Mary Bell Caldwell Browning

Mary Bell Caldwell Browning of San Antonio, Texas, was born on April 22, 1922, and died peacefully at home on October 18, 2007. She was preceded in death by her parents James R. and Mary Bell Caldwell. Mrs. Browning graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1939 and attended Incarnate Word College and the University of Texas where she was a member of the Pi Beta Phi Fraternity. On December 3, 1943, in West Point, New York, she married Conrad E. Koerper, Jr., a January 1943 graduate of the United States Military Academy. Major Koerper died in San Antonio on December 30, 1951. On January 7, 1956, she married William Ernest Browning, a 1940 graduate of the University of Texas and a 1942 graduate of Harvard Business School. Mr. Browning died on May 22, 1985. Mrs. Browning is survived by her three children, Conrad E. Koerper III, MD and his wife Sharon, of Andrews, Texas; Mary Koerper Shows and her husband David, of San Antonio, Texas; and William E. Browning and his wife, Mary Nell, of London, England. She has seven grandchildren: Conrad E. Koerper IV, Caroline Koerper Pedersen, Jane Shows Atkerson MD, William Peyton Shows, Howard R. Shows, Mary Bell Browning, and Ina S. Browning; and one great grandchild, Megan Atkerson. Mary Bell is also survived by her beloved sister and brother-in-law, Mildred and Baine Kerr of Houston, Texas, and their four children, Baine, John, Rob and Mary, to whom she was devoted. Additionally, she is survived by her niece, Dalia Browning Stokes of Houston, Texas. Mrs. Browning lived in Yoakum, Texas for 29 years and moved to San Antonio following the death of her husband in 1985. She was a life long member of the First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio; and a member of The Argyle; The Forum; and the Monte Vista Garden Club. She was a director of the Yoakum National Bank for 15 years. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, October 23 at the First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas. The family will greet friends from Yoakum on Monday, October 22 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Yoakum Heritage Museum (located in Mary Bell's former home, which she donated in 1985 in support of the museum). During the last year of her life Mary Bell was skillfully and lovingly cared for by a number of devoted people, especially Mrs. Margarita Gonzales and Mrs. Gloria Patterson, to whom the family will be eternally grateful. Mary Bell loved her friends and family and in lieu of flowers, the family has requested that her friends select either a charity of personal significance, the First Presbyterian Church, 404 N. Alamo, San Antonio, Texas 78205 or the Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78238. You are invited to sign The guestbook at www.porterloring.com Arrangements with Porter Loring Mortuary.