Mary Anne McBrayer

1934 - 2024

Mary Anne McBrayer
01/01/1934 - 05/24/2024
Mary Anne Farge McBrayer, 90, completed her beautiful life on May 24, 2024, with her husband, Tom, at her side.
She is preceded in death by her eldest child, Chris McBrayer, her parents Emile and Marie Farge, as well as half-brothers Dick Farge and Pete Farge (and wife, Jean).
Mary Anne is survived by her husband Tom; children Laura (George), Diane (Carl), Stephen (Theresa) and Carol (Karl); grandchildren Samantha (Austin), Kellie, Kevin, Keith (Blair) and Reid (Aimée); and one great-grandchild.
She is also survived by five beloved siblings, Maurice (Sue), Theresa (Bill, deceased), EJ (Lynne), Jimmy and Martha (Art, deceased), as well as many cherished nieces and nephews.
Mary Anne was born on New Year's Day, 1934, and grew up mainly in the Montrose area of Houston. She attended St. Anne Catholic School, St. Agnes Academy (class of 1952) and the University of St. Thomas. After raising her children, she would go on to earn a bachelor's degree in communication disorders from the University of Houston.
She met her future husband in 1956 on a blind date set up by Tom's brother David, who at the time was her co-worker at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio. They married in 1958 and went on to have five children in quick succession. They were active members of the St. Christopher Catholic Church community in southeast Houston for many years.
Mary Anne started running in the late 1960s at the encouragement of her husband, who had already become a long-distance runner. They were among the founding organizers and runners of the Houston Marathon. For four decades they helped organize and manage road races throughout Houston and Texas and were well known in the running community. They were active members of the Houston Masters Sports Association and Houston Area Road Runners Association. Mary Anne was featured in many articles about running and in a book on women runners. The sport – and their many friends in that community – kept them both healthy and happy. In 2007, she and Tom were honored in the first class of inductees to the Houston Marathon Hall of Fame.
Mary Anne also spent two decades as an office manager of the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic at the University of Houston, retiring in 1999.
In their retirement years, they attended mass regularly at the Chapel of St. Basil at the University of St. Thomas, where Mary Anne spent many hours volunteering her time. She was also active in the First Montrose Commons Civic Association.
Mary Anne will be remembered for her tenacity, her relentless willingness to take on a challenge despite the odds, her endless energy at home and at work, her love for her family and her absolute love for and dedication to her husband. Her resilience was absolute – when faced with a difficult task, some of the grandkids have adopted the mantra, "Let's Mary Anne McBrayer this."
Mary Anne's ashes will be interred at Forest Park Lawndale. Services have not yet been scheduled.
Donations may be made in her memory to the Houston Food Bank.