She was born on October 8, 1937, in Ellis, Kansas, to Raymond Dreiling and Marcella Walters Dreiling. At a young age, she moved to Chapman, Kansas, with her parents and five siblings.
As a teenager, Mary played drums in the Chapman High band and was a varsity cheerleader for four years. In 1955, she was crowned homecoming queen, something of which she was always proud. After graduating high school, she attended Kansas State in Manhattan, KS, and studied business. Following her independent nature and craving a new environment and experiences, Mary moved from Kansas to Texas in the early 1960s. After living there for a while, she got restless again and decided to move to Atlanta, GA, for an even different experience.
There she met the man who would be the love of her life; native Texan, Darrow Hooper. After marrying in 1968 in Atlanta, they moved back to Texas and settled in Dallas in the early 1970s. Shortly after moving to Dallas, Mary took a job with one of the largest land owners and real estate power houses in Texas who created Los Colinas, Ben Carpenter. She worked as his personal and professional administrative assistant for many years and became an integral part of his success. In 1977, at the age of 39, Mary gave birth to her daughter Sharon Elizabeth. From that point on she was a devoted mother and played a very active role in her daughter’s life. She was a constant presence at The Hockaday School where Elizabeth attended for 14 years. Whether it was volunteering to be homeroom parent, organizing fund raisers, or serving as the President of the Parent’s Association, Mary took great pride in helping the Hockaday community and earned herself a reputation as a forthright, diligent, resourceful, kind and generous leader. All of Elizabeth’s friends knew Mary to be welcoming and loving; like another mother.
Mary’s favorite things in life, aside from her family, were golf, gardening and being the consummate host. She was always surrounded by friends and everyone loved her charm, generosity and ability to find the fun in life. Whether it was helping them through hardships, making them laugh with her great sense of humor, going shopping, or offering a shoulder to cry on, Mary encouraged and inspired people around her. She loved the game of golf and played a very solid game most of her life. The joy, however, came from the people she met along the way. Brookhaven Country Club was her second home and she has maintained friendships made there for decades. Mary wanted everyone around her to be taken care of and to enjoy life. Her priority in life was always to show her loved ones how much she cared for them and her generosity knew no bounds. Whether it was buying her mother a house, establishing the Dreiling Education Scholarship Fund, so high achieving students in her hometown could attend college, caring for her daughter’s friends as if they were her own children, supporting her daughter’s endeavors with great enthusiasm, or attending to her friends’ needs, Mary put others first. She was determined to live a full life outside of her humble beginnings and she did. She traveled the world from Germany to Africa, met and befriended people from all walks of life and fostered many meaningful relationships that enriched her life.
Her biggest accomplishment was being a mother and a grandmother; she was the consummate mother and relished in that role. Her great capacity to love is her legacy. She was respected and admired by many for her ability to love fully, act selflessly and approach life with strength and purpose. She will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her. Mary is survived by her daughter Elizabeth, stepsons Darrow Jr., David, James, brother Marvin, sister Charlene, and grandchildren Ava and Celia.
A Memorial Service will be held at 10:00 am on Sunday, December 16, 2018 in Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home Chapel.
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