Mary Filomena Duron

Born in Waco, Tx on July 31, 1937 to Maggie and Frank Aleman. Mary lived and roller skated near the now famous Silos in the downtown Waco historical district.

As the middle sibling of two brothers, Mary was given responsibility early in her life. She helped her mother pick cotton in a field, grow their own vegetables in a garden, manually do laundry in a tub with a wringer, also hanging it all out to dry in the sun, and even paint their house tin roof red. When Mary was a young teenager, she drove her parents around in their Model T to help out as well as contribute to her father part of her earnings received from her after school job in a family store.

Mary always had initiative and the discipline to achieve her goals. While at Waco High, Mary focused her studies on learning office skills so after graduating, she started her career in the accounting dept of William Cameron & Co. Her job was located in the tallest building of Waco, which allowed her to enjoy the view and set her sights high.

Throughout her life, Mary was willing to work hard to give more to her family. She worked her whole life for others especially her children.

Besides being a beautiful person inside and out, Mary always put others first. She was a devoted wife to Antonio B. Duron for 64 years before he passed in August 2022. After meeting in Waco, and getting married, they moved to Dallas for work opportunity, and had their three children, Lydia, Kenneth & Patrick. Mary & Tony were also Godparents to multiple children, whose parents’ were their dear family & friends.

Although Mary often worked two jobs to provide extra for her family, she managed to be available for school activities and birthdays at school. She was always involved in her local community wherever she lived. She received many awards and achievements for organizing and donating her time to various causes. She had a passion for helping people, and for doing an excellent job no matter the challenge.

She loved birds, plants and cooking.

For years Mary and Tony were active in the PAGA, because they loved golf, and later the Knights of Columbus, because they loved God. Being a dynamic team, they supported numerous events in the Dallas Diocese, because they were generous with their time.

Mary’s professional career was vast and exciting because she always worked in the cutting edge of technology. She worked for prominent companies in the Data Entry Dept. At American Petrofina Oil Co. in Dallas, she worked on the historical Friden’s Computyper, because she was the only one trained and qualified. Always learning the latest in Computer Science, Mary owned her Data Processing business, where clients included were Texas Instruments, Zales Corp., Dallas Theological Seminary, and Steere Tank Lines. Mary was proud of her lifelong career and continued to work past normal retirement age.

At 76 years, she retired as a Paralegal from the Dept of Defense at AAFES with great recognition, honor, and achievement.

On November 25, 2023, Mary was blessed to pass away peacefully in her beautiful home.

Mary's parents, and her brothers Frank and Raymond have all preceded her in death.

Her children will live to honor and cherish her memory as well as her nieces and nephews, god children, and friends.

The Duron family will be having a visitation for Mary at Sparkman Funeral Home from 4:00 - 8:00 pm on December 5, 2023, with a Vigil Liturgy at 4:30 pm. Christ The King Catholic Church will hold a Funeral Rite Mass for Mary at 10 am on December 6, 2023, and DFW National Commitment Service 1:00 pm.