Mary Elizabeth Thornhill

Mary Elizabeth Vick Thornhill “Mary Lib” was born July 29, 1926 in Lake Charles, Louisiana and grew up in Houston as the only child of Clifford and Bess Vick. Mary Lib loved her family, her grandchildren most especially. She graduated from Lamar High School in Houston and attended Sweet Briar College before returning to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin.

After her first job as an assistant to a Houston architect she earned her teaching certificate and taught fifth grade, first at MacGregor Elementary and then at St. John's in Houston. “I think my greatest accomplishment was helping launch a pilot program in Texas’ major cities to train teachers how to teach children with dyslexia. It was such a need AND success that they adopted and expanded that program statewide to better serve children, even to today.”

Mary Lib met Gabriel Felder Thornhill III “Scoop” when Morin Scott had the opening of the Tidlands II Motel in Houston. The following year, Beverly Bell set them up again, and “That was my lucky day!” In 1960, she married Scoop and moved to Austin. They shared over fifty years of life, love, laughter, family, friends, tennis, art, civic service, and travel together. “Oh, we had such fun!”

After her time as a teacher, she pursued her passion in a life-long career as an artist. She studied Art History at Harvard, painting at The Fogg, and art at The University of Massachusetts in Madrid. Mary Lib owned her own gallery in Houston before moving to Austin. She traveled and studied under numerous artists, and taught art classes in Austin, Houston, and New Mexico. She was a member of The Capital Arts Society, The Pastel Society, and the Waterloo Watercolor Group. Mary Lib served as President of Laguna Gloria, and her watercolors, pastels, and oils hang in homes, libraries, colleges, and businesses across the country.

In addition to her love of art, she was an avid tennis player, ranked in the state and nation until she was at least eighty. Among her many civic activities, her role on the Town Lake Beautification Committee was close to her heart. She was an active member of The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, teaching Sunday school when her children were young and being a greeter for years. She was also a member of the National Society of the Colonial Dames, enjoying her work on the local Neill-Cochran House as well as travel to other historic homes around the country. She built a cabin with her parents in the Moreno Valley in the 1940s and the wind in the pines of Idlewild, New Mexico was “a slice of heaven” for her and her entire family. A few years after Scoop passed away in 2011, she moved into Westminster Manor where she terrorized her neighbors on her red scooter and loved playing cards with her bridge and poker buddies.

Mary Lib is survived by her children and their spouses: her son Gabriel Felder Thornhill IV and his wife Susie Clevenger Thornhill; her daughter Elizabeth Thornhill Wagster and her husband John Samuel Wagster; and her daughter Mary Ann Thornhill Frishman and her husband Benjamin Adam Frishman. Mary Lib is also survived by her seven grandchildren and their spouses: William Curry Shoff and his wife Maddie Ryan Shoff, Gabriel Felder Thornhill V, and Travis Ransom Thornhill; Mary Ann Wagster Marcelli and her husband John Anthony Marcelli, John “Jack” Thornhill Wagster and his wife Lanier Daniel Wagster; and Daniel Thornhill Frishman and his fiancé Chelise Ann Dekker, and Mary Alexandra Frishman. “Each has given me a tremendous amount of joy!”

The family is most grateful for the loving care and friendship of Elleni Seifu and of Louisette Nongni.

A memorial service will be held at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd on Saturday, August 26th at 1:00pm.

For those desiring, the family requests that donations be made the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd’s Endowment Fund.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.wcfishnorth.com for the Thornhill family.