Lolah Mary Egan Burford

1931 - 2002

Lolah Mary Egan Burford, 71, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and renowned author, passed away Wednesday, June 5, 2002, after a lengthy illness.

Funeral: 11:30 a.m. Monday at University Christian Church in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, Dr. Alan Lobaugh and the Rev. Richard D. Stansberry, officiating. Burial: Private family services in Hillcrest Memorial Park, Dallas.

Lolah Mary Egan Burford was born March 18, 1931, in Dallas to Mae Rene Flanary and Joseph Michael Egan, the second of three children, including brothers Joseph Michael of Kerrville and Byron Flanary of Dallas. Members of a pioneering Texas family, their ancestor, George Washington Smyth, was one of the original signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

A brilliant scholar, she was a graduate of The Hockaday School. At

the age of 16 she entered Bryn Mawr College and attended graduate school at Southern Methodist University. In addition, she was the founder of the Midsummer Playhouse on Long Island and taught drama at the Norfleet School in New York. She taught English and Latin, as well, at Roland Park Country Day School in Baltimore, St. Stephens School in Austin and Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

She continued her love of the theater at SMU, where she met her husband, poet and professor William Skelly Burford, of the Skelly Oil family. They were married June 21, 1956, in Dallas and had three daughters, Mary Elizabeth, Harriet Ann and Lolah Matilda. Their academic careers led them from Austin, Texas to Missoula, Montana where she began her prolific writing career with Macmillan Publishing Co., which resulted in the publication of six novels: "Vice Avenged," "The Vision of Stephen," "Edward, Edward," "MacLyon," "Alyx" and "Seacage."

She continued her life in Fort Worth where she passed on her love

of literature to her children and grandchildren. Her intellectual

curiosity, wit and selfless spirit will be remembered forever by her family.

The family is grateful to her caregivers, Barbara, Margit and Lou,

as well as Theresa and Alice.

Survivors: husband of 49 years, Dr. William Skelly Burford;

daughters, Mary Elizabeth Burford of Santa Fe, N.M., and her

children, Adam and William Zuniga, Harriet Burford Redwine and her husband, James Louis Jr., of Fort Worth and their children,

Lauren, Beau, Erin and Brendan, Matilda Burford Clements and

her husband, Edward Bryant, and their children, Caitlin and Bryant; brothers, Joseph Michael Egan of Kerrville and Byron Flanary Egan of Dallas.