Spanish. Mary loved her motherin- law and father- in- law with an affection rarely held for in- laws. She would often recall how sweet Miss Lucy and Uncle Dode were to her and say, “they were the best of the best.” Mary adopted Liberty as her home immediately and loved living there for 65 years. She was proud to be a member of the Partlow family, descendants of pioneer settlers, M.G. White and H. B. Johnston.
Mary held a deep and abiding love for Liberty and her dear Liberty friends. Her friendships with many friends were decades- long and encompassed all walks of her life: school, community, church, and family. She was an avid reader, an excellent cook, and an average Bridge player. Mary was a “go- to” when food was needed to be prepared for the sick or those needing a little extra attention. Notably, her pecan pie, homemade rolls, savory chicken, rice casserole, and cinnamon pickles were party favorites.
Mary was a stand- out as the narrator for the Methodist Christmas Cantata and she loved presenting “Let’s keep Christmas” by Peter Marshall, which she often presented on the local radio station. Mary was a member of the DAR and Trivium Club. She was a devoted member of the First United Methodist Church of Liberty, where she held myriad volunteer roles over the years, from Sunday School teacher to Administrative Board member. Mary was the recipient of the E.T. Branch Award and the Community Builder Award in 1989 and 1999. These awards are given for outstanding service to the Liberty Independent School District by the Liberty Masonic Lodge # 48. She loved her friends dearly and especially enjoyed happy hour and book club meetings with friends.
Mary is preceded in death by her mother and father, Lawrence and Elizabeth Willingham, her brother, Larry Willingham, and sister Patsy Alexius. She is survived by her three loving and devoted children, William Dozier Partlow, II, and his partner Dana Abshire, of Hardin, Texas; Miriam Partlow McHenry and her husband Gary McHenry of Hardin, Texas; and John Belve Partlow and his wife Lisa Partlow of Lindale, Texas. She is survived by her grandchildren Jake Westmoreland and wife, Morgann Westmoreland, of Versailles, Kentucky; Marlee Westmoreland of Austin, Texas, and Maggie Partlow of Denton, Texas, and Jack Partlow of Lindale, Texas, and bonus grandchildren: Ben McHenry and wife Tricia McHenry of Tomball, Texas; and Maggie, Cade, Macie, and Cash Hodde of Lindale, Texas. She leaves behind great- grandchildren Teddy Westmoreland and Wesley McHenry. Her preferred name was “Gran” as her grandchildren were an enormous source of pride and joy. Mary is survived by her nieces, Beth Phillips, and Susanne Haberle; by nephews, the Honorable Larry Phillips, and Greg Swindle; and by cousins Jackie Willingham, Nancy Thomson Birchet, Dorothy Cheatman, Ronald Willingham, and Mike Piercy, Brian Piercy, and Dwayne Piercy.
Funeral arrangements were handled through Allison Funeral Directors in Liberty, Texas. Visitation was in the Middleton Chapel of the First United Methodist Church of Liberty, Texas on Sunday afternoon, November 17. A burial service preceded the church service at the Cooke Memorial Cemetery in Liberty. The service of death and resurrection was at First United Methodist Church in Liberty, Texas.
Pallbearers are Jake Westmoreland, Jack Partlow, Clarence Martin, David Richards, Keith Strahan and Neil Thornton. Honorary pallbearers are members of the Liberty Masonic Lodge # 48, A. F. & A. M.
The family would like to thank the caregivers at Magnolia Place in Liberty for kind and generous care over the past three years. They would like to commend Gentiva Hospice service for compassionate end- of- life care.
If you wish to honor Mary’s memory, please consider a gift to the First United Methodist Church in Liberty or the Liberty Municipal Library.