PEGGY PITMAN MAYS

1935 - 2020

On Wednesday November 11th, 2020, Peggy Pitman Mays, loving wife, mother of four, grandmother of sixteen and great-grandmother of one (with two more on the way), passed away peacefully in her sleep at the age of 85.

Peggy was born on June 23, 1935 in the Nix Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. She was the daughter of Bonnie Yvonne Gunstream and Benjamin Franklin Pitman, Jr. She attended Cambridge Elementary and graduated from Saint Mary's Hall in San Antonio. She attended Wellesley College and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. She received a Masters in Interior Design from the University of the Incarnate Word and was a professional allied member of ASID.

Peggy had an intense love for family, nature, travel and the arts. Those passions were her guiding light and were woven through everything she did. Peggy lived her life actively and poured her heart, soul, time and resources into the things she loved. Life was not a spectator sport for Peggy. She was a lover of all things old and new. Her strongest attributes were loyalty, tenacity, compassion and her desire to leave this world a better place.

She married Lester Lowry Mays on July 31, 1959. Immediately after the ceremony, they boarded an Air Force transport plane headed to Taiwan. They stopped on Kwajalein Atoll for a hot dog and spent their honeymoon in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo before heading to Taipei where they spent the first years of their marriage. Peggy loved adventure and travel so what a perfect way to kick off their 61-year marriage and love affair!

Peggy's father always said "travel is the best education" and she passed that lesson down to her kids. She even made the standing offer to take any of them anywhere as long as she got to come along. She ventured all over the world with her kids. From the beaches of Bora Bora, to the great pyramids in Egypt, to the ruins of Machu Pichu, to the native tribes of Papua New Guinea, to the plains of Africa – nowhere was too far to go.

To say that Peggy was a force of nature is definitely an understatement. Her friends called her the Energizer Bunny because she had an unending source of stamina and was in constant motion. Peggy never sat still. Peggy directed much of that energy towards helping others and giving back to the communities in which she lived. If you wanted something to get done, Peggy was the person to call to make sure it happened. Peggy served as the first Treasurer and as the President of the Junior League of San Antonio and was awarded their honor of Volunteer Extraordinaire. She was President of the Southwest Foundation Forum and was an active member of the Charity Ball Association and served as its President and Chaired its Board. Peggy was President of the Green Hand Garden Club and also served on the Cancer Center Council, the CTRC Board of Governors and the Board of Directors of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, San Antonio Botanical Center, McNay Art Museum, and San Antonio Museum of Art.

Peggy's tenacious spirit was evident in everything that she did including her battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with cancer at age 50 and kept it at bay for 35 years while also helping others fight cancer through her support of the Lowry and Peggy Mays Cancer Center at MD Anderson in Houston and the Mays Cancer Center at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio.

She always said "friends are the best gift". She loved her annual Christmas party, and true to that motto, she always invited all generations to come. Christmas was her favorite holiday, and her tree was adorned with memorabilia from her many travels and ornaments from the trees which she had growing up. She loved to sit and tell her kids and grandkids the story of each ornament as she put it on the Christmas tree.

Everyone knew that Peggy was the Queen of the house. This stemmed in part from her serving as the Queen of the Order of the Alamo's Court of Courts in 1959, but also from her regal presence as she ruled the roost.

Despite being blessed with lots of material things, Peggy was incredibly frugal. Whether it was collecting all of the goodies in an airline travel kit, insisting that you only turn on lights that you really need, rinsing out Ziplock bags to recycle them, or tucking away a ketchup packet for later use, Peggy never wasted anything.

Peggy was most at home in nature and most weekends you would find her at the ranch with her husband, Lowry, feeding the many species of animals which they had raised. Nothing made her happier than rationing out crackers to her pet bongos. Peggy had names for many of those "pets". "Always" was the black buck that was always at the same crossing waiting to say "Hi". "Sometimes" was the black buck that was only there sometimes. She had a series of dogs named "Lucky" because they were indeed lucky dogs. There was an elegant simplicity in everything that Peggy did -- even giving names to her pets.

Peggy was an avid hunter and wildlife conservationist. Some of her fondest memories were sharing this outdoor passion with her husband, kids and grandkids. Whether it was on safaris to Africa, wing-shooting adventures in South America, or scouting for white-tail deer in South Texas, Peggy was proud of her prowess in the field.

Peggy had a great green thumb and loved to garden. Her greatest love in nature was spreading wildflowers which she referred to as God's paintbrush and you would certainly earn her wrath if you cut down her bluebonnets before they had gone to seed. Peggy shared her passion for flowers by creating the Mays Family Display Garden at the entry to the San Antonio Botanical Garden. She felt that there was no better way to wow visitors than with bright colors and dramatic floral textures.

Peggy also had a great love of the arts. She was an avid supporter of the San Antonio Museum of Art where she helped make the new Asian wing a reality. At the McNay Art Museum, she helped to start and perpetuate the docent program and the construction of the newly completed Mays Family Park. Peggy also was very active in the creation of the Mays Family Event Center at the Witte Museum.

Peggy was extremely fond of her alma mater, Saint Mary's Hall, where she was student council President. Later she was a teacher there and created the Peggy Pitman Mays Fund for Teacher's Excellence to allow faculty members to travel and learn first-hand about a variety of course-related topics to enhance the student experience. More than 80 teachers have journeyed around the world thanks to Peggy. The friends she made at Saint Mary's Hall were amongst her closest life-long friends, and she embraced, and lived, the school's motto of "Teach us Delight in Simple Things".

Peggy was a devout Episcopalian and was a member of Christ Episcopal Church. Among her many services to the church, she headed the Altar Guild and made sure there were always fresh flowers for Sunday's services, served on the Bishop's Committee for Good Samaritans and taught Sunday school for many years.

Peggy brought the same passion and energy to motherhood as she did to every aspect of her life. She had four kids in five years, and despite how close they were in age, she had an unlimited amount of time for each of them. Whether it was acting as Den Mother for her sons' Cub Scouts patrols or homeroom Mom, Peggy was always active and engaged. She felt that her most important job was to raise children to be independent so that they could "fly out of the nest" and be productive members of society and make the world a better place.

Peggy is survived by her husband of 61 years, Lowry; her four children --daughter Kathy and her husband Bill Johnson and their child Paige; daughter Linda and her husband Michael McCaul and their five children Caroline, Jewell, Michael, Lauren, and Avery; son Mark and his wife Patti and their six children, Ryan and wife Marie, Patrick, Daniel, Andrew, Matthew and Maggie; and son Randall and his four children Grace, Lowry, Margot and Nicole; and by her great-grandson Zachry Lowry Mays.

A Private Memorial service for family members was held on Saturday, November 14, 2020 due to the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 virus. Those who wish to view a recording of services can do so through Peggy's obituary at www.porterloring.com.

If you wish to honor Peggy's memory, please consider a gift to the Mays Cancer Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center. Contributions may be mailed to The Mays Cancer Center, Development Department, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, Mail Code 7835, San Antonio, TX 78229. Please reference "In memory of Peggy Mays" in the memo section.

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