Mary Kathryn Reeves Van Sickle

Known as Mary K. in recent years to most of her friends, Mary Kathryn Reeves Van Sickle passed away Saturday, May 14th in Richardson, TX. The youngest of three sisters, she was born April 20, 1929 in Rusk County to Naaman R. and Jessie May Reeves who preceded her in death. In 1946 she married Virgil Durward Van Sickle. They had three children, Paul, Gwenda, and Sonya.

Mary K's talents were many, in particular her instinctive ability to draw house plans. In spite of having no training in the technique, she successfully designed their East Texas home in Henderson where she and her husband raised their children. She continued designing as a hobby. To her, a delightful afternoon involved looking through books of floor plans, often pausing to improve on the published designs offered by professionals.

While raising her children, Mary K's natural business sense served her well in the office of her husband's insurance agency where she did clerical work for him. In the 1970s when he was hospitalized for months following a severe car accident, she single-handedly ran the office, submitting regular reports to the company's Dallas home office without missing a beat.

Her children experienced a menagerie of wildlife growing up, as Mary K. loved animals. Along with the usual domestic cats and dogs, everything from pet ducks and squirrels to a horse and even a pair of peacocks were allowed to make their home at one time at the Van Sickle's South Evenside address.

She also had an amazing green thumb. In the last 20 years of her life, Mary K. focused her attention on raising delicate African Violets, that grew to the size of dinner plates under her tender care. She could root an entire healthy plant from a broken leaf.

Mary K. is preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Virgil. She is survived by her son, Paul Van Sickle, daughter, Gwenda McCaslin and her husband, Danny, and daughter Sonya Warren and husband, "Doc"; grandson Paul Hurley, and granddaughter Mary Collins and her husband, T.Sgt. Chad Collins; several great grandchildren including Sarah Elizabeth Ford to whom she was very close, and numerous nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service will be held at Sparkman Funeral Home in Richardson, TX on Saturday, May 28th at 2:00pm.