Mary Pauline Stephenson passed away peacefully on November 27 at the age of 93 in her home with her children by her side. Mary was born in Cobh, County Cork, Ireland to Edward and Margaret Burgess. Mary was the devoted eldest of seven children, six girls and a boy. She was a bookkeeper by trade and worked for many years in the shipping industry in Cobh before emigrating to New York in the mid-1950s.
As a young bookkeeper for Marine Transport Services in Cobh, Mary was given incredible responsibility of documenting account payables and receivables for the successful company. In addition, Mary would receive 1 penny per ship ton for vessels she would assist in importing and exporting through the Cork and Dublin ports. This would provide an additional income which on occasion could be more than even her father earned at the time.
In New York Mary worked in bookkeeping at Universal Studios and met many celebrities who would travel through the New York offices. Two of whom Mary would remember fondly, the actor Rock Hudson and the fighter Joe Louis.
Upon a holiday back home to Cobh, she met the love of her life Anthony (Tony) Stephenson of Southwold, England who was on a surveying job in Cork Harbor. After 5 weeks they became engaged and Mary returned to England to share her life with Tony. In 1962 they had their first son Paul. Soon thereafter, they immigrated to San Francisco where their second child Brian was born in 1965. Upon a return to England, their only daughter Fiona was born in 1966, during the only time England won the World Cup. Mary would recall having difficulty tracking down the doctors as they were sneaking away in order to catch glimpses of the match.
Mary and Tony and the kids moved to Houston in 1969 with the children attending Holy Ghost School, Saint Agnes Academy, and Strake Jesuit as the years passed.
In her later years, Mary became an avid Houston Rockets fan and would watch virtually every game of every season and also attended some in person.
Mary and Tony enjoyed traveling and had many friends all over the world. Every other summer Mary would take the three young children to England and Ireland to spend time with their beloved grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Even from a very young age, Mary was the epitome of an independent woman, which was evident to all who met her. As Tony traveled frequently in his career, Mary took care of everything else. She was the treasurer of the Houston Irish Club for many years and was actively involved in the early days of the Houston St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Mary was an intelligent, feisty, yet warm and caring person who could and would talk to anyone, and made friends everywhere she stepped foot. She was the shining light of every room she entered, holding court, as many would say. She had a wonderful sense of humor which showed through in her story telling and just in conversation. But her greatest devotion was to her family and she loved nothing more than to be in a room with her children and their families, laughing, sharing stories and meals.
Mary lost her beloved Tony in 1994 and spent the next 30 years putting all of her energy into her family. She tragically lost her loving son Brian Patrick Stephenson to pancreatic cancer only 18 days before her death. She is survived by her son Paul Gerard Stephenson and his wife Suzanne, daughter Fiona Stephenson Remko and husband Steven Remko; daughter-in-law Ellen Stephenson (Brian). Her grandchildren Erica, Anthony, Matthew and Sarah brought her the greatest joy in her life. She is also survived by her sisters Alison Varduli (Scotland) and Toni Burgess (Ireland) and many loving nieces and nephews in Ireland, England and Scotland.
The family would like to express their extreme gratitude to her caregivers Eno and Chioma. Their love and care for “Mom” was beautiful.
There will be a funeral mass for Mary at Holy Ghost Catholic Church December 18th at 10am. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network or St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.8.18