Mary Ellen Work

1940 - 2026

Mary Ellen (Richter) Work Mary Ellen Richter Work, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend, passed away peacefully on January 7, 2026, surrounded by family. She was 85.

Born in Cameron, Texas, to Henry and Anna Richter, she contracted polio at the age of 12, and defied the odds of the time by continuing her schooling and graduating from C. H. Yoe High School in Cameron and later pursuing her pharmacy degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she met the love of her life, Charles Work. She then went on to work in a variety of establishments including hospitals, nursing homes and family owned pharmacies in both El Paso and Dallas.

Mary Ellen's hobbies included compiling her family's genealogy and extensive travel. Their travels took them to all the continents except Antarctica, visiting over 80 countries. She and Charles collectively spent 4 years living in Europe, two of those years with their children and then again two years in the late 80s. Some of their most memorable trips include the time they rode camels in Egypt, a helicopter ride to a glacier in Alaska, sitting in the grotto in Lourdes, celebrating Christmas midnight mass at the Vatican and in 1977 she walked through Checkpoint Charlie, through the war torn part of East Berlin, in her quest to visit the Pergamon Museum.

During their travels they met and maintained long time friendships with people they encountered along the way, many of whom they are still friends with to this day. Additionally, Mary Ellen loved the arts and she and Charles frequented the theatre, opera, symphony and ballet in El Paso, Dallas and all throughout Europe.

Her main passion in life was her family. Her beloved husband, Charles, who cared for her and loved her unconditionally for 63 years. Her two daughters, Rebecca Brady and Sabrina McCulloch (husband Bobby) and her four grandchildren, Bess Haase (husband Liam), Jessica Brady, Kyle McCulloch (fiancé Leslie Posada), and Jonathan Brady. Mary Ellen was preceded in death by her parents Henry and Anna Richter, and her sister, Henrietta Hughes.

We would like to thank her longtime doctors Jaime Vasquez and Allan Shulkin who provided her with the utmost best care and the staff at T. Boone Pickens Hospice facility where she was allowed to pass with dignity and grace.

She loved nothing more than to be surrounded by her husband, her daughters and her grandchildren, whom she adored. Her lively spirit and determined strength will live on through them and in all the countless lives she touched. She was truly an example of overcoming adversity and living your absolute best life.

Moving through the universe, for one brief moment of eternity, we touch.

A Celebration of Mary Ellen's Life will be scheduled at a later date.