Mary Jane Goulden

1929 - 2024

Mary Jane (May) Goulden peacefully entered eternal rest in Houston, Texas, on December 4, 2024, at the age of 95.

Mary was born on October 17, 1929, in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Her parents, Mary and Olen May raised Mary alongside her three brothers, John, Bill, and Tom.

In the early years, her family moved many times as her father looked for the best jobs he could find during the Great Depression. Mary lived in Houston, Texas for a short time and many places in Illinois before her family finally settled in Morris, Illinois, where Mary completed all of her formal schooling. She attended Morris High School where she was a member of the school band and a cheerleader.

Mary began her higher education at Beloit College in Wisconsin. She then moved on to the University of Colorado (CU) where she was a member of the Kappa Delta sorority, serving as sorority Secretary in her senior year. CU was also where she would meet Richard (Dick) Goulden, her husband-to-be of 49 years.

Upon graduation, Mary worked for many companies in Denver, Colorado, including Time, Inc., Hartford Accident and Indemnity, and United Airlines. When she and Dick decided to start a family, she took on her most beloved job - raising her four boys. After the boys were old enough, she went back to work as a Division Order Analyst for Mitchell Energy in Houston until her retirement.

Mary and Dick retired in the small town of Wimberley, in the Texas Hill Country, where she made many wonderful friends. Mary and Dick traveled the world together. One of her favorite trips was to the United Kingdom which included an Atlantic crossing aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2. When they were not traveling, they spent their time together, enjoying the view through the green trees down to the creek that ran alongside their home, until his passing in 2001.

In the years to follow, Mary kept busy singing in the choir at Wimberley Presbyterian Church and playing bridge. Additionally, a lover of all things avian, Mary joined the Wimberley Birding Society which led her to many more interesting and exotic destinations including Ecuador, Peru, the Galapagos Islands, and Iceland. She also made treks to Australia and Poland where her son Craig worked as an ex-pat. Her final international journey, at the age of 89, was a cruise through the Panama Canal with her son Stuart.

Mary is survived by her sons Craig, Dan, Stuart, and Doug, daughters-in-law Vanessa, Jackie, Patty, and Diane, grandchildren Hunter, Harrison, Allison, Amanda, Megan, Hannah, and Elaine, sister-in-law Shirley, and many nephews and nieces. She was preceded by her husband Dick, her parents, Mary and Olen, and her brothers John and wife Joan, Bill, and Tom, all of whom she loved very much.

We love you, Mom.

In place of flowers, Mary requested donations be made to the Wimberley Birding Society. Checks should be made out to the Society and mailed to:

Wimberley Birding Society

PO Box 1526

Wimberley, TX 78676